Until I discovered that my fishmonger would happily clean soft-shelled crabs for me, I shied away from taking full advantage of the crustaceans during their short season, which has a mid-summer curtain call.
So, with the fishmonger’s help, this salad comes together in a few minutes for a quick dinner on the deck or terrace. Dress the salad with prepared aioli, a garlic mayonnaise from Provence, which is available in some markets.
Beverage pairing
For wines, try a chenin blanc or Vinho Verde, or drink a sparkling water with lemon twists.
Tips
With budget demands, substitute boneless chicken or fish fillets for soft-shell crabs.
Add more ground red pepper to taste to make the dressing spicier.
Aioli is delicious, but bottled ranch dressing works well, too.
Menu
Soft-shellcrab salad
Breadsticks or Italian bread
Lemon tart
Soft-shell crab salad
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 8 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Blink your eyes and soft-shell crab season is over. Grilled chicken breasts make a satisfactory substitute the rest of the year.
3 lemons
4 cleaned soft-shell crabs or
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 cup self-rising flour
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup seltzer water
1/4 cup peanut oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup aioli, see note
3 1/2 cups mixed salad greens
6 pitted kalamata olives, halved
2 hard-cooked eggs, quartered, optional
1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, cut into 8 slices
1. Cut 2 of the lemons into wedges; set aside. Juice the remaining lemon. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the juice in a small bowl. Sprinkle crabs with the remaining juice. Place 1/2 cup of the flour on a plate; coat crabs in the flour. Set aside. Combine remaining 1/2 cup of the flour, parsley, red pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and black pepper to taste in a medium bowl; whisk in seltzer to make a thin batter.
2. Heat the peanut oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Dip 2 of the crabs in the batter, swirling to coat. Transfer to oil. Cook, turning once, until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towel. Repeat with remaining crabs.
3. Meanwhile, add olive oil to reserved 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice; whisk until emulsified. Whisk in aioli and remaining 1/4 teaspoon of the salt; toss with salad greens in a bowl. Divide greens among 4 plates. Garnish with olives, eggs, avocado and lemon wedges. Top each plate with a crab.
Note: Prepared aioli (a garlicky mayonnaise) is available in some markets. Or, mix 2 finely minced cloves of garlic into 1/4 cup of mayonnaise for a quick substitute.
Nutrition information per serving:
415 calories, 61% of calories from fat, 28 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 62 mg cholesterol, 25 g carbohydrates, 16 g protein, 782 mg sodium, 5 g fiber
