Castellon's Kitchen: Easy Crab Cakes with Remoulade Sauce

I strike up the most interesting conversations with total strangers pretty much every time I leave my house. Whether it's at the grocery store, pumping gas, while on a walk, taking the trash out, or at a dog park. I feel like I meet these random strangers at the most perfect time in my life as I wrestle with my own life struggle or insecurity. I gain so much from these seemingly innocent chance encounters. Today, I took my dog to the dog park and walked in with an older man in a wheelchair. We are new to the dog park but, I noticed him from the day before. He was clearly a local as he greeted most of the dogs by name and dog parents with a warm hello.
He was very open and talkative as our two dogs ran off to spend an hour at doggie Disneyland. He told me all about his life without asking. He was on the job as a Firefighter en route to an emergency when he and his partner were hit by a drunk driver. His partner died on impact and he survived. And survived he did. In the hour I spent with him, he highlighted the most life changing, most important details of his life. He told me about his wife and her strength and her never give up attitude. How after he got home from the hospital and had to re-adjust to his new reality of being in a wheelchair. His wife told him to clean the bathroom and kitchen floors as she left to run an errand with a neighbor. The neighbor was shocked and said, "How can you tell him to do that? He's in a wheelchair." His wife said, "He crawls on the ground better than I do. He can clean the floors." As he recollected about his wife, his affection was obvious and I could tell that he gained strength from her. He was tough as nails honest and hardworking. He talked about his 4 boys and how immensely proud he was of all of them. He talked about his own father and how he instilled the honor of hard work and perseverance. He was a proud, tough and happy man and I am lucky to have met him. He was a strong reminder for me to be proud of my life and embrace the challenges and regret nothing. He also made me miss my dad. My dad used to remind me of who I was when I'd lose myself or when I was feeling low. But today, I found a small vestige of my father in a complete stranger in that when we parted ways, I felt better after spending some time with him.

Here is an quick and easy lite lunch that a snap to make with some imitation crab and poached white fish fillets. These are versatile in that you can also serve these as a crab burger with a bun and all the fixins. Add green tomatoes and coleslaw and more remoulade sauce...Yummy!
I added tons of small diced veggies (of course) but feel free to finely mince them if you like a less rustic Crab Cake.

Easy Crab Cakes with Remoulade Sauce

Makes 8

1 package imitation crab, chopped
2 small cod fillets, poached and chopped
1/4 cup celery, small dice
1/4 cup red pepper, small dice
3 T parsley, chopped
1 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1 t garlic powder
2 T Dijon mustard
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 t Old Bay Seasoning

flour and pepper mixture for dredging (to taste)
canola oil for frying

Easy Remoulade Sauce
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 T Dijon mustard
2 T Creole seasoning

Combine all ingredients for the crab cakes and add more bread crumbs as needed to form crab cake patties. Dredge patties in flour/pepper mixture. Pan fry patties until browned and heated through. Drain on a paper towels. Serve with Remoulade Sauce, mixed greens and peppered radishes and lemon.