halibut cakes

Now that Austin is almost one, he's starting to eat more like us but without the salt and some dairy ingredients (i.e. egg white, butter, milk, etc). And with this known fact, my life in the kitchen has gotten a little easier. I've been putting together some recipes that are finger-food friendly but are also delicious meals for mommy and daddy. Tonight, I baked up some halibut cakes and served them over mixed greens with roasted radishes and turnips (from our Eat South CSA).

For some reason, we never think about making fish cakes. It's always crab cakes. After trying to serve halibut by itself to a 11 month old with much of it ending up in his bib, I knew I needed to think of a better way to make it easy to grab. And that is how the idea of halibut cakes started. These tiny cakes are healthy and flavorful. Halibut is a great source of protein for babies plus it's packed with Omega-3, which helps with brain development.

halibut cakes with spicy sweet sauce
ingredients:

• olive oil
• 1lb wild halibut
• 1 bunch green elephant garlic (or leeks), chopped finely
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 3-4 tbsp organic low fat yogurt
• 2 eggs, separate one of the eggs
• 1-1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp organic baby rice cereal
• 2 tbsp Thai sweet chili sauce
• 1 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise 
• salt and pepper

directions:

1. Over medium heat with olive oil, cook the halibut until the meat flakes apart. Add in green elephant garlic, cook until slightly wilted. Set mixture aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease baking sheet and mini muffin pan.
3. Once cooled, mix in garlic powder, onion powder, and yogurt. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the mixture for babies' version of the halibut cakes. 
4. Mix together the fish, 1 egg white and 1egg, and 1 cup of bread crumbs. Add salt and pepper to desired taste. Place in refrigerator for about 30 minutes. 
5. While the other mixture is cooling, add rice cereal and 1 egg yolk to the reserved fish mixture. Divide up the mixture in your prepared mini muffin pan. 
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until fully cooked. Allow to cool before serving.
7. Remove the original fish mixture from the refrigerator and form into balls with hands. Then roll them around the remaining 1/2 cup of bread crumbs and place them on the prepared baking sheet. I got about 8 little cakes. 
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown, flipping them over for the last 5 minutes. 
9. For the sauce, mix sweet chili sauce with mayonnaise. Serve with the halibut cakes over mixed greens.