Whenever I come home from the beach, I usually am still craving seafood. Our last visit was no different, and this time crab was on my mind — crab salad in particular. I have had a fondness for crabs since I was a little girl. I remember growing up outside of D.C. and my Dad would go to Maryland and get live blue crabs when they were in season. He would steam them and then cover the table with newspapers to let the cracking and dipping begin. Crabs dipped in butter — Heaven! I remember one time he let a few of the crabs out on the floor (I think he had drank several beers) and my sister and I were scared to death that we were going to get pinched.

I also remember loving my Pampa’s crab salad (it was as good as his tuna salad, click here for the recipe.) He put capers in his, which I excluded because I was out, but use them if you have them, to taste. I had a couple of ripe avocados I needed to use, so decided to put the crab salad in them and use the scooped out avocado in the salad for a wonderful marriage of flavors. Crab and avocados are simply wonderful together! And the presentation rocks — perfect to dress up a nice luncheon!

Ingredients (Makes 2-4 servings)

• 8 oz. fresh jumbo lump crabmeat
• 1 large lemon, divided
• ½ cup celery, diced small
• ¼ cup red bell pepper, diced small
• ¼ cup sweet onion, diced small
• 1 ½ tablespoons fresh chives, cut into tiny pieces
• ¼ cup (or a little less) light mayonnaise
• Seafood seasoning to taste (I use Old Bay)
• Smoked Spanish Hot Paprika to taste (I use Savory Spice Shop’s)
• Hot sauce to taste
• Fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 2 large ripe avocados

Preparation

Place crabmeat in a bowl. Gently break it up, removing any shells or cartilage. Sprinkle the crab with the juice of half of the lemon.

Add the celery, red pepper, onion and chives and gently mix.

Fold in the mayo and the rest of the seasonings. I use several shakes of hot sauce.

Refrigerate until chilled.

Slice the avocados in half lengthwise and remove the pits. Gently scoop out most of the avocado flesh, leaving approximately ¼ inch from the skin.

Dice the removed avocado flesh and gently fold it into the crab salad.

Fill the avocados with generous scoops of the crab salad.

Cut the remaining half of the lemon into several slices. Sprinkle with the paprika, pepper and some of the lemon juice. Serve immediately.

I like to place these crab salad stuffed avocados on lettuce and serve with a nice glass of dry white wine and Kel’s Basic Black Bean Salad.

Bon appétit!

Eat, drink and be merry!

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