Light and Lemony Fish Cakes

It's official.  Crab cakes are my favorite food. 

Since moving to Denver, I forgot how much I love crab cakes. Back in PA, the Fiance used to make fun of me- if we ever went out to eat, and crab cakes were on the menu- well, everyone knows what I'm ordering! I can't help myself!  They're just so wonderful! Especially when in Maryland with the Fiance's family. 

This recipe may not be seasonally appropriate, but I found myself in a small crisis recently. My refrigerator is broken. Which means everything in the freezer is defrosting, including a bag of frozen tilapia. FISH CAKE TIME!

You can really taste the lemon in these cakes, it's light and refreshing.  I dusted the cakes with paprika, chili powder, and fresh pepper before pan-frying and it made for a nice crispy exterior, the cakes flaking apart easily with a fork. These fish cakes are chock full of fish, not a lot of filler here.  Just like a fish cake (and crab cake) should be.  

One of my favorite things about this recipe is it's perfect for make-ahead meals.  You can make these fish cakes, freeze them, and then just pop them out when needed for a quick, delicious, light meal. Serve with your favorite tartar sauce, or even better- homemade tartar sauce. 

Light and Lemony Fish Cakes

Adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe

1 lb fresh or frozen tilapia fillets 
2 tbsp olive oil
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp dijon mustard
6 tbsp panko breadcrumbs
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 shallots, minced (about 2 tsp)
3 dashes hot sauce
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper 
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place fish fillets in a baking dish and rub with a tsp of olive oil. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until fish is cooked through.  Remove from oven and cool completely.  Pat excess moisture off with a paper towel when cool.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the egg whites, mayo, lemon juice, mustard, breadcrumbs, parsley, shallots, and hot sauce. Season with a bit of salt and pepper.  When fish is cool, flake it with a fork into small chunks (being careful not to mash it!) and add it to the bowl. Mix well. Form into 6 equal size patties. Place on a clean baking sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes before cooking.  At this point, you can leave them in the freezer until frozen, remove them and double wrap in plastic wrap and store in ziploc freezer bags for one month if you are making ahead. Defrost before cooking.
3. After patties have gotten a little stiff after being in the freezer for 15 minutes, remove them and heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. In a small bowl, mix together the paprika, chili powder, and fresh pepper. Sprinkle this mixture over both sides of the patties. 
4. Once oil is hot, place the patties in the pan and saute until a nice golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.  Adding the fish cakes before the oil is hot will make it soggy- the most important step here is waiting for the oil to be hot enough. 
5. Serve immediately. 

Zucchini Pasta Primavera with Creamy Basil Pesto

Yesterday it was 80 degrees in Colorado.

Tomorrow it'll be in the low 30's and snowing.  Again.

See if I care! I'm making summer meals- fresh and light- snow or not. 

Take that.

One of my favorite things to do in the summertime is make zucchini pasta.  In fact, I posted a Zucchini Spaghetti recipe last year that's pretty darn close to this one.  

But this one is tossed in a creamy basil pesto.  

Yum!

This is a 15 minute quick and easy recipe, no fuss required.

This just so happens to be a vegetarian, dairy free, gluten free, paleo recipe. 

It's so good, and so good for you.  You get some protein from the pine nuts in the pesto. I used what veggies I had on hand, though you could add pretty much anything.  I would've liked to add some spinach or kale, but it was quite filling as is.

If you want a more traditional primavera (aside from using actual pasta, lol) add parmigiana to the pesto- about 1/4 cup) and top the primavera with added parmigiana.  

I'll be honest, I didn't miss the cheese, and I thought I was going to.  

The basil pesto gives it tons of flavor.  I had extra pesto leftover- froze it in ice cube trays, and then removed to a ziploc bag in the freezer.  Now I can add basil pesto to pasta dishes in the future, or top some grilled fish or chicken with it. 

You will need a julienne peeler to make the zucchini spaghetti.  If you don't have one, they can be found at any kitchen store, or even Walmart and Target.  They're great to have, I peel carrots and other vegetables with them for a pretty look.

Zucchini Pasta Primavera with Creamy Basil Pesto

Serves 2

4 Zucchini

5 ounces grape tomatoes (about 1/2 of a 10 ounce container)

1 red pepper, seeded and chopped

1 yellow pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 white onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup coconut milk

For the pesto:

3 cups packed fresh basil

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted and cooled

2 cloves garlic, minced

2/3 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Prepare the veggies.  Peel and julienne the zucchini. Place in a colander, sprinkle with a tsp of salt, and toss.  Let sit in sink (this draws the moisture out so zucchini spaghetti stays crisp and doesn't get all soggy). 

2. Heat a few swirls of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion. Saute until the onion is beginning to soften, turn translucent. Add the peppers. Saute until peppers are almost done and soft (about 10 minutes).  Add the grape tomatoes. Cook for a minute or so, and add the zucchini. Toss to incorporate, and cook until zucchini is just barely softening, about 5 minutes. 

2. While cooking the onion and peppers, prepare the pesto. Simply add the basil, pine nuts, garlic, and about half of the oil to a food processor. Pulse to combine.  With the food processor running, drizzle in the remaining oil until the desired consistency is achieved. Add a bit of salt and pepper to taste. 

3. Add a cup of the pesto to the cooking zucchini and vegetables.  Toss to combine.  Cook about 2 minutes to get the zucchini to soak up the pesto, and add the coconut milk.  Stir, and cook another 2 or 3 minutes.  

Plate and enjoy!

A couple more posts to enjoy:
Sweet Summer Squash Pudding
Molasses Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Grilled Pineapple-Papaya Salsa
Gorgonzola Sage Popovers

Zucchini Spaghetti with Spring Vegetables

    This dish... is awesome.  So fresh, so simple, so healthy.  You will need to buy a julienne peeler if you don't already have one (under $10, can find at Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc with vegetable peelers). 

    I used fresh produce I had lying around in the fridge.  You can easily add or substitute whatever you may have lying around.  My vegetable measurements here are approximate- add as little or as much as you prefer!  I served this with grilled chicken and leftover slider buns that I made into mini garlic breads (obviously if you are gluten free you will skip that part)!

Zucchini Spaghetti with Spring Vegetables

Serves 3-4

 You will need:

2 zucchini

10 mini sweet peppers, seeds removed and cut in fours

1/2 red pepper, cut into large dice

2 roma tomatoes, diced

About 12 grape tomatos, cut in half

2 large handfuls of fresh spinach, chopped

1/2 white onion, thinly sliced

4 anchovy fillets (used as a seasoning, you won't even know it's in there!)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

7 garlic cloves, minced

salt and pepper

Use the julienne peeler to make the spaghetti.

Place the zucchini spaghetti in a colander.  When you are finished making the spaghetti, put the colander in the sink and toss a couple pinches of salt on the zucchini.  Leave it sit while you prepare the rest of the meal.  (This step draws out some of the liquid so you don't have mushy spaghetti).  

Next heat water to steam the sweet and red peppers until still a bit crisp.  If you don't have a steamer, you can simply boil them for about 5 minutes.  The key here is to soften them a little bit, but to leave them with a little snap.

While the peppers are steaming/boiling, heat about 4 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over med-med high heat (heads up-this needs to be large, the zucchini and ALL veggies will wind up in here). Add the garlic, onion, and anchovies to the pan and saute, breaking up the anchovies until they melt away with your spoon (this should only take about 2 minutes... watch the heat of the stove- you don't want to burn the garlic!)

Once the anchovies have been incorporated with the garlic and oil, add the zucchini, gently tossing to combine.  Season with a little salt and pepper. Add the peppers and roma tomatoes, stir to incorporate.  Cook the zucchini  spaghetti about 3 more minutes.  Finally add the spinach and grape tomatoes.  Stir to combine well, and serve!

Slider Bun Garlic Bread

To make garlic bread out of slider buns, I simply minced a clove garlic and rubbed 1/2  on both sides of 2 slider buns ( a total of 4 pieces).  Then I melted 2 tbsp of butter in microwave until soft but NOT RUNNY.  I added the other 1/2 of the garlic clove, a pinch of salt, stirred until it was a thick buttery garlic paste, and buttered the buns.  Put into toaster oven until slightly golden, and voila!