One of my all-time favorite salads is definitely the Crab Louie--it is so decadent and feels totally fancy! I only ever eat it when I'm on vacation at the beach somewhere, so the other day I thought, why not make it for myself at home? Crab season is winding down, so Rob and I ran to the market in our neighborhood and picked up some Dungeness crab meat and threw together these beautiful salads (as well as a couple fresh crab sandwiches) and had a really lovely weekend lunch together.

Butter lettuce is one of my favorite lettuces ever--it's crisp but soft in texture and has a really nice silkiness that I can't get enough of. I like to leave it whole on the plate and cut it up as I go. Crab Louie salads really incorporate all of my favorite veggies (radishes, tomatoes, cucumber, and avocado) with hard-boiled eggs and crab meat, two of my favorite proteins.

You could also add some lightly steamed asparagus if you wanted, but I like mine without, especially when I'm pairing it with white wine. As usual, we reached for a bottle of La Crema--the Monterey Chardonnay is perfect with this dish (and the crab sandwich, too--find the recipe on the La Crema blog today).

Crab Louie Salad (serves 2)

Ingredients:

1 small head of butter lettuce, washed and removed from stem
1/4-1/2 pound of Dungeness crab meat
1 medium avocado
1 medium Roma tomato
1-2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and halved
2-3 radishes, sliced thinly
1/2 of a large cucumber, quartered
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1-2 tablespoons ketchup
1 dash of hot sauce (Tabasco would be best)
1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/8 teaspoon chili powder
Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

Divide and arrange lettuce, vegetables, hard-boiled egg, and crab on two plates to your liking.
In a small bowl mix mayo, ketchup, hot sauce, paprika, chili powder, and some salt and pepper. Serve overtop or on the side of the salads. Serve immediately.