Food | Shrimp Cakes

I spent the better part of last week lamenting about my boredom with food; the first week of cleansing went well, I was coming up with some amazing food ideas. But in week two, I lost the zest, if you will.

They say that week one is the hardest part of a cleanse; but I think “they” have never done a cleanse for longer than a week. Week two was filled with slip ups- cake, chocolate, chips- and plateaus- I went 3 days with no weight loss. Yes this cleanse is for my health but it’s also in the name of vanity, I will admit that free and clear. So yeah, I wanted to quit; but it’s a journey. And having been overweight as a child, I know that that for me personally, this will be a lifelong journey.



I went to a movie on Saturday and I had a whole bag of popcorn, not just 15 kernels; and Sunday I woke up feeling like I needed to dig myself out of this cleanse rut. So I thought to myself, what do I want to eat- REALLY want to eat? I initially thought of pasta, but then I thought, I could really go for a crab cake with spicy aioli- why a crab cake? I have no idea. But I set out to make this classically heavy, mayo laden, and creamy dish into something that even we cleansers can enjoy.



For the dressing, I swapped out the mayo for Greek yogurt. I made homemade ancient grain breadcrumbs from toast and I used egg- not mayo- to bind the cakes together. Although a bit time consuming, because of the shrimp peeling, breadcrumb making, shrimp cake resting- it was the most satisfying meal I’d in had in a week. It was new, it was fresh, and it was cleanse friendly. Just call me Stella, because I’ve got my groove back!

Shrimp Cakes
16 cooked large shrimp (about 1 pound), peeled, deveined
1 large egg
1 green onion, sliced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced cilantro
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch of ground black pepper
4 pieces of flax bread, toasted
1 tbsp canola oil

Dipping Sauce
1 cup Balkan style yogurt
¼ cup minced cilantro
1 tsp hot pepper sauce
½ tsp lemon juice

To make breadcrumbs, toast 4 pieces of bread until really toasted. Cool and then crumble into crumbs. Easy, no? Yes.

In a food processor add 1 cup of breadcrumbs and the rest of the ingredients and pulse until incorporated, but still chunky. Roll into balls and flatten. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a bowl combine the yogurt, cilantro, pepper sauce and lemon juice. Set aside. Heat oil in a non stick skillet on medium high heat. Roll the chilled shrimp cakes in the breadcrumbs and cook for 3 minutes on each side. Serve with a dollop of yogurt sauce.