Salmon Casserole Recipe

Salmon casserole is an easy way to get even picky eaters to love this menopause superfood.  But not any old salmon will do.  It has to be wild-caught.

Farmed salmon eat GMO grains like corn, soy and canola that are high in pro-inflammatory fats.  And some commercial fish feed also contains chicken feces, and pig and duck waste. Yuck.

Fish don't exactly thrive on that nasty food, so they're also fed antibiotics, chemicals, and growth hormones to speed up production.

Farmed salmon can also contain seven times more PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), dioxins and pesticides than wild salmon. PCBs are persistent cancer-causing chemicals that were banned in the U.S. in 1976. 

For this salmon casserole recipe, you can rely on canned salmon. Just avoid “Atlantic” salmon.  All Atlantic salmon sold in the U.S. are farmed. Farmers also raise Chinook and Coho salmon so make sure you get the wild versions of those.  Sock-eye salmon cannot be farmed so it's always wild.

Look for red (not pink) salmon labeled "Alaskan."  By law fish labeled Alaskan cannot be farmed. Click here to check out Wild Planet's canned Alaska Wild Salmon.

This salmon casserole recipe also has a very special ingredient – potato chips. They are far from a health food but in this case they substitute for sliced potatoes in the casserole.

Most potatoes are heavily sprayed with pesticides and herbicides.  That’s why I only use organic potato chips.  I also look for brands that don’t use vegetable oils or canola oil.  I like Jackson’s Honest organic potato chips with sea salt and coconut oil.  You can get them here.

Salmon Casserole Recipe

• 12 to 14 oz. canned Wild Alaska red (sockeye) salmon
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/3 cup finely chopped celery
• 1/3 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• Pinch of sea salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1 regular sized bag of organic potato chips

White Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoon flour
• 1 cup milk
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. Remove bones and skin from the canned salmon. 
3. Saute the onion, celery, and pepper in the butter and oil over medium heat. Add salt and pepper.  
4. Turn off heat, add the salmon to the pan and break it up, combining with the vegetables. 
5. Make the white sauce: Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and stir with a wire whisk until blended. Heat the milk almost to the point of boiling.  While stirring the flour mixture vigorously, add the hot milk all at once.  Bring to a boil to thicken the milk mixture.  Simmer for five minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the white sauce to the salmon mixture in the sauté pan. 
6. Break up the potato chips in the bag.  Reserve about two handfuls of the crushed chips.  Add the remainder of the bag to the salmon mixture. 
7. Transfer the salmon and chips mixture to a 10-inch round or square casserole.  Top with the remaining chips. 
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. 

Serves 4 to 6 people.

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