Saturday: Crab Cakes with Caesar Salad

I haven't decided whether or not I will be making the Caesar salad; I am the only salad-eater in the hizz-ouse. This is something I typically make when we have people over, but shutdown is making us shut-ins. However! I will post the recipe, crab cakes are still on. These are nice and crunchy yet flavourful and not too fussy.

You will need:

1 lb crab meat (real or imitation**)
3/4 c bread crumbs, either whole wheat, whole grain bread crumbs or panko
6 green onions
3 Tbsp light mayonnaise
2 Tbsp parsley, finely chopped
2 Tbsp 1% milk
2 Tbsp egg whites (about 1 if you are using an actual egg)
Salt, pepper, red pepper flakes
3 Tbsp all-purpose or whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp butter

This is another throw-together dish, you will want to start at least an hour before you want to be noshing. If you are planning to make the salad as well, start now by pre-heating your oven to 350 degrees.

Start your cakes! Mix your crab, breadcrumbs, green onions, mayo, parsley, egg whites, milk, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper together in a large-ish bow.

**A note about what type of crab to use: you want a somewhat flaky one, and since the star of the show is the crab, you may want to go with real crab. However, if you live a long way from a large body of water like myself, the expense can be prohibitive. I used what turned out to be a rubbery imitation crab and it was much more difficult to work with than other types I have used in the past. If you do end up with something kinda rubbery, make sure you really squeeze it when forming the rounds, it should help everything stay together.

Wet your hands and form the mixture into 8 round cakes. Place on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour. Start your Caesar dressing!

You will need:

1 thinly slice whole grain whole wheat bread
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp garlic powder
Romaine lettuce
2 to 4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (or any oil, I am just excited to be able to use mine!)
2 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed if you have it, about 2 lemons
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp anchovy paste
1/4 tsp sugar
Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper - to taste
2 Tbsp parmesan

Melt your butter, spread on both sides of the bread. Sprinkle on your garlic powder and bake in your pre-heated oven for 7 minutes, flip and turn off the oven, cook for 7-8 more minutes, until golden. Ish. Alternatively, should you not want to use powdered garlic, you could leave it off and when the bread comes out of the oven, rub it all over with a cut garlic clove. Either way, cut it into crouton-sized pieces while it is still warm.

Whisk the oil, lemon juice, crushed garlic cloves, mustard, anchovy paste, sugar, salt and cayenne / pepper in a bowl until fully combined. Taste and add more oil / seasonings as required. You can use right away, but I find the flavours develop if left for a little while. Refrigerate whatever you aren't going to use.

Back to the crab cakes! Dump your flour in a cake / pie pan and coat both sides of the cakes.

Melt the butter in a non-stick pan, cook each crab cake until golden and a leetle crunchy, 4-5 minutes per side. Don't crowd your pan, so if you don't have a monster-sized cooking surface, do it in batches.

Back to the salad! Toss the dressing with the romaine lettuce, sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese and croutons. Done!

I came up with a calorie count for one fourth of the dressing and croutons and two crab cakes and got 368 calories. Mind you, as always, this is somewhat subjective as I am using my own bread and checking my own labels. It's a ballpark!



Enjoy!