Crab, Mango and Avocado Salad with Blood Orange Dressing

Here is a super easy to make salad, all you have to do is gather the ingredients, chop and shake your vinaigrette. This salad is colorful and very fresh; the vinaigrette is light and bright. I used curly endive because its bitter taste pairs really well with the sweet flavors of mango and avocado and the tangy vinaigrette.

It is very important to use a good quality crab for this salad: jumbo lump crabmeat will do very well. I know it is expensive but really worth it when crab is the absolute star of the salad. 

Blood oranges are in season from December to May so you still have time to make this great vinaigrette! There are plenty of inexpensive Mexican mangoes in grocery stores right now, they are super sweet when ripe. And avocados have become a year-round staple!

CRAB, MANGO AND AVOCADO SALAD WITH BLOOD ORANGE DRESSING

Serves 4

1 head of curly endive (washed and chopped)

1 avocado (peeled and cubed)

1 mango (peeled and cubed)

3-4 hearts of palm (sliced)

8 oz. jumbo lump crabmeat

For the vinaigrette:

juice of 2 blood oranges

juice of 1/2 lime

2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons honey

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Place curly endive in the bottom of a bowl. Add avocado, mango, hearts of palm and crab. 

In a medium bowl whisk together juices, mustard, honey, vinegar; slowly whisk in olive oil in a steady stream until combined; add salt and pepper to taste. If you prefer you can put all the vinaigrette ingredients in a jar with lid and shake it vigorously.

Pour vinaigrette over salad and serve right away.

Enjoy!

Red Quinoa Salad with Mango, Avocado, Lemongrass and Herbs

Today I am making a very fancy salad, yet very easy to make. I went to Singapore a few years ago and signed up for a cooking lesson at a traditional Kampong House in the remote island of Palau Ubin. It was a very unique experience! First we went searching for different herbs, roots and plants that were scattered around the rainforest, then we minced everything finely and mixed it with long grain white rice; we also made sambal (a sauce made with chili peppers) and had it on the side.

I adapted this recipe to the ingredients I could find back home in Chicago and substituted white rice for red quinoa. I also added a vinaigrette since I was not making sambal.  You will have a great salad as long as you use all the herbs, roots and plants you can find in your grocery store, the more you put into your salad, the better it will be. You can add or substitute anything; you can use brown rice, white rice, quinoa, farro, beans...

Since it is still winter, I like to add a warm ingredient to the salad. In this case, I am cooking the quinoa and when it is still warm I am adding all the ingredients.

You can make this salad when you have guests and it will look amazing and very original if you place it on a banana leave.

RED QUINOA SALAD WITH MANGO, AVOCADO, LEMONGRASS AND HERBS

Serves 4

1 and 1/2 cups of red quinoa
1 and 1/2 cups of water
1 avocado (small cubes for salad and slices to decorate)
1 mango (small cubes for salad and slices to decorate)
2 tablespoons of minced fresh turmeric
2 tablespoons of minced lemongrass
2 tablespoons of minced parsley
2 tablespoons of minced mint
2 tablespoons of minced chives
2 tablespoons of minced marjoram
1 cup of micro green kale
4 kumquats

For the vinaigrette

4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
zest of one lime
juice of one lime
salt and pepper

In a medium saucepan put the quinoa and water and bring to a boil; cover and simmer for 15 minutes; remove from heat and let rest for 5 minutes before uncovering. Remove with a fork and transfer to a bowl.

Add the cubed avocados, cubed mangos, turmeric, lemongrass, parsley, mint, chives and marjoram.

Add vinaigrette and mix well. Transfer to a serving plate, bowl or banana leave and decorate with sliced mango, avocado, kumquats and micro green kale.

Enjoy!!

Add all the herbs, roots and plants you can find and mince them finely

Presentation in a bowl