morro bay-style crab salad

As I was flipping through Eating Well magazine my eye caught this recipe, not only because crab salad speaks to me, but also because the recipe is from a cafe in Morro Bay, California. I have fond memories of California’s central coast, from when my sister went to school at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

While there is a ton of stuff to do around Morro Bay like hiking, kayaking, and surfing on the coast, one of the things that has stuck out to me about the region is the incredible food. Fresh seafood, yummy produce, and tacos are highlights. Although this recipe doesn’t feature a taco shell or guacamole, it’s definitely teeming with seafood and produce.

what you'll need for this salad

This salad is super easy to put together and doesn’t require any crazy ingredients (except maybe the crab if you don’t live by the coast!), but read below to see what ingredients you’ll want to prep ahead of time for the best possible seafood salad experience.

Head of lettuce A crunchy lettuce like Iceberg or Romaine works best for this salad. Plus it creates an appealing presentation

Tomato Find a nice ripe tomato (but not so ripe that the juices go everywhere)

Asparagus Make sure to steam the asparagus ahead of time so the spears have time to cool for the salad

Cucumber A refreshing addition to the salad

Scallions These aren’t necessary, but they add a little bite to the salad

Black olives Find a can of sliced and pitted olives. Or you can pit and slice them yourself, but it’ll take some extra time!

Hard-boiled eggs This is another step you’ll want to take ahead of time. Add eggs to a saucepan and fill with water so eggs are covered by at least an inch. Bring water to a rolling boil, turn off the heat, cover, and let cook for 10-15 minutes. Make sure eggs cool completely before peeling and cutting

Crabmeat If you can find fresh crabmeat, that’s awesome! Scoop it up and then scoop it into your salad. If not, cooked lump crabmeat will work just as well

The dressing is like a spicy aioli made with ketchup, mayo, relish, onion, coriander, lemon juice, and tabasco. Add more tabasco to make it hotter.

⟶ the recipe

morro bay-style crab salad

ingredients

1 head of lettuce, washed and torn

1 medium tomato, cut into wedges

8 asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into thirds

½ cucumber, sliced

2 scallions, sliced

½ cup sliced pitted black olives

2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered

8 ounces cooked lump crabmeat

For the dressing

½ cup ketchup

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup yellow onion, minced

1 tablespoon dill pickle relish

2 teaspoons coriander

1 teaspoon lemon juice

A few dashes of tabasco

Prep time

30 minutes

Cook time

5 minutes

Total time

35 minutes

4 servings

instructions

Prepare the dressing by whisking together the ketchup, mayo, onion, relish, coriander, lemon juice, and tabasco in a medium bowl. Transfer to a smaller dish or jar and refrigerate while prepping the salad.

Boil 1-2 inches of water in a medium saucepan with a steamer basket. Add the asparagus to the pot, and steam until slightly tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer to an ice bath, drain, and pat dry.

Place lettuce in a large bowl or serving platter, and arrange asparagus, tomatoes, eggs, cucumber, scallions, and olives on top.

Scoop a generous dollop of crab meat into the center and drizzle with as much dressing as desired. Serve with a few lemon wedges.

⟶ recipe notes

Inspired by the Crab Louie Salad from Bayside Cafe in Morro Bay (featured in Eating Well)

⟶ make it ahead

You will likely have additional dressing (unless you’re a major condiment fanatic), so you can store it in a tightly sealed jar for another use. You can also make it ahead of time and refrigerate for up to 4 days before making the salad
I would recommend boiling the eggs ahead of time and cooling them in the fridge before adding to the salad. Plus, peeling hot eggs is yuck