Thursday Dinner

Crab Cakes with roasted asparagus, basmati rice, and hollandaise sauce

One-pound tubs of pasteurized (refrigerated) crabmeat are on sale this week at Harris Teeter. At $11.99/lb, it's still way out of my price range. But I tell you this because it's likely they've ordered extra for the sale, and that increases the possibility that they'll be overstocked and have to eventually mark some down. That's how I ran across several tubs of crabmeat marked down to - wait for it - $4 each. The store had 6 at that price, but I knew I couldn't use up that many so I only bought 3. They went straight into my freezer, but I plan to use them up fairly quickly anyway.

The crab cakes recipe I used is fairly standard. There are a zillion variations that call for onions, celery and/or bell peppers, but I really think simpler is better. On the side I served roasted fresh asparagus ($1.29/lb at Harris Teeter), hollandaise sauce (from a Knorr mix), and basmati rice (Uncle Ben's Ready Rice packages - only 4 cents each during triple coupons 2 weeks ago! I'm embarrassed to tell you how many I bought at that price). It was a wonderful dinner but I really wish crab cakes smelled as good as they taste, because now the kitchen fairly reeks of fish. Yuck!

Crab Cakes

1 lb. pasteurized crabmeat, picked over
1 egg
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tsp. mayonnaise (I used Hellman's Light)
10 saltine crackers, crushed
1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning

Combine ingredients and form into patties. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to "set up," then pan fry in hot oil for 3 - 4 minutes per side, or until nicely browned. Squeeze a fresh lemon wedge over before serving.

Totals:

$4 - crabmeat
.08 - 2 packages basmati rice (see above)
$1.29 - asparagus
.75 - hollandaise mix
.25 - additional ingredients (milk, butter, egg, etc.)

$6.37 for dinner for 3, plus leftover everything for lunch tomorrow

(For The Kid's lunch tomorrow I'm making a crabcake sandwich on a hamburger bun with lettuce, tomato, and light mayo mixed with more Old Bay. My lunch will be leftover rice and asparagus with hollandaise.)