I've been experimenting with hearts of palm for years, and these fake crab cakes might be my favorite discovery yet. The texture is surprisingly convincing when you shred the hearts of palm just right and squeeze out the excess moisture. The whole idea started when my daughter came home from college talking about all the amazing seafood her roommates were making. Since we keep kosher, traditional crab cakes weren't an option, but I remembered reading about using hearts of palm as a substitute. The stringy, flaky texture really does mimic crab meat once you work with it properly. You want to drain those cans thoroughly and then use your hands to break apart the hearts of palm into irregular pieces. Don't make them too uniform or they'll look too fake. What makes these cakes work is the right balance of binding ingredients. I use a combination of mayonnaise, egg, and just enough breadcrumbs to hold everything together without making them heavy. The key seasonings are Old Bay seasoning (which is kosher), fresh lemon juice, and a touch of Dijon mustard. The mixture needs to chill for at least 30 minutes before forming the patties, otherwise they'll fall apart when you cook them. These work beautifully as an appetizer with a simple remoulade sauce, or you can serve them as a light lunch with a green salad. They're also great for Shabbat meals when you want something that feels a bit fancy but doesn't require too much last-minute preparation. The cakes can be formed ahead of time and refrigerated until you're ready to cook them.