Zucchini 'Crab' Cakes

Zucchini 'Crab' Cakes

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup minced onion
1 teaspoon Old Bay SeasoningTM
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil for frying

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large bowl, combine zucchini, egg, and butter or margarine. Stir in seasoned crumbs, minced onion, and seasoning. Mix well.
2. Shape mixture into patties. Dredge in flour.
3. In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium high heat until hot. Fry patties in oil until golden brown on both sides.


reviews to note:
I live in Maryland, and these definitely do not taste like a real crab cake, although they did remind me somewhat of the frozen grocery store kind. A reasonable facsimile for vegetarians. Due to previous complaints of sogginess, I squeezed the zucchini after grating it, and used commercial dried (canned) bread crumbs because they are denser than fresh bread crumbs (the recipe didn't specify which type to use). Also, "seasoned" bread crumbs were noted in the body, although seasoned was not specified in the ingredients list, which caused some confusion. As a Maryland crab cake afficionado, I would not recommend you use seasoned bread crumbs as the seasonings would detract from the Old Bay. I'll make these again, but next time I will increase the dried bread crumbs to 1 1/8 cups to help counteract the sogginess and increase the Old Bay to 1 1/2 tsp. to enhance the flavor.

using a potato ricer to squeeze out the water from the spinach. I tried his idea with the zucchini and I can't tell you how well it worked.

I made a double batch of these (to freeze for later use), and baked them on a lightly oiled baking sheet. 400 degree oven, turning once after 12 - 15 minutes then baking an additional 12-15 minutes. The results were great. Less oil absorbed than with pan frying, and the "crab" cakes came out crispy and golden, with a lot less mess and work.

salt/drain the zucchini first. To avoid the raw zucchini/onion taste, saute the squeezed zucchini and onion for a few minutes before forming cakes.