STORY BEHIND THE RECIPE
My family loves roast meats. But salad has always been a bit of an afterthought, thrown together last minute with some vague notion of combining random salad leaves with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
That is, until my eldest daughter got addicted to a salad she couldn’t resist! It was the Canele Salad – the combination of citrus, crab, avocado, hard boiled egg and pine nuts was decadent, yet refreshing.
It was so good that it inspired her to take charge of the family’s salad making department and experiment with other fruit-based vinaigrettes. This Cold Crab Salad in Citrus Vinaigrette recipe that I’m sharing with you today is our family’s favourite. It is definitely not a skinny salad, but as healthy as decadence comes, and really easy to make in just 15-20 min!
And by the way, this Cold Crab Salad in Citrus Vinaigrette recipe is one of the featured recipes in our Special Edition Christmas eCookbook launched this month!
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WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THIS DISH
- It’s decadent in taste. The salad has rich tasting avocados, boiled eggs and crab meat. It’s like an upgraded caesar salad!
- It’s easy to make. Only 15-20 mins needed!
HOW TO MAKE COLD CRAB SALAD?
Wash and drain dry the mesclun and baby spinach salad leaves.
In a lidded jar, add all the citrus dressing ingredients – garlic cloves should be crushed with the flat of a spatula and added whole.
Peel and cut the 2 oranges into bite-sized chunks
Wash and slice the cherry tomatoes in half.
Wash, peel and slice onion into strips.
Just before serving, slice the avocado in half, then use a large metal spoon to scoop out bite sized chunks of avocado.
Put the eggs in a small pot and fill with water. The water level should be 2 inches above the eggs.
Add a pinch of salt, spreading the salt over the eggs. Boil over low heat for about 10 minutes until cooked. Remove the shell and cut the eggs into wedges.
Add the mesclun, spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, onions, oranges into a large mixing bowl.
Put on the lid of the jar, and give it a vigorous shake to emulsify the citrus dressing.
Add the citrus dressing to the mixing bowl, then toss the salad to ensure it is evenly coated with the dressing.
Arrange the salad in a large serving bowl. Top with crab meat, egg, avocado and pimentos.
Optional: Add croutons
MARKETING TIPS
- Use the most premium crab meat (colossal crab claw or jumbo lump) you can afford. It makes a huge difference because the more premium it is, the sweeter and more chunky the crab meat. This time I got the crab meat from Hubers for $59 (454g) but usually I like to get the Colossal Crab Claw meat (which is even chunkier!) from Angliss (I have lobang to get it at staff discount so its very good value for money and cheaper than Hubers! But I have no idea about the retail price).
COOKING TIPS
- Use a lidded jar to mix the salad dressing to save on washing up time.
- Ensure that the eggs are at room temperature before boiling, otherwise the sudden change in temperature may cause the eggs to crack.
- Add a little vinegar to the pot of water when boiling the egg. This prevents the egg from leaking out in case the shell cracks.
- Twirl the on a flat surface to check if the egg is hardboiled. It should rotate on the spot rather than wobble all over.
DIETARY MODIFICATIONS
- Egg-Free: Skip the egg
- Fish-Free: No modifications needed.
- Gluten-Free: Use gluten-free Dijon Mustard.
- Nut-Free: No modifications needed. Pine nuts are seeds rather than nuts. Most people with nut allergies can safely eat pine nuts, unless they also have pine nut allergy.
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Cold Crab Salad in Citrus Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 250 gm Mesclun Salad Mix
- 120 gm baby spinach leaves
- 2 oranges
- 10 cherry tomatoes
- 1 red onion large
- 2 ripe avocados large
- 4 eggs
- 50 gm pine nuts
- 1 premium canned crab meat
- 3 TBsp pimentos in brine
For Citrus Dressing
- 8 TBsp olive oil
- 2 TBsp orange juice
- 1 TBsp white wine vinegar
- 2-3 TBsp Honey
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 Tsp dijon mustard
Instructions
PREPARATION METHOD
- Wash and drain dry the mesclun and baby spinach salad leaves.
- In a lidded jar, add all the citrus dressing ingredients – garlic cloves should be crushed with the flat of a spatula and added whole.
- Peel and cut the 2 oranges into bite-sized chunks
- Wash and slice the cherry tomatoes in half.
- Wash, peel and slice onion into strips.
- Just before serving, slice the avocado in half, then use a large metal spoon to scoop out bite sized chunks of avocado.
COOKING METHOD
- Put the eggs in a small pot and fill with water. The water level should be 2 inches above the eggs.
- Add a pinch of salt, spreading the salt over the eggs. Boil over low heat for about 10 minutes until cooked. Remove the shell and cut the eggs into wedges.
- Add the mesclun, spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, onions, oranges into a large mixing bowl.
- As for the lidded jar with citrus dressing ingredients, put on the lid of the jar, and give it a vigorous shake to emulsify the citrus dressing.
- Add the citrus dressing to the mixing bowl, then toss the salad to ensure it is evenly coated with the dressing.
- Arrange the salad in a large serving bowl.
- Top with crab meat, egg, avocado and pimentos.
- Optional: Add croutons
