Shrimp & Sweet Potato Cakes (Think Crab Cakes)

With sweet potatoes at home I wanted to find another way to use them besides sweet potato fries (I am afraid I will be very disappointed should I attempt them as they will probably taste nothing like the Trader Joe's ones). Last night I did a little searching and found the idea of shrimp & sweet potato cakes. I altered several different recipes I found, catering them to both our taste in food and what I had on hand. 

The result of this food experiment, was a delicious little cake that is very reminiscent of a crab cake, but also differently flavored. We topped them on spinach and baby cucumbers that were lightly seasoned with white balsamic vinegar. 

If not obvious already...I LOVE balsamic. 

These little guys would be great on there own as well though...or dipped in a garlic butter sauce. Mmmm butter. We went a little healthier than that option with our salad though.

So here's how to do it:

Shrimp & Sweet Potato Cakes

Ingredients:

shrimp (about 8 ounces)

2 sweet potatoes

1 clove garlic

cilantro (leaves from 5-10 stems - or to taste)

3 green onions

1tsp coriander seeds, black pepper (to taste), 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp cumin 

1/2 c. cracker or bread crumbs

Method:

Thaw shrimp if frozen, remove tails and coarsely chop.

Pierce sweet potatoes and microwave for 5 minutes or until soft. Remove skins and mash in bowl.

 Saute minced garlic until fragrant with cilantro, then mash in with potatoes. 

 Crush coriander seeds and saute until fragrant with pepper and cumin. Add spices to sugar and salt and mix with crumbs.

Combine spices/crumbs, green onions, and shrimp with potato mixture.

 Preheat oven to 375°

 Form mixture into patties (I made 8 approx 2" patties)

Lightly coat patties in flour. 

 Heat 3 tbsp oil in pan and brown each patty for about 2 minutes per side.

 Add additional oil if needed. Patties will be golden on each side.

 

 Place on cookie sheet. If desired sprinkle with course salt. Bake for approximately 10-15 minutes.

Allow to cool slightly before serving. Num!

Again we paired it with a spinach salad and balsamic, but they would be great alone too :)