Vegan crab cakes sound like an impossible feat, but alas, this recipe manages to capture the flavors of the traditional Maryland grub without introducing wacky ingredients.

I often struggle to replace meat or fish with a store-bought vegan alternative, as I’m always critical of the ingredients going into the mix. Sure, there are plenty of health benefits that come from removing animal protein from the diet, but there is no promise that a vegan alternative is necessarily healthy. When I see soy-based vegan products, I consider it junk food – I mean, apart from being over-processed and difficult to digest, some 93% of soy in the U.S. is genetically modified. Pass, please.

So, then comes the hard part: creating homemade vegan alternatives to animal-based recipes that look and taste the part, without the dominance of soy (or overly-dense nuts). This hearts of palm crab cakes recipe manages to satisfy all of my nit-picky requirements.

What About Shellfish?

I occasionally eat fish, but the more I learn about shellfish, in particular, I have been trying to avoid them. Many shellfish are filter-feeders, which means they strain microbes from sea water throughout their life. Over time, high concentrations of pathogens can accumulate in their bodies from their polluted ocean environment.

This recipe eliminates the crab altogether and instead relies on hearts of palm, spice, and a little vegan mayo to achieve the consistency and taste of regular crab cakes. You won’t miss the original. And, considering it is a lot lighter, you can have more than one cake at each sitting. Enjoy!

Vegan Crab Cake Recipe

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 2 cans heart of palm, drained and chopped
• 1/3 cup vegan mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat or gluten-free Panko breadcrumbs
• 2 teaspoons vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 4 dashes Tabasco sauce
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• Lemon wedges for serving

Directions

In a large bowl, add have the chopped hearts of palm along with the mayonnaise, breadcrumbs, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, Tabasco, paprika, and salt and pepper. Mix the ingredients together until well combined. Delicately fold in the remaining heart of palm until just combined. This will ensure chunkiness!

Form the “crab” meat into patties.

Bring a skillet to medium-high heat. Once hot, add the vegetable oil. Swirl the oil across the bottom of the skillet and then place as many patties that can fit onto the pan. Cook on both sides for five to ten minutes, or until golden-brown and crispy.

Serve the vegan crab cakes with lemon wedges and a vegan tartar sauce.

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The post Hearts of Palm Fill in for Shellfish in These Delish Vegan Crab Cakes appeared first on EcoSalon.

Get ready to indulge in this paleo crab cakes recipe–the ultimate version of this timeless classic.

Crab cakes are fishcakes based in crab, mayonnaise, eggs, crumbs, milk, and seasonings. Despite the overwhelming majority of its ingredients satisfying paleo dietary requirements, it falls short of paleo status with the addition of bread crumbs as well as the method often used to cook each cake – frying in low-quality vegetable oils. But all it takes are a few tweaks and extra attention paid to the quality of ingredients being used to make your next crab cake a more body-friendly bite (mayonnaise included).

Paleo Crab Cakes Recipe

Makes about 10 patties

Ingredients

• 1 pound lump crab meat
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
• Juice of one lemon
• 1 large pasture egg, whisked
• 1/3 cup paleo mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• Handful of fresh parsley + extra for garnish, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/3 cup almond flour
• ¼ cup avocado oil

Directions

Add all of the crab cake ingredients, excluding the avocado oil, into a large bowl and use clean hands to massage them together, making sure not to over mix in order to keep the crab bits chunky.

Bring a skillet to medium-high heat and add the avocado oil. Form the crab cake mixture into balls (about ten) and lightly flatten them to form a patty-like shape. Dust each side of each patty with extra almond flour to form a crisp while cooking. Add the patties, three to five at a time, to the skillet and cook for five to six minutes on each side.

Serve atop fresh greens and a garnish with remaining chopped fresh parsley. Personally, I love to lather extra paleo mayonnaise atop my paleo crab cakes for some complementary flavor, or wedge them between gluten-free buns and nosh on them as a sandwich.

Enjoy!

Related on EcoSalon
Let’s Get This Little Crab a Home (Video)
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The post Paleo Crab Cakes: Lower-Carb Spin on the East Coast Classic appeared first on EcoSalon.