When I was little, the house I grew up in had a giant avocado tree that produced more avocados than we knew what to do with. I remember that our dog used to eat all of the avocados that would fall from the tree because there were so many we couldn’t keep up with it. Can you imagine??? I’d give anything for that tree to be in my backyard right now. But obviously as a little girl, I really didn’t have any appreciation for it. In fact, I don’t even know if I liked avocados back then! Eeeks!
Regardless, I LOVE me some avocados today. I pretty much will just slice one up and eat it with a bit of salt on it. Besides being delicious, they’re loaded up with lots of healthy fats, roughly 4 grams of protein, fiber and vitamins and minerals such as your three B’s, C, and K.
This week I wanted to do something a little different with it though. We’ve all had it in guacamole, chopped an avocados into salads or made into a dressing. But have you ever ROASTED it? Yes, roasted. Most likely not. It is SO good this way! I drizzle them with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and some red pepper flakes before sticking them under the broiler. It gets a nice crispy, salty, little ‘do on it. So delish!
I decided to pair it up with a quick and easy crab salad because the taste of the crab is delicate enough that it won’t over power the avocado and vice versa. I also decided to spice up the crab salad a bit and give it some heat. Like all recipes though, make it your own! If you like some heat, by all means add some more jalapeños. The recipe as-is is fairly mild, so like I said, do what you will with it. Personally, I like spicy dishes but I need to keep them under control for the kids. I’m also conscious of it when creating a recipe because I want it to appeal to all palates.
I hope you enjoy this one!
crab salad with roasted avocados
Ingredients
- 1 lb crab meat
- 1/2 red pepper chopped
- 1/2 C. paleo mayo homemade or Sir Kensigton's
- 1/2 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 jalapeno dicey finely
- 1 scallion thinly sliced
- 1/3 C. cilantro chopped
- 1 C. baby spinach per serving
- 2 avocados
- 1 lemon
- 1 C. cherry tomatoes halved
- red pepper flakes
- olive oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine crab meat, mayo, red pepper, cayenne, jalapeño, scallion and cilantro.
- Squeeze juice of 1/2 lemon into bowl and combine.
- Salt to taste.
- Meanwhile, halve and pit avocados.
- Scoop entire half out with large spoon.
- Place on foil lined baking sheet center side down.
- Drizzle olive oil over top and sprinkle with salt and red pepper flakes to taste.
- Broil on high for 5 minutes until golden brown crust has formed. Please note that broilers vary widely so please watch your avocado to ensure they don't burn!
- Serve crab salad over bed of spinach with cherry tomatoes and top with sliced roasted avocados.
