Appetizer Dinner w/ Lolo Food, "Crab" cakes, and Mac and Cheese

I decided to do an all-appetizer dinner. I had made the mac-and-cheese (soul veg recipe) the day before, and started the "crab cakes" before work and let them sit in the fridge while I was gone.







Lolo's jalapeno poppers were awesome...I just don't like the flavour/heat of jalapenos. The batter and the filling were both excellent, and the person I made them for liked them a lot. I tried to just eat the batter and filling and it was *still* too hot for me because it was in the pepper. If I find a pepper I love then I will definitely make these again!

"Crab" Cakes
This recipe is from Vegcooking.com. We actually ate at Sluggo's once. It was a weird day. My cat Coral had passed away and we had his funeral and needed to get out and so we drove and saw Islands in Pensacola at Sluggo's. I had the crab cakes and they were really good. I was glad to see the recipe on vegweb.



1 block firm tofu
1/4 green pepper, finely chopped
1/4 red pepper, finely chopped
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
3 medium carrots, grated
2 celery stalks, diced
1/2 cup dried cornbread crumbs (I used more than this to keep it together)
1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise (try Vegenaise)
1/8 cup Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. dill
1 Tbsp. dried basil
2 Tbsp. Cajun seasoning (I used Cachere's and Old Bay)
1 tsp. white pepper
Salt, to taste
Japanese panko bread crumbs for coating the cakes
Oil for frying

• Crumble the tofu into a mixing bowl. Add all the ingredients, except for the panko and oil, and stir together well, making sure that the cornbread crumbs are thoroughly mashed so that there aren’t any big pieces. If the mixture is too wet, add another 1/4 cup of cornbread crumbs. If it’s too dry, add a little more vegan mayonnaise.
• Using your hands, roll about 1/4 cup of the mixture at a time into balls, then roll in the panko until coated. Flatten into cakes.
• Heat the oil on a flat-top grill or in a large iron skillet until hot. Fry the cakes until golden brown.

Makes 3 Servings

Tartar Sauce
"Glop" Vegenaise
smaller "glop" dill relish
squirt lemon juice
black pepper

Notes:
*If using a food processor to fine-chop the veggies/tofu, DRAIN WELL. I had to add a lot of cornbread crumbs even though I dried pretty well.
*I also tried baking these by doing everything above, except cooking at 400F for about 20 minutes in an oiled pan.
*If baking, you may want to add egg replacer powder. 1 Tbsp egg replacer and 1-2 Tbsp water. You want to add as little moisture as possible, as it will already be pretty wet.