Mexicali Crab Cakes

Crab cakes are great any time of year--but they're especially great as a light summer dinner.  My original recipe for crab cakes is here, and it has kind of an Asian-flavor twist to it.  This recipe I found in my Cooking Light cookbook and was absolutely shocked I hadn't made them before!  And we absolutely loved them--I can't wait to make them again.

One of the best things about making crab cakes is that they sound really fancy, but really, they take hardly any time at all.  You mix all ingredients in a bowl, form cakes, and bake them--usually all in under a half hour.  As far as I can tell, there's only one secret to crab cakes--and that's high quality canned crab.  My mom always said to buy the most expensive cans of crab in the store.  I follow that advice every time and it never disappoints!  So while this dinner is quick, easy, tasty, and makes you look good--note that it's not the cheapest.  But quality crab is worth it :-)

Mexicali Crab Cakes

• 1.5 Tbs margarine or butter
• 1/4 c finely chopped celery
• 1/4 c finely chopped red bell pepper
• 1 finely chopped and seeded jalepeno
• 1/4 c mayo (although we recently learned you can easily substitute fat free greek yogurt, plain, just as well and it's much healthier than mayo)
• 1 tsp chopped fresh cilantro or parsley if preferred (but being totally honest I think I used dried and it was fine!)
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 garlic salt or garlic powder
• a few cranks of the pepper mill
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup Panko or other breadcrumbs
• 1/4 chopped green onions
• 1 lb (about 2-3 cans) lump crab meat
• 1 can whole-kernal corn

OK I know that looks like a lot of ingredients, but don't let that deter you.

Pre-heat your oven to 450.  Melt the margarine/butter in a small skillet over med-high heat, and add celery, bell pepper, and jalepeno.  Saute for about 3 minutes or until tender.

In a medium to large mixing bowl, mix your mayo or yogurt with the cilantro, dijon, garlic salt, pepper and egg.  Add in the celery mixture, Panko, green onions, crab, and corn--stirring until well mixed.  Hand-form about 8-10 small cakes, or 6 large ones as shown above.  As an option, you could also dredge the cakes in crushed cornflakes if you wanted a crispy exterior.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes, carefully flip the cakes, and bake an additional 6 minutes on the other side.

The recipe recommends serving with a cocktail sauce or salsa...I used sweet chili sauce because I'm obsessed with sweet chili sauce and think it should be on most things.  Serve with whatever works for you!