Dear disappointing Boston restaurant,
My hubby and I can rarely resist ordering crab cakes when we eat out, and I was really looking forward to trying your twist on our favorite appetizer during our recent visit to your restaurant. So, you can imagine our disappointment when we couldn’t see or taste the crab in the 4 bites of our $15 appetizer. Perhaps you should rename this dish to something more appropriate, like tasteless fried breadcrumbs?
Although we won’t be frequenting your establishment again (the meal did not get any better as it progressed), I do have to thank you for inspiring me to make my own crab cakes at home for the first time. Crab cakes are something I’ve been hesitant to try putting together myself, because I was nervous about ruining the expensive lump crabmeat. But after our horrible experience at your restaurant, I realized that I couldn’t do any worse than your chef, so I went ahead and splurged on the one pound $15 tub of fresh lump crabmeat from Costco. I used avocado in place of mayo and crushed plantain chips instead of breadcrumbs, and served the cakes over black beans, mango, and red peppers – yum! They were just as good as any restaurant version I’ve had and I made 3 huge dinner-sized portions for the fraction of the price they would cost at a restaurant! So thank you for pushing me to step outside my comfort zone in the kitchen!
Sincerely,
A Boston food blogger
Avocado Crab Cakes with Crushed Plantain Chips
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 green onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound lump crabmeat
1/4 cup mashed avocado
1/2 cup crushed plantain chips
1 egg, beaten
1 lime
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 15.5-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 mango, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
Directions:
Heat 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat and sauté onions for 2 minutes, or until soft. Add garlic and sauté one additional minute.
In medium bowl, mix together the lump crabmeat, onions, avocado, plantain chips, egg, juice of half the lime, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Shape mixture into 6 crab cakes.
Meanwhile, mix black beans, mango, red pepper, juice of the remaining half of the lime, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat in a nonstick skillet. Add 3 crab cakes and cook until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and 3 crab cakes. Serve crab cakes over the black bean, mango, and red pepper mix. Makes 3 large servings.
Nutrition: 514 calories, 22.1g fat, 14.6g fiber, 24.4g protein per serving
Cost: $6.17 per serving