Connie’s Zucchini “Crab” Cakes

Just to let you know, it is still as cold as can be here in Florida. The temperatures this morning in the Tampa area ranged from mid 30s to low 40s with highs again in the 50s. Unfortunately, this is the time of year before strawberries and other fruits are harvested and the farmers are now saying that they will have some crop loss due to the weather. So if any of you are wondering why your strawberries, blueberries and others are more expensive later on in the early spring; this cold snap is the reason.

I had not realized that it would be so cold, or I might have made other plans this week, but these “crab” cakes were a good reminder of summer produce. And they are really easy to make. The only annoying thing is the grating of the zucchini, one of the times I wish for a food processor. The last time I made these, I was still lacto-ovo and made them with egg white. This time two teaspoons of chickpea flour was used as an egg substitute and it worked just fine. Of course, how much one uses is dependent on how wet the zucchini are at that time. The comments on this recipe do suggest salting and draining them once they are grated, but I have always skipped that step. I don’t know if they taste like crab cake, since I never had one in the pregan days. However, these are rather nice and until I can figure out how to use the rice Burmese tofu as a “fish” they will most definitely do.

Speaking of the rice Burmese Tofu as a “fish”, my latest attempt was a disaster. I tried to season the rice-fu before it set up and used miso to add a salty flavor. For some reason the miso changed the texture and it never set once refrigerated. The next batch will be made with water that has been flavored with seaweed. Hopefully that will then go on to give the batch a “fish” like flavor and things like ginger, onion and garlic can be used in the breadcrumb coating. Unfortunately, all of my containers are in use at the moment, so this will have to wait for the weekend at the earliest. Since the fridge is now full, leftovers are on the menu for dinner the rest of the week, so tomorrow I will put up the list of soy protein free cheeses, milks and meats I have making. If you have any that need to be added, just put them in the comments and I will add them to the list.