Vegan “Crab” Cakes with Sriracha Cashew Aioli

Name: Vegan “Crab” Cakes with Sriracha Cashew Aioli
Yield: 4
Ingredients: raw unsalted cashews: 2/3 cups; unflavored almond milk: 1/4 cup; garlic: 3 cloves; lemon juice: 1 Tbsp.; sriracha: 2 Tbsp.; salt: to taste; artichoke hearts: 2 15 oz cans; celery: 2 stalks; 1 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs; whole wheat flour: 1/4 cup; garlic: 5 cloves; vegan Worchestershire sauce: 2 Tbsp; old bay seasoning: 2 Tbsp

Ingredients

For the Aioli
2/3 cups raw unsalted cashews
soaked in water for 8 hours, or overnight
1/4 cup unflavored almond milk
3 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. sriracha
or more, to taste
to taste salt
"Crab" cakes
2 15 oz cans artichoke hearts
drained
2 stalks celery
1 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
divided
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
5 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp vegan Worchestershire sauce
2 Tbsp old bay seasoning

Directions

I’ve always found it ironic that two of the trendiest diets are polar opposites: paleo and vegan. How can two diametrically opposed food patterns have equally strong followings, both claiming to be the “best way” to eat? Well, now your mind will be even more blown with the emergence of the “pegan diet” – claiming to offer the best of both worlds. The first thing you’ll notice when reading about it is it’s not vegan at all. It’s essentially paleo but with less meat – only 25% of your protein should be from animal sources, and they should be grass-fed. Oh, and it allows limited amounts of non-wheat whole grains and beans. As long as you don’t claim it to be remotely vegan, it sounds pretty reasonable to me.

Anyways, I talk about all of this because we’ve taken a pretty big swing from Whole30, to aiming for 80% paleo, to eating mostly plant based. I started feeling like we were eating way too much meat, and honestly vegan and vegetarian meals just started appealing to me. So after returning from Brazil I did a juice cleanse (ultimate fad anyone?) and finished the week out vegan, and since then we’ve been cooking a lot of plant based meals. Until totally falling off the wagon with a (delicious) BINGE at The Block and 12 panna cottas and 6 negronis at Taste of the Nation Monday night… so I think we’re about back where we started.

One of the recipes we enjoyed on our vegan kick was these “crab” cakes, which are pretty incredible. The texture of artichoke is surprisingly similar to crab. The flavor doesn’t have a seafood flavor, but old bay changes that a little bit. The sriracha aioli is made with cashews, and gives the dish a nice creamy kick. I decided to bake these rather than fry them to cut down on the oil, and they turned out beautiful – so that’s the method I’m sharing with you. Go ahead and give these a try – you won’t be disappointed!

Recipe inspired by: Connoisseurus Veg

Here are some of the other vegetarian/vegan recipes we’ve loved as of late:

Malaysian tofu broccoli stir-fry over creamy coconut grits – trust me, you’re going to want to double this recipe.
Rainbow Thai farro salad – a great lunch!
“Macro Bliss Bowl” – soba noodles with brussels sprouts & mushrooms in tahini sauce.
Butternut squash noodles with harissa cashew cream & crispy brussels sprouts – vegetarian & Whole30!
Curried Quinoa Wrap with Avo-Citrus Slaw – one of my longtime favorite lunches!
Spaghetti Squash with Swiss Chard, Spiced Nuts, Tahini Tomato Sauce and a Fried Egg – vegetarian & Whole30!

Steps

1 Done 3 minutes + 8 hours to soak.	Make the Sriracha Aioli Place all ingredients into food processor bowl and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Season with salt to taste.
2 Done	Make the "Crab" Cakes Place artichoke hearts, celery, 1 cup panko, flour, garlic, chives, Worchesershire sauce and 2 Tbsp old bay seasoning into food processor bowl. Pulse until artichokes are finely chopped and ingredients are well-mixed, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Keep the texture chunky and avoid overblending.
3 Done	Make the "Crab" Cakes Place remaining cup of panko breadcrumbs into a small bowl with remaining 1 Tbsp old bay. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
4 Done	Make the "Crab" Cakes Form artichoke mixture into 8 patties. Dredge each patty in the panko mix, coating each side, and place on a greased baking sheet. Cook for 10-15 minutes until golden. Flip and repeat.
5 Done	To serve Place 2 "crab" cakes on each plate and top with sriracha aioli.