Bloody Mary Crab Salad

The number one thing I’ve learned during my food cleanse is that I really don’t like green salads. It’s not that they aren’t nice side dishes, or that I haven’t featured a bunch of them on my blog, but something about eating a big bowl of cold greens and vegetables in the dead of winter (while everyone else around me is getting free made-to-order burritos from our work) is miserable. Having said that, here is a recipe for a delicious green salad – a salad that would ordinarily fall into my hate list – except that it’s topped with tons of delicious fresh crab meat. And avocado (which is a savior for adding creaminess to someone avoiding dairy). And a spicy Bloody Mary-inspired dressing. It’s Dungeness crab season, but I imagine this would be just delightful to bring to the beach when the weather turns warm again.


Bloody Mary Crab Salad:
For Dressing

• Whisk together 1 tbsp. tomato paste and the juice of 1 small lemon until the paste dissolves.
• Add in 1 minced shallot, 1 tsp. prepared horseradish, 1/2 tsp. hot sauce, 1/2 tsp. celery seed, salt and pepper.*
• Slowly whisk in 2-3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil.

For Salad

• Toss 5 oz. baby lettuces with some of the dressing and divide onto plates.
• Meanwhile, warm 1/2 lb. fresh crab meat in a skillet over medium heat for 3-4 minutes.**
• Top the lettuce with some of the crab, some slices of avocado, and thinly sliced celery.***
• Drizzle more dressing over top, if desired.

Serves two (main course)

Serves four (side dish)

*You can add more or less horseradish and hot sauce (such as Tabasco) to suit your level of heat.

**Or serve it cold.

***About 1 small avocado and 4 stalks of celery for the whole salad.