Parmesan Crabcakes and New Potato Salad with Green Beans

For dinner this week, I’ll be cooking from Norway. I am taking the same approach I did with Ireland, using a newer cookbook that creates gourmet dishes, using Norwegian ingredients, because traditional recipes just aren’t as appealing to me.

For our first night, I found a recipe for crab cakes that looked good. JJ’s obsessed with crab cakes, so I knew they’d make him happy. The few other times I’ve made them, I used a Creole recipe from Emeril, but this recipe was quite different, really showcasing the actual crab. I didn’t eat them, but JJ said they were outstanding.

I was drawn to the potato salad because it screamed summer to me, all of the fresh herbs in a lemon vinaigrette, it was delicious! It really cleaned out my areo garden! It was extremely herb-y, but not overkill, in my opinion. The lemon really balanced it, and the capers added a nice bit of salt.

These recipes are both from Kitchen of Light by Andreas Viestad.

Parmesan Crab cakes with New Potato and Green Bean Salad

Crabcakes:
6 oz. lump crab, picked over for shells
1 egg white
¼ c. panko bread crumbs
¼ c. chopped parsley
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
¼ c. parmesan cheese, shaved
EVOO for frying

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, form into 4 patties.

Preheat a nonstick skillet over medium high, add EVOO to coat, drop cakes in. Brown on first side, about 5 minutes, and flip. Brown on the second side for 4 minutes. Plate with extra parmesan and parsley.

New Potato Salad with Green Beans:

1 lb. new potatoes, quartered
1 lb. fresh green beans, ends snapped
2 cloves garlic, pasted with salt
2 tbsp. capers
¼ c. fresh herbs, chopped, such as parsley, mint, dill, basil, and thyme
Zest and Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 tbsp. EVOO
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Place potatoes in a large pot of cold water, cover and bring to a boil. Cook for about 10 minutes, until just under fork tender. Add green beans to the pot and blanch for 2 minutes. Drain beans and potatoes into a colander, set aside and bring to room temperature.

In a large mixing bowl, combine garlic, capers, herbs, lemon, vinegar, EVOO, and salt and pepper. Whisk to combine. Add potatoes and beans, fold dressing mixture over and mix, be careful to not break potatoes. Serve at room temperature.

fistfuls of fresh herbs...yum!