Mock Crab Cakes (Vegetable Fritters)

September 14, 2011  •  Vegetables

This past week I was testing a recipe for crab cakes that will be in the cookbook I’m working on – they were delicious, but even the scaled back quantity I made from the restaurant recipe yielded enough to feed 10 people. That’s turning out to be the single biggest challenge of testing recipes for the book: what to do with all of the food?! I hate wasting food, so since we were having friends over this weekend, I figured I’d serve the crab cakes then. But then I remembered, my one friend has recently turned vegetarian. I don’t mind cooking vegetarian for people, but I also know many people (my husband included) will think the menu is incomplete without the meat.The other thing is I kind of like the overall dinner to hold together as a single theme instead of having one set of dishes I’m serving to most of the group, then a separate meal for the vegetarian. It feels like you’re drawing attention to them – or treating them like they should be seated at the kids’ table or something. So, an easy fix is to have a vegetarian and protein based version of the same thing: crab cakes. The rest of the meal was all vegetarian: Sweet Corn Soup with Cilantro Puree (will be in the cookbook), a simple cabbage slaw, and Corn and Black Bean Relish. Everything was good. Everyone was happy. Success!

Mock Crab Cakes (Vegetable Fritters)
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Recipe type: Entree, Side Dish
Serves: 4 as an entree
Ingredients
  • ½ cup red onion, finely chopped
  • ½ cup celery, finely chopped
  • ½ cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
  • ½ cup mushrooms, finely chopped
  • 1 cup zucchini, grated
  • ¼ cup plain yogurt, Greek variety is best
  • ¼ cup mayonnaise, light or regular
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon Southwest Seasoning
  • 1 tablespoon Old Bay Seafood seasoning
  • 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 2 cups dry bread crumbs, or panko
  • canola oil, for frying
Instructions
  1. Combine onion, celery, pepper, mushrooms, zucchini, yogurt, mayonnaise, mustard and seasonings in a bowl and stir to combine. Stir in eggs, then stir in bread crumbs. Shape into 8 patties and fry over medium heat in ¼ inch of oil until golden brown on both sides and cooked through, about 2-3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. Serve with tartar sauce or roasted red pepper aioli.

 

Comments

5 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. Kacey says:

    I love this! I also like the idea of incorporating vegetarian into every part of the meal, instead of making the person stick out. As a meat eater, I know it’s not easy to satisfy everyone in a situation like that. These ‘crab’ cakes look great, and I can’t wait to serve them to my ‘must have meat’ family!

  2. Karen Harris says:

    I can definitely see how the mock crab cake name came to be with the old bay, red pepper and yogurt. They sound wonderful. Hope the book is going well.

  3. Boulder Locavore says:

    I love this idea and though I don’t eat a ton of meat I have a bit of meat burn out at the moment. Would love to get back to satisfying, flavorful vegetable-based meals. Going to check your Zucchini Casserole next! Loved your balsamic vinegar comment on my Ratatouille AND the spice suggestion on Karen’s blog post. Genius.

  4. Jenna Hoskinson says:

    These look great! I just made some zucchini fritters that reminded me a lot of my mom’s meatballs! I found your blog through your squash recipe on the Door To Door Organics website. I can’t wait to check out all you’re offering here. Looks fantastic and love that you’re local!

  5. Judy Oleksik says:

    I enjoyed the mock crab cakes a lot. A fast way to get in a
    variety of veggies in one patty. Add a small salad or steamed veggies and you have your meal. Going to try the zuchini chips again. Hope I am a success this time. Thanks for the wonderful recipes. Judy in Virginia

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