Vegan Crab Cakes w/ Caesar Salad + Brazil Nut Caesar Dressing
Difficulty: 2/5 (5 being hardest)
Spice Level: 1/3 (3 being spiciest)
Prep & Cook Time: 30-40 minutes
Servings: 4
The Challenge: Vegan Crab Cakes
I must be on a seafood kick right now...vegan seafood. Crab cakes are something that I have always wanted to try, and today is the day! How to make vegan crab cakes?? Well, one of the keys is going to be hearts of palm. These slimy little suckers have a great texture that is similar and when mixed into a cake give it that great thread-like texture.
For flavor, we are going to mix together a number of wonderful seafood flavors like miso, Old Bay creole seasoning, remoulade (ish), and that salty dense yummy flavor. These crab cakes are super yum on their own, but I wanted a salad. So, we took the crab cakes and mixed them into a simple caesar salad.
For caesar dressing, we mixed together brazil nuts, chickpeas, lemons, and several other ingredients to make an absolutely delicious caesar salad! Simple salad of cucumber, grape tomatoes, baby kale and spinach, and voila YUM.
These crab cakes are great on their own too, so make them in a salad...make them solo...make them...make them...make them! Melt in your mouth yum.
Let's get into it!
Ingredients:
Vegan Crab Cakes
- 14oz garbanzo beans, canned, rinsed, dried
- 14oz hearts of palm, canned, rinsed, drained
- 2 tbl water
- 1/4 cup vegan plain yogurt
- 3 tbl lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp vegan worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/3 cup green onion, diced
- 1 tbl nori wrappers, diced small
- Spices: 1 tsp Old Bay, 1/3 tsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 cup parsley, fresh, diced
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1/4 cup cornmeal
- handful of sweet potato chips, crushed
- Breading: 1/2 cup cornmeal + couple handful of sweet potato chips, crushed
- 2 tbl walnut oil, for frying (any oil works)
Brazil Nut Caesar Dressing
- 1/4 cup brazil nuts (or cashews)
- 1/4 cup garbanzo beans, cooked (from can works well)
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tbl olive oil
- 2 tbl lemon juice
- 1/2 tbl grainy mustard
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tbl vegan Worcestershire sauce
- salt + pepper
Other
- 4 big handfuls of baby kale
- 4 big handfuls of spinach
- 1 cup grape tomatoes, diced
- 1 cucumber, diced
- 1/4 cup pepitas
Equipment You'll Need:
Cutting Board . Sharp Cutting Knife . Measuring Cups . Measuring Spoons . Castiron Pan . Food Processor . Mixing Bowls . Serving Bowl for Salad . Whisk
Before You Cook:
- Wash and cut all fresh ingredients
1. Start with crab cakes. Place beans + hearts of palm into food processor. Pulse a few times until it starts to break down. Do not over blend so its not mushy. Take out of processor and set aside.
2. Whisk together the ingredients from water to spices under crab cakes together. This mixture will act as the spice.
3. Next mix together the rest of the ingredients (up to breading) with palm/chickpea + sauce from step 2. Slowly fold the ingredients together. Form into 1/4 cup patties in your hand and set on a plate.
4. Next, mix the breading on a second plate and coat each side of all the patties with the breading. Set back onto a plate and place into the freezer. They should freeze for about 15 minutes to firm up.
5. While the patties are in the freezer, blend together all the caesar dressing ingredients in a food processor and mix together the salad parts in a large serving bowl or 4 smaller serving bowls.
6. Add 2 tbl of walnut or other oil to a large castiron pan and heat over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Once hot, add patties and cook for 4 minutes on each side until golden brown.
7. Serve the crab cakes with the salad and enjoy!!
