Crab Cakes with Roasted Vegetables and Tangy Butter Sauce

There's a faint haze of green visible over the woods when I'm on the highway, the days are inching toward being actually warm, the sun is in the sky long enough that once a week I am startled by how late the hour has grown. The memory of summer is stirring gently.

So here's a recipe for spring. I love, love, love crab, but I don't make it very often for some reason. We had this recipe a little while ago, and I really thought I had reviewed it then, but apparently I missed it, so here it is. These are simply fantastic, the beautiful, uninterrupted taste of crab (I didn't have any Old Bay, and I didn't miss it). The sauce adds without interfering. You can obviously substitute something else for the roasted vegetables.

Crab cakes:
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons light mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 pound lump crabmeat, drained and shell pieces removed
1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), divided
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
Cooking spray

Vegetables:
21 baby carrots (about 12 ounces)
5 small red potatoes, quartered (about 8 ounces)
4 medium shallots, halved lengthwise
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 ounces haricots verts, trimmed

Sauce:
2/3 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons chopped shallots
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons butter


Preparation
1. To prepare crab cakes, combine first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl. Gently fold in crabmeat. Gently stir in 3/4 cup panko. Cover and chill 30 minutes.

2. Divide crab mixture into 8 equal portions (about 1/2 cup each); shape each into a 3/4-inch-thick patty. Place remaining 3/4 cup panko in a shallow dish. Working with 1 patty at a time, dredge in panko. Repeat procedure with the remaining patties and panko.

3. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat both sides of crab cakes with cooking spray. Add 4 crab cakes to pan; cook 7 minutes. Carefully turn cakes over; cook 7 minutes or until golden. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil, cooking spray, and remaining 4 crab cakes.

4. Preheat oven to 450°.

5. To prepare vegetables, leave root and 1-inch stem on carrots; scrub with a brush. Combine carrots, potatoes, and shallots in a small roasting pan. Coat vegetables with cooking spray; sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt. Toss. Bake at 450° for 20 minutes, turning once. Coat haricots verts with cooking spray. Add haricots verts to vegetable mixture; toss. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

6. To prepare sauce, combine broth, shallots, and vinegar in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1/4 cup (about 4 minutes); remove from heat. Stir in butter. Serve with crab cakes and vegetables.

Yield
4 servings (serving size: 2 crab cakes, about 1 cup vegetables, and about 1 1/2 tablespoons sauce)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 443(34% from fat); FAT 16.7g (sat 5.6g,mono 5.2g,poly 2.9g); PROTEIN 32.8g; CHOLESTEROL 103mg; CALCIUM 163mg; SODIUM 969mg; FIBER 7g; IRON 2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 42g

David Bonom , Cooking Light, APRIL 2008