I bought 2 fresh crabs from the seafood market and was planning on making my favorite dish: tamarind crab. But as I was prepping the ingredients, we had surprise guests for lunch. So I improvised a crab salad with what we had available in the kitchen. All the extra ingredients and flavors in the salad help stretch the number of servings you can get out of 2 crabs, which is perfect when you’re entertaining.
To begin with, I boiled the crabs, removed the crab meat and drizzled it with lime juice. I added roasted green bell pepper, tomatoes, avocado and grilled eggplant. I served the crab salad with a flavorful wasabi-coconut salad dressing and toasted bread on the side.
1. Info for Seafood Crab Salad Recipe
- Cook Time: unavailable
- Total Time: unavailable
- Servings: 6
- Calories: unavailable
2. Ingredients for Seafood Crab Salad Recipe
- 2 whole fresh crabs
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon garlic chives
- 1 teaspoon French tarragon, finely chopped
- 2 dozen butter lettuce leaves
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 avocado
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 1 cup eggplant (1 small eggplant)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar (or any sweetener)
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons homemade mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons coconut milk
- ¼ teaspoon wasabi paste
3. Directions:
- Prepping the butter lettuce: Wash and spin dry the whole butter lettuce leaves. Shred the lettuce (see tips). Set aside.
- Prepping the avocado: Peel the avocado, remove the pit it and cut into cubes. Drizzle them with 1 tablespoon lime juice to avoid oxidation.
- For the grilled eggplant: Trim eggplant and slice lengthwise into 5 pieces. Layer a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet (to collect the excess moisture). Place the eggplant slices on the rack. Sprinkle with salt and let sit for about 20 minutes. Pat dry using a paper towel. Brush a hot griddle pan with olive oil. Drizzle oil on the eggplant slices. Place the slices on the griddle. Cook until you get grill marks (about 3-4 minutes on each side) on medium heat. Remove from the pan. Dice the grilled eggplant into 1 to 1-½” chunks. Set aside. Roasting the green bell pepper: Cut the stems off the pepper. Wash the bell pepper, pat dry and brush with oil. Place a grill on your stove and char all the skin of the peppers. Wrap in aluminum foil. Let cool for about 5-10 minutes until you can handle them without discomfort. Clean the peppers using a knife; the skin will come right off. Seed them and thinly slice the flesh. Set aside Making wasabi coconut salad dressing: In a bowl, dissolve the agave nectar in 1 tablespoon lime juice. Add the mustard, wasabi paste, mayonnaise, coconut milk and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt and set aside. Prepping the crab: Clean the crabs, brush and rinse thoroughly. Place in a pot, add about 1 to 1-½ cups of water and bring to a boil for about 10-15 minutes (see tips). Transfer to an ice water bath for about 3 minutes to stop the cooking process. Drain and discard all the liquid.
- Remove and discard the abdominal flaps (the triangle-shaped tail). Lift and separate the back-fin with the rest of the claws by placing a large tablespoon at the bottom of the crab. Remove and discard the ”lungs” (also known as Devil’s fingers); they have a spongy texture and are inedible.
- Gently remove the crab meat from the back-fins (the inner chambers are filled with meat). Gently crack the claws using a meat tenderizer mallet and gather all the crab meat in a large mixing bowl. Add garlic chives, tarragon and 1 tablespoon lime juice.
- Note: Try to gather large crab pieces for an appealing presentation.
- Add the eggplant, roasted green bell pepper, avocado and tomatoes to the crab bowl. Toss well.
- Serve the crab salad on a bed of lettuce or in soft sandwich rolls. Serve with the wasabi coconut salad dressing on the side.
- Bon appétit!