Crisp Crab Cakes

My hubby and I decided to try this whole eating healthy thing. I mean it is only been a couple of days but so far we have both been doing pretty good. I decided to try this recipe I found in the food network magazine. If you follow the directions exactly it's only 220 calories for 2 cakes. I made a couple mistakes in my attempt. For example, putting in the full cup of breadcrumbs at once instead of just half.  This lead to the cakes breaking apart when I was cooking them....not ideal! I also accidentally sautéed the vegetables in 2 Tablespoons olive oil vs. 2 teaspoons which I'm sure added more calories. In spite of those mistakes the crab cakes were delicious! You could also serve this broken up over a salad (easy for me since the cakes I made were already broken up) or on hamburger buns.

Crisp Crab Cakes

Adapted from Food Network

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 scallions, thinly sliced **
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons nonfat milk
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus lemon wedges for serving
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
Dash of hot sauce 
1 pound lump crab or crab claw meat, picked over
1/4 tsp salt
Dash of pepper
Olive-oil cooking spray

1. Heat 2 teaspoons (not tablespoons) olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the scallions and bell pepper and cook until they begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Cook slightly.
2. Mix 1/2 cup panko, the egg and milk in a small bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk the Worcestershire sauce, mustard, lemon juice, Old Bay and hot sauce; fold in the crabmeat, panko mixture, and scallion-bell pepper mixture, 1/4 tsp salt and a pinch of pepper. Shape into 8 patties and refrigerate 30 minutes.
3. Coat the crab cakes with the remaining 1/2 cup panko. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in the skillet over medium-high heat. Mist the crab cakes with cooking spray and cook, sprayed-side down, 3 to 4 minutes. Spray the tops, flip and cook 3 to 4 minutes more minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

Things I learned:
** Scallions are the same thing as green onions
* Old Bay seasoning is found with the fish/crab and not the other spices at the grocery store

-Brittany

Orange Roughy in a Mushroom Sauce

For our first Valentine's Day as a married couple we decided to stay at home and cook together. It turned out to be really fun despite the size of our kitchen. Believe it or not I have never made fish before so I decided to give it a try. We attempted to find Halibut to make but it was nowhere to be found so we found this great recipe for Orange Roughy. It was easy and delicious! There are some changes I have made when posting this recipe because there was WAY too much pepper. I don't really know if I am "chef" enough to change a recipe but I feel pretty confident about this one. One thing we did find out AFTER we purchased the fish is that Orange Roughy is close to being on the endangered species list. SO with that said maybe wait to make this one until the Orange Roughy has made a come back...unless you feel okay with eating an almost endangered species!

Orange Roughy in a Mushroom Sauce
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

3 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

1 1/4 cups finely chopped onions

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon pepper

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

salt to taste

12 ounces plain nonfat yogurt

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

3/4 pounds orange roughy fillets (2 large fillets)

3 tablespoons Italian seasoned bread crumbs

paprika to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking pan with aluminum foil. Coat with cooking spray.

2. In a medium saucepan coated with cooking spray over medium heat, cook and stir the mushrooms and onions about 4 minutes. Season with lemon peper, Italian seasoning, and salt. Remove from heat, and allow to cool about 10 minutes (you could also put in the refridgerator for 5-10 minutes to help cool). Blend well in the yogurt and parmesan cheese.

3. Arrange each orange roughy fillet in the prepared baking pan over about 3-4 tablespoons of the musroom mixture. Top the fillets with the remaining mushroom mixture. Sprinkle with bread crumbs.

4. Bake 30 minutes or until the fish is easily flaked with a fork. Season with paprika and serve.

We grilled some asparagus to go along with our fish.

-Brittany