Some days you need a good date night! I think that’s what was on both Dave and my brains as we walked to the grocery store last Saturday evening – we had been busy with social engagements, traveling to see old friends and just life, and it was time to return to our favorite activity: cooking a nice meal together.

We have always loved making dinner, even from the early days of our relationship (which is TEN years old now!) We’ve been cooking together at least since I moved out to Boulder to follow Dave after I graduated from Mizzou a year later than Dave.

I suspect we have upped our cooking game since then, but we’ve always loved using adventurous recipes, fresh ingredients and using that time as quality time. We have been married for almost seven years now, and it’s still so much fun being married to my best friend, talking about our days and goals, listening to podcasts and sharing a great bottle of wine or pair of cocktails.

This time, I made an asparagus risotto and Dave made some *amazing* salmon cakes – I seriously wish I had more of these around so I could eat them all the time. Last night, while Dave was traveling for work, I ate the rest of the risotto for dinner…. it wasn’t quite as fun without the cute husband, tasty salmon cakes and bottle of rosé, but it made me really happy nonetheless.

This didn’t actually take us too long to make – if you’ve shopped ahead of time, you could make it on a weeknight, but it’s best suited to a weekend where you can enjoy a leisurely bottle of wine and some great conversation. You could probably use canned salmon if you wanted, but we did not in this case.

I think I see a lot more seafood cakes in our future. These just turned out so well – they’re delicious little protein bombs! I just need to decide what kind we’ll use next… leave your suggestions in the comments!

Salmon Cakes with Asparagus Risotto

Ingredients

• 8 oz salmon, cooked and flaked
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, diced
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp dried mustard
• 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp Parsley
• 2/3 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 1.5 cups arborio rice
• 3 cups Chicken Stock
• 1 Cup Asparagus, cut into 1″ pieces
• 1-2 Tbsp asiago cheese
• Salt and Pepper to Taste
• Zest of 1 Lemon

Instructions

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, swirl 2 Tbsp oil, and add 1.5 cups arborio rice. Swirl to toast, until some of the grains start to brown.
2. Add 1/2 cup stock; stir until absorbed. Keep adding liquid 1/2 cup at a time.
3. Once about half the liquid is incorporated, add the lemon zest and asparagus pieces.
4. Add 1/2 Tbsp finely grated asiago cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.
5. Bake the salmon in a 350 degree oven until ti reaches an interior temperature of 145 degrees.
6. Combine the fish sauce, egg, red pepper flakes, jalapeno, lemon juice, dried mustard, mayonnaise, parsley, and 1/3 cup of bread crumbs.
7. Add the flaked salmon, and stir gently to combine.
8. Divide into 4 equal portions; flatten into a 4″ patty.
9. Fry in 1/4 cup oil over high heat; 5 minutes per side until golden brown and delicious.