Growing up further south than my current home in the mid-Atlantic region, I confess my experience with crab cakes – vegan or otherwise – has been relatively limited. I ate them on occasion, of course, but not enough to actually remember and/or appreciate them. We tried Sophie’s Kitchen’s vegan crab cakes over the summer and enjoyed them quite a lot, but I always felt there was a better way to prepare them than simply baking them in the oven. Enter: The smoker!
As I know I’ve mentioned before, my charcoal smoker has two grates to work with. On the lower one, closest to the coals, I placed a whole spaghetti squash from Bigg Riggs Farm (after piercing it several times with a fork – the squash, that is, not Bigg Riggs!). Then I added my second grate to the smoker and placed four vegan crab cakes on top, then closed the lid and waited for the temperature to heat up. The weather was so wet tonight that I decided to add some more charcoal than usual, and I’m so glad I did! It helped tremendously in keeping the heat higher as the humidity set in.
Ninety minutes later, with very little care-taking in the interim, the squash was soft and the crab cakes were smoky and firm (and cooked through). So I steamed a bag of mixed vegetables quickly in the microwave and began to work on separating the spaghetti squash. First, I sliced the squash in half lengthwise, and then I scooped out the seeds with a small spoon. Next, once most of the seeds were taken care of, I used a fork to scrape the flesh of the squash, causing little spaghetti-like strands to appear. I continued doing this until there was no more flesh to scrape, and then I placed everything in a serving bowl, added a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, and stirred to combine.
The crab cakes were simpler still: All they required was a shift from grate to plate, accompanied by some homemade dipping sauce (Just Mayo + ketchup = excitement!). I confess we enjoyed them so much that we each ate two! But I can think of worse foods to gorge on.
The mixed veggies rounded out the plate just beautifully, as always, and also per usual there were no shreds left in the bowl by dinner’s end. We do love a vegetable!
I was thrilled with the results of the smoked crab cakes tonight. The smoker did a great job of infusing additional flavor into the patties, and the low-and-slow cooking actually improved their texture and firmed them up much more than they had been in the regular oven. Next time, I might add a little squeeze of lemon juice during the last 30 minutes of cooking, or perhaps a dusting of chipotle powder, but that might just be gilding the lily. We loved them just as they were tonight!
Happy New Year, everyone!
:)