I am so excited for all of the fresh fruit and vegetables that this season brings along with it.  I love experimenting with different recipes and there is nothing like being able to add in the crisp freshness of these foods.  I came across this recipe on Simplyrecipes.com and couldn’t wait to share it with you!

Shopping List

For the sauce:

• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted and diced
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

For the salad:

• 1 lb of fresh lump Dungeness crabmeat, picked through to remove the small pieces of shell or cartilage
• 1 1/2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp cilantro leaves, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons mint leaves, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp minced shallot or purple onion
• 1 medium sized mango, peeled, pitted, and diced
• 1 firm but ripe avocado, pitted, peeled, and diced
• Tabasco sauce
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Optional: ruby red grapefruit sections, peeled

Instructions

Sauce directions:

Heat the olive oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the mango, season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes until the fruit is very tender. Add water, bring to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice. Pour the mixture into a blender and purée until smooth. Chill.

Alternatively, if you are pressed for time, put all of the sauce ingredients into a blender and purée.

Crab salad directions:

1 In a bowl add the crab meat, 2 tsp of the cilantro, 1 tsp of the mint, the chopped shallot, a Tbsp of lime juice, 2 Tbsp of olive oil, 10 drops of Tabasco sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix carefully with a fork, to avoid breaking up the larger lumps of crab meat. Set aside.

2 In a separate bowl add the mango, avocado, 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 Tbsp of lime juice, the remaining cilantro and mint leaves, 10 drops of Tabasco, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix gently with a spoon, taking care not to mush the avocado pieces.

3 Spoon some mango avocado mixture on to a chilled plate, gently mound some crab mixture over it. Garnish with cilantro leaves. For a tasty added touch if you have them, arrange peeled sections of sweet ruby red grapefruit around the salads. The grapefruit provides a flavorful complement to the crab salad.

 

I hope you enjoy this, let me know how it turns out!