Oven-baked lump crab cakes with oats and an arugula-tomato salad

Ingredients

0 of 23 out on the counter

• 12 oz cooked lump blue crab from a container, drained and picked over for shell
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp light mayonnaise
• 2 tsp prepared yellow mustard
• 1 tbsp lemon juice, for the cakes
• ½ cup chopped red bell pepper
• ½ cup chopped celery
• 4 medium scallions (15 g each), sliced thin
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• ½ cup rolled oats, pulsed to a coarse crumb
• 1 tsp paprika
• ¼ tsp celery seed
• ½ tsp ground mustard seed
• ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp black pepper, for the cakes
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp olive oil, for the sheet and the tops
• 6 cups baby arugula
• 1½ cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup sliced cucumber
• 1 tbsp olive oil, for the salad
• 2 tbsp lemon juice, for the salad
• ¼ tsp black pepper, for the salad

All set! Everything is out. Time to bake.

Method

1. 1Pulse the oats in a blender or food processor 5 or 6 times, until most are the size of coarse crumbs. Drain the crab in a colander, press it gently with a spoon, and spread it on a plate. Pick out any bits of shell you see.
2. 2In a large bowl stir the egg, mayonnaise, mustard, 1 tbsp lemon juice, paprika, celery seed, ground mustard, cayenne, ½ tsp pepper and garlic powder until smooth. Stir in the bell pepper, celery, scallions, parsley and oat crumbs. Fold in the crab with a rubber spatula, keeping the lumps whole. No salt goes in; the crab already carries it.
3. 3Shape 8 cakes, about ⅓ cup each (an estimate from the weight of the mix), pressing so each holds together. Set them on a plate, cover, and chill 30 minutes so the oats soak up the moisture and the cakes firm.
4. 4While they chill, heat the oven to 425 °F. Spread half the olive oil (½ tbsp) over a rimmed baking sheet, then lay the chilled cakes on it and brush the tops with the other ½ tbsp. All 1 tbsp is counted, though some stays on the sheet.
5. 5Bake 10 minutes, turn each cake once with a wide spatula, and bake 8 to 10 minutes more, until the outside is deep gold and the middle reads 160 °F on a thermometer (USDA, egg dishes). The crab is already cooked; the egg is what needs the heat. Shellfish is done when the flesh is pearly or white and opaque (HHS/USDA/FDA/CDC).
6. 6Toss the arugula, tomatoes and cucumber with the salad olive oil, 2 tbsp lemon juice and ¼ tsp pepper. Plate 2 cakes on about 2 cups of salad per person. Refrigerate leftover cakes within 2 hours, or within 1 hour if it is above 90 °F out (CDC). Reheat to 165 °F.