Having a waterside gathering in these last warmer months? This chilled crab salad with tropical avocado relish is the perfect lavish chilled appetizer to woo and impress your guests. We spent a week in Galveston this month and reunited with my father’s side of the family. My cousins were cooking up scratch-made seafood enchiladas verdes with shrimp & crab as well as freshly-caught shark tacos with pickled onion slaw & peach salsa.
I was in charge of the appetizer and decided upon buttery chilled lump crab from local Katie’s Seafood MArket folded with an easy Chile lime aioli, fresh chives and a bite of heat from Serrano chiles. The crab salad chills while you dice up a tart tropical fruit & avocado relish with some crunchy spicy sesame honey cashews. It’s an entertaining showstopper!
tips & tricks:
Serving chilled crab salad: serve with plantain chips and a chilled glass of crisp vinho verde for a unique waterfront appetizer for a crowd.
usage for leftover aioli: Chile lime aioli is delicious served on fish tacos, on a turkey avocado sandwich, or used as a dipping sauce for roasted potatoes. they would also sure be tasty on my grain-free zesty ranch chicken nuggets.
other tropical fruit substitution ideas: pineapple, papaya, cantaloupe or watermelon. Use what you like in this chilled crab salad with tropical avocado relish.
Chilled Crab Salad with Tropical Avocado Relish
Ingredients
- Crab Salad:
- 1 pound fresh crabmeat *jumbo lump*
- 1 pound fresh crabmeat *lump*
- 1/2 cup chile lime aioli recipe follows
- 2 tablespoons fresh chives sliced thinly
- 1 tablespoon serrano pepper 1 medium pepper, sliced thinly
- 10 turns freshly-ground black pepper
- 2 cups tropical fruit avocado relish recipe follows
- 1/2 cup sesame honey cashews recipe follows
- plantain chips for serving
- Chile Lime Aioli:
- 1 cup homemade aioli or avocado oil mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon lime zest
- juice of 1 medium lime
- 1/4 teaspoon ground aleppo pepper or chile powder
- 1/4 teaspoon pink himalayan salt
- Tropical Fruit Avocado Relish:
- 2 medium kiwis peeled & diced small
- 1 medium ripe mango peeled & diced small
- 1 medium pink or yellow dragonfruit diced small
- 1 medium just-ripe avocado diced small
- drizzle of honey
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- juice of 1 medium lime
- sprinkling of salt
- Sesame Honey Cashews:
- 1/2 cup salted cashews
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/4 teaspoon ground aleppo pepper or chile powder
- 1/2 tablespoon black & white sesame seeds
Instructions
- first, make your sesame honey cashews. preheat oven to 400 degrees. mix ingredients in a small bowl then transfer to a greased sheet pan, pressing down uniformly. bake in the oven until lightly toasted, 4-5 minutes. let chill completely then break apart. set aside while preparing remaining components.
- while cashews are cooling, whisk together your chile lime aioli. in a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients. keep chilled.
- next, make your chilled crab salad. in a medium bowl, delicately combine and fold together the lump crabmeat with chile lime aioli. stir in sliced serrano pepper, fresh chives and cracked black pepper. fold in your jumbo lump crab very delicately, careful not to break up the crab. chill until ice cold- at least an hour.
- meanwhile, make your tropical avocado relish. In a medium bowl, add all ingredients and fold together gently until combined well and avocados are coated with lime juice. Chill until ready to serve. wash & dry your plastic crabmeat tubs for serving.
- after crab salad has chilled, return the salad split between your original crab tub containers, pressing down well, then invert both on your serving platter. top each mound with liberal tropical fruit avocado relish, letting it fall off the sides.
- finish with a sprinkling of sesame honey cashews and serve with plantain chips on the side. serve immediately.
