Tasty, Healthy Shrimp Cakes

I'm going to cut to the chase, skip the story, and tell you that this recipe was excellent — please try it! It was easy to make, healthy, very fresh, and so so (so) good. My recipe is adapted from Cooking Light (but I promise it doesn't taste like diet food).

Shrimp Cakes Recipe (makes 8-10 medium-size shrimp cakes)

Ingredients:
1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallion
3 tbsp. reduced-fat mayo
1 tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 tsp. hot sauce (or to taste)
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups panko, divided
Cooking spray

Directions:

• Place shrimp in a food processor; pulse about 10 times or until finely chopped. Note that this shrimp puree is sticky and kind of weird to work with, but trust me it's worth it! Set aside.
• Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, and coat pan with cooking spray. Add bell pepper to pan and sauté for about 3 minutes. Add the minced garlic to the pan, and sauté for another minute or two until fragrant. Remove from heat and let the pepper mixture cool. 
• Add shrimp, scallion, mayo, lime juice, sugar, hot sauce, and egg to the bowl, stirring together well. Then stir in the cilantro and 1/2 cup panko.
• Divide shrimp mixture into 8 equal portions, shaping each portion into a patty about a 1/2-inch thick. Put the remaining panko into a bowl, and carefully coat both sides of the patties, placing each one onto a cookie sheet or other flat surface. Chill the patties at least one hour. (I was short on time so I put them in the freezer for about 20 minutes instead.) This step helps to keep the patties together when you cook them.
• Heat a shallow pan or griddle over medium-high heat and coat with cooking spray (or olive oil if you prefer). Place as many cakes as will fit in a single layer on the pan, and cook 4 minutes on each side or until browned. When you place the cakes on the pan/griddle, try to fight your instinct to peek at the bottoms — letting them sit undisturbed on the pan will help the bottoms to brown nicely.

• Remove from pan and cover with foil to keep warm as you repeat procedure with remaining cakes. 

The original recipe recommends serving these with a corn/avocado salsa. While I'm sure their recipe is delicious, I didn't have time to make it nor did I have the ingredients on hand. I didn't think they needed anything except a squeeze from a lemon wedge!

This recipe is definitely being added to our rotation. You could also probably make mini shrimp cakes and serve them as a delicious appetizer — that would be a good party!

I'd love to know if you love the recipe as much as we did and how you served it!