If you’re eager to meet the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendation to eat seafood twice a week, try today’s recipe for Maryland-style crab cakes.
Shellfish (crab, scallops, shrimp, and lobster) are lean sources of high-quality protein and packed with nutritional benefits including:
- Omega-3 fatty acids in the form of eicosapentaenoic acid, or EPA, and docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, which promote a healthy heart and offer promising help with cognitive function in people with mild Alzheimer’s disease.
- Vitamin B-12, which contributes to the health of the nervous system and the functioning and development of the brain.
- Copper, which helps form red blood cells, bone, connective tissue, and collagen.
- Zinc, which boosts the immune system and helps heal wounds. It also plays a role in the storage and release of insulin.
Crab is expensive and king crab costs more than snow crab or blue crab. Several factors influence the cost: low supply, a short season, a time-consuming procurement process, shipping costs, and a short shelf life.
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Crab meat is typically sold as jumbo lump, backfin, specialty, and claw meat. Giant blue crab is a popular choice for crab cakes due to its size and sweet flavor, but you can use a combination of crab meat to make crab cakes. A true Maryland crab cake has discernible bits of crab.
In today’s recipe, we just use enough breadcrumbs and mayonnaise to hold the crab cakes together. All of the other ingredients work together to enhance the flavor of the crab. Serve these as an appetizer or with a simple green salad for a healthy lunch or dinner.
Bethany Thayer is a registered dietitian nutritionist at Henry Ford Health. For more recipes and health information, visit henryford.com/blog. If you have questions about today’s recipe, email [email protected].
Maryland Crab Cakes
Does: 12 crab cakes / preparation time: 20 minutes (plus cooling time) / Total Time: 1 hour
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon hot sauce
2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
¼ cup finely chopped green onion
¼ cup finely chopped celery
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 pound fresh giant crab meat (drained and minced)
½ cup whole-grain panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
In a large bowl, whisk together lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, hot sauce, low-fat mayonnaise, and egg. Add the cilantro, black pepper, garlic powder, bell pepper, green onions, celery, and parsley.
Gently stir in the crab meat and panko. Shape mixture into 12 patties, using about ⅓ cup of mixture for each patty. Place the crab cake patties in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
When ready to cook, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add six of the crab cakes and cook for about 5 minutes on each side or until golden brown and slightly firm.
Transfer cooked crab cakes to a plate. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet and cook the second batch of crab cakes. Serve warm.
From Henry Ford LiveWell.
91 calories (42% of fat), 4.5 grams fat (1 gram he sat. fat), 4 grams carbohydrates8 grams protein191 milligrams sodium59 milligrams cholesterol28 milligrams calcium1 gram fiber. Food exchanges: 1 protein, 1 vegetable.
