Vegan Crab Cakes with Mango Pineapple Sauce, Sweet Coconut Rice and Spicy Sesame Green Beans {gluten free, soy free}

Sometimes I feel like my life is a series of food experiences as I always associate specific memories and life events with what I ate at the time. I think it began when I was little, because my mom always made a really big deal of our birthdays. We got to eat whatever we wanted (she would either cook or we could go to a restaurant. My mom is an amazing cook, so we would often request a homemade meal) and she always baked whatever dessert we requested, whether it was a cake (no matter what flavor), a pie or any other concoction.

Holidays were always centered on food as well. Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, it didn’t matter what the holiday was, there were always tables brimming with amazing food. My mom loved to take risks and try new things, especially for Christmas. She would often theme meals around our family heritage, with dishes from England, Wales and Germany gracing the table. It really is no wonder that food and good times are synonymous in my mind.

The recipes I am going to share with you today were a kind of recreation of one of my favorite memories, the day my husband proposed. It was Valentine’s Day, and it was one of those rare sunny days in Seattle. Everything was gloriously green (as it is year round there) and there was an uncharacteristic lack of dampness. We went to Kerry Park, which overlooks downtown Seattle and affords a fantastic view of the space needle. He got down on one knee, I cried and then we danced right there in the park to a cd compilation of Frank Sinatra my husband had made especially for that event. It was incredibly romantic! That night he took me to Ray’s Boathouse, and I had crab cakes for the first time in my life. That food was so incredible, one of those meals that lingers in your memory very vividly forever.

Since we are vegan now, we do not eat crab. I still love crab cakes though, and fortunately there are great vegan options that I am quite happy with. For this particular meal, I used Vegan Crab Cake, by Sophie’s Kitchen.

These amazing gluten and soy free (!!!) delicacies have great texture and flavor (ever so slightly fishy, definitely crabby). I also appreciate that they have a relatively short ingredient list. I rarely use store-bought “meat alternatives” just because I find it easier and less expensive to make my own. I also like to know exactly what is in my food. Sometimes I like to splurge, however, and these do very nicely. I have been able to find them in the frozen section of most health food stores, especially Natural Grocers and Whole Foods. I hope you like my plant-based approach to a delightful seafood meal. 😀

Vegan Crab Cakes with Mango Pineapple Sauce, Sweet Coconut Rice and Spicy Sesame Green Beans

Mango Pineapple Sauce

1 small, fresh pineapple

2 ripe mangoes

1. Peel and core the pineapple. Set half the pineapple aside. Dice the remaining half and put it in a medium sized mixing bowl.
2. Peel and seed the mangoes. Dice one mango and add it to the diced pineapple.
3. Combine the reserved half pineapple and mango in a high speed blender or food processor. Blitz until a thick sauce is formed.
4. Pour the blended sauce into the bowl with the diced fruit. Stir well and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Sweet Coconut Rice

14 ounces canned full fat coconut milk

2 cups water

2 cups brown jasmine rice

2 tablespoons raw agave nectar

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium sized saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to medium low. Simmer for 1 hour.
3. Remove from heat. Allow the rice to stand, covered, for about 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.

Spicy Sesame Green Beans

1 lb fresh green beans, snapped

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon Chili Garlic Sauce (May be found in the Asian section in most supermarkets)

1. Combine the green beans and water in a wok or large frying pan. Stir fry over medium-medium high heat until the green beans are just beginning to get tender.
2. Add remaining ingredients and continue to stir fry until the green beans are crisp tender.

To serve: Prepare the “crab” cakes according to recipe/package directions (I have found that for the Sophie’s Kitchens variety, pan frying them in a bit of oil gives the best results). Serve with a generous scoop of sweet coconut rice, spicy sesame green beans and mango pineapple sauce spooned over the “crab” cakes

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Tags: Food, plant based, recipe, seafood, vegan, vegetarian