I heard about a vegan restaurant in California using hearts of palm to make ‘crab’ cakes a few weeks ago and have been keen to experiment ever since.  These were my first attempt and they were really tasty but I personally think I may add a bit of potato to the mix next time as the texture was quite crunchy and I think a combination of soft/crunchy may work better.  I also found that although they looked quite ‘crabby’ the taste and texture was quite different to the crab-unfriendly version (from what I can remember!) Having said that, these are still well worth a try for something a little different plus they taste good in their own right and they’re healthy!

If anyone else has experimented with crabless ‘crab’ cakes then please do post a comment to let me know how you got on and to share any tips or ideas you might have.

(Serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a main)

• Tin of hearts of palm – roughly chopped into small pieces and make sure you buy it with salt, not sugar!
• 1 small bunch of radishes – topped, tailed and grated
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic – peeled and crushed
• Drizzle of organic sunflower oil
• 5 teaspoons of paprika
• 6 teaspoons of dill – fresh or dried
• Juice of one lemon
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Panko breadcrumbs to coat

1. Once prepared place the hearts of palm, radishes and garlic into a sieve and using the back of a spoon force out as much of the liquid as possible (for the mixture to hold together in the pan later you don’t want too much moisture)
2. Add the oil, hearts of palm, radishes, onion and garlic to a pan and gently fry for a few minutes to soften
3. Add the paprika, dill, lemon juice and salt and pepper
4. Leave the mixture on the side to cool down to room temperature and then place in the fridge for 20 minutes to chill further
5. Using either your hands or chef rings mould the mixture into patties and coat in panko breadcrumbs
6. Fry in a little oil for a few minutes each side until nicely browned
7. Serve with a green salad, dill sauce (mix soya yoghurt, dill and lemon juice) and a wedge of fresh lemon