blissful eats with tina jeffers: Grapefruit, Avocado & Crab Salad
I’ve been really busy this month with my blog since I’ve been posting a recipe a day so I’ve been trying to focus on delicious fresh food that doesn’t take a tremendous amount of work. It’s really the way that I like to cook anyway. Sometimes I get caught up with these elaborate procedures and recipes that seem pages long but at the end of the day if you have beautiful quality ingredients you shouldn’t have to manipulate them very much. This salad is the best representation of that philosophy. I know that crab is a luxury and I don’t indulge all the time but it’s nice to treat myself and it’s one of my very favorite foods. Make sure that you buy the best quality ingredients you can find. I have a wonderful local fish shop that I frequent and I find that their prices are actually very reasonable and the quality is amazing. It's a good practice to check out specialty grocers in your area, just like a farmer's market you might find that the prices are just as good or even better than your local grocery chain. Anyway I would rather spend a little bit more and get really quality ingredients rather than save a few dollars that I would probably spend on a fancy cup of coffee or a manicure anyway.
Citrus is at it’s peak right now so I paired my favorite grapefruit with some fresh avocado and Dungeness crab. You could omit the crab altogether and the salad would still be amazing or substitute some shrimp instead.
I'm still posting a recipe a day for the rest of the month at www.scalingbackblog.com so come on by for more healthy recipes!
Grapefruit, Avocado & Crab Salad
Serves 4
2 pink grapefruits, segmented and juice reserved
2 teaspoons champagne vinegar
1 Tablespoon minced fresh chives
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 head butter lettuce, leaves separated and torn into small pieces
2 firm but ripe avocados, cut into 1/2-inch (12-mm.) slices
1/2 lb. (250 g.) fresh lump crabmeat
Method:
In a small bowl, whisk together 2 teaspoons of the grapefruit juice with the vinegar, shallot, chives and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Whisking constantly, slowly add the oil until well combined to make a vinaigrette.
In a bowl, toss the lettuce with 1 tablespoon of the vinaigrette. Divide the lettuce leaves among 6 salad plates. Gently toss the avocado slices in 1 tablespoon of the vinaigrette and place a few slices on each plate. Place the grapefruit slices, lettuce, avocado and crabmeat on a platter or in a serving bowl. Drizzle some of the vinaigrette over the top and toss until lightly coated. Season with salt and pepper and serve right away.
