These are inspired by crab cakes, but I think they're better 'cause they are healthy and cruelty-free. Also they just taste *freaking amazing*. I honestly wasn't expecting them to be as good as they turned out. I gobbled up 3 in mere minutes. They taste great with avocado, just so ya know. Please don't expect this recipe to taste much like the original thing... the ingredients are totally different and there's no cooking involved. Enjoy the flavours and textures for what they are! Veggies are winners all by themselves! But for those of you who are vegan, seriously craving sea food, and are fine with eating cooked food... try Sophie's Kitchen products (my mom loves them).
I never actually ate crab cakes when I was growing up but apparently (thanks, Wikipedia) they are made up of crab meat, bread crumbs, mayo, butter and eggs... yum? Well, we're throwing that stuff out and bringing in fresh veggies and spices. This recipe is based with jicama, onion, walnuts and lemon juice; and spiced with cumin, chili, coriander, dill, salt and pepper. I had trouble NOT eating all the mixture before shaping it into cakes and putting them in the dehydrator. Again: these probably don't taste anything like real crab cakes but they are delicious in their own right. Ya got me!? The spices liven up the crunchy, sweet jicama and zesty lemon, while the onion gives it a bit of heat. Think of this recipe as like a basic burger or something, add some mustard, avocado, tomatoes, etc. and it comes alive. But it's also delicious on it's own. My mom thinks you should add basil and olive oil to make them "pesto burgers", she's smart. Sorry for all the sporadic-ness in this post. There's not really one focus. Hopefully you just scrolled past this because I don't even know what I am talking about now. C'mon, scroll.
1 cup jicama
1/4 cup onion
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Cumin, coriander, dill, chili, salt and pepper (as desired)
1 cup walnuts
Peel and chop the jicama and onion up into small chunks. Throw all the ingredients - except the walnuts - into your food processor and pulse a few times until it's a consistency you like. Dump into a bowl and set aside. Now process the walnuts into a thick paste and add this to the first mixture, combining evenly so you end up with a mushy mix... it doesn't sound appetizing but other describing words are not coming to mind at the moment. Shape into cakes (I used a large cookie mold) and then dehydrate for a few hours until they hold together; or use your oven at it's lowest temperature to get the same result. Serve with herbs, avocado, veggies, spreads, crackers, or whatever else you like!
