So, I'm not really a huge fan of seafood. Okay... and by that... I mean I absolutely cannot and will not eat any sort of seafood. I've been that way for my entire life, even after living on the Oregon coast for 5 years! It has nothing to do with taste or texture, because honestly... I've had very few tastes of seafood. It is completely a mental block.

My mom says that if I would just try seafood, I would love it. Hah. Good luck getting me to try any! With all of that being said, I can't help but day dream and wonder when I see a beautiful fresh seafood dish. One thing I think I would enjoy is a crab cake.

So, this is basically my vegetarian... vegan... paleo take on a crab cake!

Seriously. This is good stuff right here. I couldn't help myself, and I ended up eating two! Yes, that's just how amazing these bad boys taste. Plus, they hardly take any time at all to toss together. I think all in all, I was in the kitchen for about 15-20 minutes. And that included the time to grill my asparagus!

You must, must, must serve this with the lemon wedge! It adds so much to this dish.

I really cannot say enough good things about this dish. It was light, clean, filling, easy... and tasted absolutely amazing. And with only about 100 calories per cake, why not enjoy two?

I can't wait to play around with this recipe a little more to make variations of it in the future.

This recipe will definitely be going into rotation to be served rather often here in my house. It's a perfect guilt free week night meal to toss together and enjoy!

Chickpea & Quinoa Cakes
TheSkinnyFork.com

The Skinny:
Servings: 6 • Size: 1 'Cake' • Calories: 109.2 • Fat: 1.4 g • Carb: 20.2 g • Fiber: 3.4 g • Protein: 4.7 g • Sugar: 0.8 g • Sodium: 121.7 mg

Ingredients:
1 Small Onion, Chopped
2-3 Garlic Cloves, Minced
1/2 Red Bell Pepper, Chopped
1 C. Chickpeas, Drained & Rinsed
1/2 Lemon, Zested & Juiced
3/4 C. Quinoa, Cooked
1/2 C. Fresh Cilantro, Chopped
2 Tbsp. Chickpea Flour (Any other flour will probably work too if not trying to be GF.)
1 Chive, Sliced
Salt & Pepper to Taste
Pinch Cayenne
Pinch Cumin
2-3 Tbsp. Panko or Bread Crumbs (Again I used a gluten free option.)

Directions:

Lightly coat a skillet with some non-stick cooking spray and toss the onion, garlic, and red bell pepper into it. Cook over a medium heat until the veggies are tender; about 2-3 minutes.

Set the cooked veggies aside and place the chickpeas and lemon juice into a food processor. Blend until crumbly sort of paste forms and all the chickpeas are smashed.

Combine all the ingredients (except for the bread crumbs) together into a large mixing bowl, including the cooked veggies and mashed chickpeas.

Using about 1/4 c of the mixture, carefully form into rounded patties that are about 1/4" thick.

Place the bread crumbs into a shallow bowl and carefully press each of the patties down into it.

Lightly coat a large skillet with non-stick cooking spray and heat it over medium to medium-high heat.

Place the patties into the skillet and cook for about 2-3 minutes per side. Flip carefully!

Serve right away with some veggies and a wedge of lemon.

Enjoy!