Easy & Healthy Crab Salad

I stumbled upon this easy crab salad while flipping through Ellie Krieger's cookbook The Food You Crave. If you don't already own this book I suggest you snag one for your cookbook collection. It's full of awesome recipes that are lighter and healthier, yet oh so yummy.

This crab salad is super easy. All you need are fresh ingredients and a fresh approach to presenting the dish. What I love most about this salad is that it is versatile. Ellie serves the salad in baked filo dough cups, however, you could easily serve it in a corn tortilla for crab tacos or wrap it in rice paper for a fun take on spring rolls. I decided to serve mine "spa" style with a lovely leaf of lettuce. I know, I know, this is not really a satiating meal, but after the weekend I was craving a light lunch (I also didn't have the filo dough on hand)... Next time around I'm going to give the crab spring rolls a shot.

Be sure to pick through the crab for any shells or cartilage as this is not a pleasant surprise when chewing. I put together the salad the night before in order to marinade the ingredients. Lastly, the radicchio is my own special ingredient (which, surprisingly I did have on hand, go figure). It adds a bit of a bite and a fun burst of red color.

For the Salad
1/2 pound lump crab meat, picked over for shells and cartilage
1 stalk celery, finely diced (1/4 cup)
1/2 cup peeled and finely diced ripe mango
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped cilantro
1/4 cup coarsely chopped radicchio

For the Dressing
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons olive oil

In a medium sized bowl, gently toss together the crab with the celery, mango, scallions, cilantro and radicchio. For the dressing, in a small bowl whisk together the lime juice, lime zest, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Next, slowly whisk in the olive oil until an emulsion begins. Add the dressing to the salad and gently toss to combine.

Served any way you like!

Psst... check out my recipe on YumSugar.com!