Blair's Layered Crab Salad

My son, Joel took two of my grandchildren, Graham and Maren, crabbing and came back with  a cooler full of blue crabs,  treasures of the sea.  

We prepared them several ways...the most fun was just a crab pickin' ... I made some crabcakes...making sure they were mostly crab with some breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, seasoned with some Old Bay...I always think simpler is better with crab cakes.  But the highlight of the crab dishes was a layered crab salad that Blair made for  our July 4th celebration.  She used her knowledge of the "crab stack" that some restaurants have on their menu and translated and enhanced it in an amazing layered crab salad.

Her recipe:

Summer Crab Salad

Prepare honey-lime vinaigrette dressing the night before serving. 

Honey lime vinaigrette Dressing:

1/3 c Vegetable oil

1/4 c Apple cider vinegar or seasoned rice vinegar 

2T honey

1/4 c lime juice

1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1/2 c fresh cilantro 

1 clove garlic, minced

Blend in blender. Chill overnight. Pour over salad just before serving. 

One cup each of 

-Sliced or diced English cucumbers (small ones)

- red cherry tomatoes, diced

- yellow cherry tomatoes, diced 

- salad greens, chopped to bite sizes

- diced ripe mango 

- diced ripe avocado (squeeze small amount of lime juice over avocado to retard browning)

2 cups crab meat

Using a clear glass bowl, layer ingredients in colorful layers alternating green items with red/yellow ones. Top three layers should be mango, avocado, and crab so that crab is on top of salad. 

Drizzle with honey lime vinaignette dressing just before serving. 

Sooooo Good!!!!!