Zucchini and Kelp Cake with Seaweed Aioli by Brooks Headley

This is a vegan variation on crab cakes, using kelp as the sea element, with a creamy eggless mayo studded with seaweed.

• Seaweed Aioli

  • 3 tablespoons golden flax seed, ground

  • 1⁄2 cup water

  In a medium saucepan, combine the ground flax and water, and heat, stirring occasionally, until you have a thick slurry.

  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

  • 1 tablespoon cane sugar

  • 2 teaspoons salt

  • 1⁄4 cup cider vinegar

  • 2 cups grapeseed oil

  • 1⁄2 cup chopped kelp

  To the bowl of a food processor with the blade attachment, add the flax slurry along with the mustard, sugar, salt, and vinegar. Pulse and stream in the grapeseed oil until a stable mayo-like consistency is achieved. Add the kelp, and process until it’s studded throughout the dressing. The kelp will not totally break down, but will remain in tiny pieces in the mayo. This makes more than you will need, but it holds well in the refrigerator for 1 week.

  Zucchini and Kelp Cake

  • 2 cups grated zucchini

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1 cup bread crumbs

  • 2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning

  • 2 tablespoons seaweed aioli (see above)

  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

  • Freshly ground black pepper

  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

  • 1 cup chopped kelp

  A few glugs extra-virgin olive oil, for sautéeing Fresh lemon juice, to garnish Combine the grated zucchini with the salt, and set in a strainer; place a ziplocked bag filled with ice on top of it. Allow the zucchini to drain for 30 minutes. Mix the drained zucchini with the remainder of the ingredients (except the lemon juice) until combined and sticky. Form into patties, and sauté in olive oil over high heat until golden on both sides. Top each cake with a dollop of the seaweed aioli and a squirt of lemon juice. Serve immediately.

Excerpted from EAT LIKE A FISH by Bren Smith. Copyright © 2019 by Bren Smith. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.