Do you remember the opening from ABC’s Wide World of Sports? Jim McKay’s voiceover promised the “thrill of victory and the agony of defeat”. My kitchen adventures have the same quality. Sometimes I will be euphoric in success. Other times, I will be left wondering how it is that I missed the mark. To me, the worst defeats are when the dish works technically but I’m disappointed with the end result because it’s just not what I was expecting.
This kind of defeat was recently dished up courtesy of Bon Apetit: Fast, Easy, Fresh. Everything about the recipe had me expecting a forkful of creamy, zesty, goodness in mere minutes. The mere minutes part was right but the rest was just a snoozer. What do you think, can this somehow be jazzed up or am I expecting too much Fast, Easy, Fresh from only eight ingredients?
Cilantro Lime Crab Salad
Bon Appetit: Fast, Easy, Fresh
- 1/3 cup finely chopped red onion or shallot
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon lime zest
- 8 ounces fresh crabmeat
- 1 large ripe avocado, halved, pitted, and peeled
Stir together onion, mayonnaise, cilantro, lime juice, cumin and lime zest in a medium bowl. Mix in crabmeat and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Arrange avocado halves, cut side up, on plates. Mound crab salad on each avocado half.
Bon Appetit Hon 
Wow! That looks amazing and delicious. 2 of my favorite foods combined: avocado and crab!
I had HIGH hopes for the crab and avocado but it was kind of flat. I’m sure there’s a fix. I’m just not sure what it is.
I’d add something for zip–either some cayenne pepper or hot sauce, or maybe even some sliced freshly chopped jalapeno?
I hate it when I’m “underwhelmed” by a recipe.
I can’t say when the next time will be that I drop a chuck of change on crabmeat but I better bring the zippyness when I do. Maybe more cumin? Or some chipotle? This was definitely a More Cowbell moment.
Perhaps some grainy mustard?
Hmmm, maybe. I do love a mayo/mustard combo.
Did you season the avocado? Sometimes avocado can be very “one-note” and it could have overtaken the crab.
I’ve never heard of seasoning an avocado. Please, tell me more about that.
Nothing too special. Salt is really key since the avocado is so fatty and creamy. A little bit of salt really brings out all of the flavors. But I also like to put a bit of pepper and add some citrus for zing- like lime or lemon juice.
Well, it’s upsetting the meal wasn’t as fab as you’d liked- but it is a beautiful picture!
I never thought to salt an avocado. I must put one on my shopping list this weekend and give it a try.
Let me know what you think!
OLD BAY! the cure for everything seafood!
sound yummy! I just had a similar avocado crab thing at my local eatery Brix. They had some sort of greens on top that were well salted with a touch of pepper–crowning touch!
Who knows, maybe some crab meat will find its way into my grocery bags this weekend because now I’m fired up to try some of these tweaks.