Crab Apple Cakes with Kale-Walnut Pesto

Hey hey and happy Friday!

Wait, we did all live to see another day, right??

I sure hope so, because I’ve been waiting ALL week to share my latest
#strangebutgood recipe with you guys!

Apple Crab Cakes with Kale Walnut Pesto

I’m not gonna lie, as soon as the ELF Fritatta made it’s debut last week,
I started making my list of ideas and I may or may not have Googled a few things just to make sure they were actually considered “strange”! ๐Ÿ˜‰

But this week, I decided to throw myself a hook…

NO trips to the store.

I thought it would help with my creativity since I always tend to come up with the best combos when I’m trying to clean out the fridge.

Leeks

And besides, I’ve got enough leeks to last me for WEEKS!*

*Oh snap! I made a rhyme! ๐Ÿ˜€

So I dug through the fridge and came back out with this:

Leek & Apple Crab Cakes Ingredients

One (freakishly large) leek, half a pound of lump crabmeat, and an apple (the other slices got a little camera-shy).

Apple Crab Cakes with Kale Walnut Pesto 4

You may think it’s a little “strange” to pair fruit with seafood, but you’ve just gotta trust me on this…the light sweetness of the apple along with the mild onion flavor of the leeks makes for a really great flavor combination!

Apple Crab Cakes with Kale Walnut Pesto 3

And topped with a creamy, you’ll-be-licking-the-food-processor pesto?

Apple & Pesto

Seriously folks, you might want to make extra of THIS!

I think you see where I’m going with this…

Just TRUST ME!

Apple Crab Cakes with Kale Walnut Pesto

By: Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Keywords: saute bake entrรฉe high protein seafood crabmeat walnuts apple kale

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Ingredients (Serves 4)

    For the Crab Cakes

    • 2 teaspoons olive oil
    • 1 cup finely diced leeks
    • 1/2 cup finely diced onions
    • 1 garlic clove, minced
    • 1 apple, diced and separated
    • 1/2 lb. jumbo lump crabmeat
    • 1 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
    • 2 Tablespoons ground flax
    • 3 egg whites
    • 2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

    For the Kale Walnut Pesto

    • 3 handfuls raw kale, de-stemmed and coarsely chopped
    • 1/2 cup walnuts
    • 1/8 cup olive oil
    • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
    • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
    • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (enhances the flavor of the kale)
    • salt & pepper to taste

    Instructions

    For the Crab Cakes

    1. Preheat oven to 350ยฐF.
    2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
    3. Add leeks, onions, and garlic and saute until tender (about 5 minutes).
    4. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
    5. Transfer leeks and onions to a large bowl and add HALF of the apple, crabmeat, bread crumbs, egg whites, and mustard and mix well.
    6. Using your hands, form 8 crab cakes from the mixture.
    7. Heat a skillet to medium-high heat and coat with cooking spray.
    8. Add crab cakes and cook 5 minutes per side.
    9. Transfer cakes to baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
    10. Serve with Kale Walnut pesto and the rest of the diced apple.

    For the Kale Walnut Pesto

    1. Place kale in a large pot with about 1 inch of water in the bottom, cover and allow to steam on high for 5 minutes.
    2. Rinse in cool water.
    3. Combine kale, walnuts, oil, lemon juice and spices in a food processor and process until creamy.

    Makes 1 cup

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    Nutrition facts on left are for TWO crab cakes and the ones on the right are for FOUR Tablespoons of pesto:

    Kale-Walnut Pesto NutritionApple Crab Cakes Nutrition

     

     

     

     

     

     

    All for a grand total of 400 calories and over 25 grams of protein!

    Apple Crab Cakes with Kale Walnut Pesto 2

    ย Strange, good, and packed with a protein PUNCH…just how I like it! ๐Ÿ˜€

    Strange But Good S2TT

    Now click on over to Sprint 2 the Table and check out what my other Weird Foodie Clubย ย constituents are cooking up this week! ๐Ÿ˜€

    Have you ever tried pairing fruit with seafood?
    Besides a mango salsa for fish tacos, I actually never tried it until I saw Laura do it!

    Fess up…who out there thought the end of the world was coming?!

     

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    20 Responses to Crab Apple Cakes with Kale-Walnut Pesto

    1. I don’t eat crab, but I’m sure I could find a bean that would like to end up in these cakes! Great recipe, Heather!!

      • kissmybroccoli says:

        Oh wow Fran, that’s a GREAT idea! I may have to tinker with that this week! Lord knows I’ve got enough of those leeks left! Lol Thank you!

    2. I can’t remember the last time i had crabcakes, they’re definitely favourites of mine! I never would have thought to put apples in it…that’s creativity at it’s best, clearly.

      • kissmybroccoli says:

        I swear I wouldn’t have either! This new link up that Laura’s got going has really got my foodie freak flag flying! Lol

    3. Crab cakes look beautiful. Pesto looks delish. Yummy.

    4. I like the idea of buying you a Swiss passport more and more when I see your recipes, haha ๐Ÿ™‚
      These look SO good and what a creative idea to pair fruits with seafood! I bet it’s delicious!
      I am really glad this eff day is finally here and will end soon. My man refused to make any ‘important’ decisions befroe that day. Seriously, I mean….well. We’re still here. right? ๐Ÿ™‚

      • kissmybroccoli says:

        Oh my gosh, hahaha! I wonder how many other people did that too? I honestly didn’t even remember until Thursday! Lol

        You are too sweet doll! Wish I could beam myself over there for ya! ๐Ÿ˜‰

    5. I am a obsessed with the thought of this pesto!!! And the cakes, of course. You know my crab obsession. Definitely a strange but good winner!

      Now I’m craving leeks at 9am. Strange. But not a bad thing.

    6. I love crabcakes!! Such a great idea.

    7. Again, you’re a genius. I LOVE crab and I’m not a fan of plain kale, but pesto is amazing. You’ve done it again Heather ๐Ÿ™‚

      • kissmybroccoli says:

        Oh my gosh girl, if you like pesto, then you’ll LOVE this…the walnut flavor is so present and even though there are three cups of kale, it’s not overpowering at all!

        PS, you always have the sweetest comments! Just want you to know I love you for that! ๐Ÿ˜€

    8. Kale pesto. Brilliant idea! I love reading food blogs because I get so inspired.

      My farm delivery included leeks last week and I’m so happy to have them. Tonight they’ll go on a pizza, but the rest . . . who knows? Perhaps a crab cake is in my future!

    9. Sarah says:

      These look soooo good! I absolutely love crab cakes! And apple in them….pure sweet and savory perfection!

    10. That pesto sounds amazing!! Do you use the green part of the leek or just the white?? I have always only used the white, but at PF Chang’s they used the green!

      • kissmybroccoli says:

        I used both the white and green…just chopped up the whole thing and mixed it up! I’ve been adding them to everything lately since I’ve got so many! Lol

    11. I mean…some might consider this strange, but I think it sounds AMAZING. One of my favorite salads in Austin featured a salmon salad made with apples. Of course, I like this one better just because you get to play with the word crabapple. (Obviously.)

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