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: 

1. Divide and arrange lettuce, vegetables, hard-boiled egg, and crab on two plates to your liking. 
2. 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.

This post is brought to you in partnership with La Crema. 

I made some savory cheese and oil fondues for La Crema this week, so you know I had to take a few extra minutes and whip up a chocolate fondue! I have been really into raspberries lately--I love them on their own, but you really can't beat a fresh berry dipped in warm chocolate sauce. I also picked up some strawberries, blackberries, and some really beautiful satsuma mandarins.

This recipe is really easy--you only really need the two main ingredients (cream and chocolate), but I like to add about a tablespoon of butter to make it super smooth and silky.

Chocolate Fondue 

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon of grass-fed butter (optional but encouraged!)

Instructions: 

1. Use your fondue pot (or a regular saucepan) to heat up the cream. 
2. Slowly add chocolate and stir to combine as everything melts together.
3. Add the butter and stir to combine. Transfer to fondue pot if you prepared the sauce on the stove. Serve with fresh fruit (you could also dip cookies and marshmallows--whatever your heart desires!).

This recipe is delicious on its own as a treat, but it was even better following the other fondues I made, plus a glass or two of La Crema wines--I poured their Monterey Pinot Gris and some Monterey Chardonnay as well. I'm already planning a low-key Valentine's Day at home with this exact same menu.

This post is brought to you in partnership with La Crema. For more fondue recipes, check out my post on their blog today!

This is more of an idea than an actual recipe, but it kind of changed my life when I discovered it. Paleo lunches can be a challenge, because I think most people think of sandwiches and wraps as the easiest and most delicious things to eat in the middle of the day--I know I do. Having leftovers from the night before is convenient, but sometimes it's kind of boring. 

I'm a big fan of lettuce wraps and make them all the time, but recently I realized that a cabbage leaf did a much better job holding everything together. Cabbage also stays fresh in the fridge much longer than lettuce, so I end up wasting less of it. (I'm always throwing away lettuce that I couldn't eat before it started to go wilty.)

So anyway--that's it! I like using sliced turkey or chicken salad or whatever's in the fridge--this week I've been making roast beef cabbage wraps with a little yellow mustard. I add pickles and spinach and sliced tomato a lot of the time too. Also mayo. I love mayo. What's nice about the cabbage is that you can roll it up like a wrap or just fold the leaf in half and eat it like a sandwich. I find it has much more versatility than lettuce wraps, and it doesn't fall apart or make a mess the way lettuce sometimes does. 

I do like to take scissors or a small knife and trim the really tough part of the leaf, closest to the stem where you pull it off. It makes it easier to wrap and easier to eat!

No go forth and have lunch!