Baked Crab Cakes

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Some of my most memorable dishes involved crab. I often like to bake crab with butter and a sprinkle of sea salt. The result is anything but a simpleton in the realm of good eats – it’s fingerlickin’ delicious! Crab cakes are also a common occurrence in my household, and this recipe beats out any other I’ve ever had at any restaurant throughout my entire life. And, for good reason. There is no overwhelming mayonnaise or bread crumb taste that takes over the crab; instead, you taste the crab and all the other add-ins simply pique its unique flavor. So try this simple and light baked crab cake and you’ll never go back.

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Celeriac Mash

Celeriac (celery root) doesn’t get the credit it deserves – maybe because it’s an ugly looking fella. However, through much courting, it has worked its way up to becoming one of my favorite and most versatile ingredients. By itself, it’s subtle, but its distinct flavor (tastes like a combination of celery and parsley) is something you can never tire of regardless of how it’s cooked. Like when enjoying most vegetables, I usually have celeriac when lightly sautéed with butter and seasoned with salt and pepper. Today, I decided to make a mashed version of it with the addition of some thyme, mustard, and garlic. The verdict: speaks for itself.

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Like mashed potatoes, only sans the cream and butter and excess carbs.

And while celeriac my not look like it glows on the outside, its true beauty is skin deep.

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Celeriac: is high in fiber, potassium, magnesium, and vitamin B6, is beneficial for the lymphatic, nervous, and urinary systems, acts as an effective diuretic, enhances digestion, contains a good amount of vitamin C, maintains body functions such as blood flow,  promotes bone health, lowers cholesterol levels, helps with insomnia, and is a good source of folate and vitamin K.

Celeriac Mash

by Aylin @ Glow Kitchen

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Keywords: boil vegan vegetarian fat-free celeriac thyme

Ingredients (Serves 2-3)

  • 2 celery roots (celeriac)
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme, stemmed
  • 1 tsp mustard
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper

Instructions

Stem and skin the celeriac. Chop into halves and place in boiling water until tender – approximately 10 minutes. To check if the pieces have cooked through, poke with a fork and it should go through to the other side fairly easily. The pieces, however, should not be so tender that they break apart.

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Drain the liquid and place the celeriac in a bowl with the other ingredients. Mash until all is mixed properly and the result is still chunky.

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Serve and enjoy! This side dish is so fragrant and delicious – you won’t miss Mr. Potato.

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Bon Appetit!

xo Aylin

The Classic GK Veggie Burger

Veggie burgers are everywhere these days, but it’s becoming more difficult to find one that doesn’t contain a bucket load of nuts, beans, or something else heavy, gas-inducing, or not a far cry from its meaty counterpart. If you want a protein-packed burger, a vegan rendition is best made using a bean base. Tonight, however, I was just looking for the burger experience without the post-dinner food baby.

I’ll show you how to make a kidney bean-based veggie burger in an upcoming post. But for now, the GK standard veggie burger stands as such:

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Classic Veggie Burger

by Aylin

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20

Ingredients (4-6 patties)

For the Burger:

  • 1 white onion, diced
  • 2 stalks celery, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 large carrot, shredded
  • 2 cups crimini mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 3 scallions, chopped
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • *1 cup reserved juice pulp (from having juiced cucumbers, greens and carrots)
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp oregano
  • 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
*optional, can be replaced with 1 cup of mashed beans (kidney, white)

For the topping:

Instructions

Before I made this burger, I made sure to save about 1 cup of the pulp after preparing my daily green drank.

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A great way to re-use the pulp! (P.S. I don’t advise tasting it as such…bleh and boring.)

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Another part (or rather, topping) of the burger to prepare is the red pepper. Don’t be scared to char the pepper – it won’t burst into flames or anything. You could also bake the red pepper. The blacker, the better. When completely charred, seal it with aluminum foil or cover it in a brown paper bag and let it sit. This will help the skin to peel off in a cinch.

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Now, to the burger itself.

First, dice the onions, celery and garlic and shred the carrot. Toss into a hot saucepan with 1 tbsp olive oil. Cook until the onion is nearly translucent. Season with salt and pepper.

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Next, roughly chop the cremini mushrooms and add them to the saucepan. We are adding them a bit later than the other vegetables, because mushrooms cook faster and thus require less time on the stove.

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Once the mushrooms are cooked through, remove from the stove and pour mixture into a glass bowl. Let it sit for a moment to cool down.

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Then toss in the chopped scallions, nutritional yeast, juice pulp, cumin, paprika, oregano, salt, pepper, and 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil.

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Mix thoroughly. The result should be able to hold together well in the hand and able to form flat patties. Make same-sized patties and place them in aluminum foil that has been rubbed with some olive oil. Drizzle all the patties with olive oil in order to achieve that crispy top while baking.

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Put in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 20 minutes.

In the meantime, gather the goodies.

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Remember this guy? This probiotic-packed red cabbage has been building up enzymes all week stored away in my cupboard and is now ready to use, pickled and perfect!

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Ding! The burgers are ready.

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Let’s assemble this mofo. You could use a regular or whole-wheat/grain bun, but I nixed the bread and used some grilled eggplant as the base. I then topped the eggplant with lettuce, the burger, mustard, roasted red pepper, a tomato slice, avocado slices, red cabbage, another layer of lettuce, and lastly another layer of eggplant.

Leftover toppings were put on the side of my plate as a salad.

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All these pictures look the same, and they all make me drool the same.

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Voila!

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Bon Appetit!

xo Aylin