Deadliest Catch Turned Healthy

While the rest of the world mourned the loss of Capt. Phil Harris, I took my own little stab at some crab. Lump crab to be exact. I'm ashamed to say that until this past Sunday, I had never even tasted crab. (Except in sushi which doesn't count.) But after watching Marcela Valladolid of the Food Network's Mexican Made Easy create these Spicy Crab Cakes, I just couldn't wait to get crabby.

I already knew the nutritional benefit of crab. For a 4 oz serving of lump crab (which literally refers to pieces of crab pulled from the shell in big lumps), you only consume ~80-100 calories, 0-1g fat, and nearly 15-20g of protein. You can't go wrong with that!* But what you can go wrong with is turning crab into cakes. Most crab cakes are fried, giving them that nice crispy outer layer. I still wanted that crunch for my cakes, but opted for a healthier way to do so. All you need to turn those panko crumbs (which I used sparingly by the way) a nice golden brown is just a very thin coating of olive oil or cooking spray on your pan. These cakes turned out to be perfectly crisp, but without all the absorbed, added fat from a thick layer of oil if I had chosen to really fry them.

Look how colorful the crab cakes turned out with all the cilantro in it. So pretty! I topped if off with some homemade guacamole (not pictured) like the recipe suggests for the perfect Mexican finish.

*I should point out some people consider crab meat to be high in cholesterol. A 4 oz serving of crab has about 80-90mg of cholesterol. However, it has little to no saturated fat, which are the fats that can also increase your body's cholesterol levels. As long as you choose low cholesterol foods throughout the rest of the day, I see no reason to avoid crab in your diet. This recipe does call for one egg (to help hold the ingredients together), and eggs are high in cholesterol. To reduce total cholesterol intake from these cakes, consider using Egg Beaters or egg whites in place of the yolk.