This beautiful salad is occasionally on the menu at one of Portland’s oldest and finest fish houses, Jake’s Famous Crawfish, in downtown Portland. Jake’s is considered one of the top ten seafood restaurants in the country and has been a Portland landmark for over 115 years. Their menu changes daily and reflects the best and freshest seafood available in the Pacific Northwest. This is a wonderful first course for a special occasion and is an elegant and light summer salad.
Dungeness Crab, Avocado and Papaya Salad…adapted from a recipe in Jake’s Seafood Cookbook
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon saffron
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 firm, ripe avocado
1 firm, ripe papaya
12 ounces Dungeness crab meat
Red leaf or Bibb lettuce
To make the dressing, warm the lemon juice slightly and add the saffron. Allow the mixture to steep while the juice returns to room temperature. Combine the mayonnaise and ginger and add the lemon juice and saffron. Blend well and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
Peel, seed and slice the avocado and papaya.
Gently mix the crab meat with enough dressing to moisten. I like to save out several crab legs for garnish. Arrange some crab meat on a lettuce leaf. Spoon several tablespoons of dressing onto the plate and complete the arrangement with slices of the avocado and papaya. Garnish with several threads of saffron and a slice of lemon.
Serve with a crusty bread and a crisp, chilled white wine.
Makes 3-4 salads.
YUM! You had me at crab! =o) Looks absolutely delicious! Was this crab from the market? I knew we should have gone yesterday!
There was a restaurant in Freeport Long Island that made something similar (but not as pretty as yours) years ago- great memory and so good!
xoxo Pattie
Fabulous, Cathy! You need to be taking photographs and writing recipes for a cooking magazine! Better yet, you need to write a cookbook of your own!
XO,
Sheila
Hi Cathy,
Amazing salad and wonderful combination of flavours!!
Hope you are having a lovely Sunday,
Lia.
That sure do look good. They're are some nice advantages to living near the ocean.
That is a gorgeous salad! The dressing sounds delightful also with the hint of saffron. I wish I could grab a bite!
Cathy this is absolutely beautiful. One more reason for yet another return visit to Oregon Wine Country. In the meantime I will try this myself.
This really is an elegant, gorgeous salad. Love your bee napkin ring.
Couldn't help but notice that very pretty napkin holder…very unique.
The seafood platter seems well enhanced especially with Papaya…something I probably would not have thought of doing.
Thanks for the idea and the recipe.
Flavourful wishes, Claudia
That looks so good!
I LOVE!!! everything about this salad. What a GREAT!!! post and I think the Bumble Bee napkin holder is AWESOME!!!
Geri
Cathy, I love this recipe! The dish, silverware and napkin ring are gorgeous! Beautiful pic too.
You've incorporated all my favorite fruits in this entree. Unfortunately we have no dungeness crab in New York so I am trying this recipe with lobster. I am smitten with this dish!
Pam
What a wonderful dish. It sounds delicious and looks amazing:)
Nothing says west coast like Dungeness Crab! This looks yummy….
Well, for sure I need to comment on your post. My husband and son grow papaya in Mexico! We export year-round. Hopefully it was one of our papayas. It's so bright and orange, it looks like one of ours. They're so very good for you.
I can't get Dungeness crab, but I'll try to find a reasonable substitute and for sure make this salad. It looks delicious.
I'll be back!
Karen
Ladybug Creek
I have never thought of using papaya on a plate of seafood salad, this is a great idea! Love that bumble bee napkin holder.
I love how fresh and summery that looks!
Mmmmmmm, perfect!
This is such a pretty salad! I love the colors. Crab, papaya and avocado all together on one plate. Yum! What could be better?! I love your napkin holder too. So pretty!
I could eat that any time it was put in front of me. Pretty! I bet its soooooo good.
That is a beautiful salad, Cathy. The colors are spectacular. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings…Mary
What a lovely & stunning crabb, avocado & fruit salad!!
Waw!! The plate looks georgous & the fork too!
Hi Cathy…I am already missing seafood and it's not even been a week since I've been back…Your salad looks wonderful…We are now back to Mrs. Pauls fish sticks and tuna in a can…no fresh seafood in these parts!!
This combination of flavors rocks! I would love every bite. The Kitchen Gnome would be in line for seconds!
Seafood is always a nice addition in salads! yum!
This looks so refreshing. I'd love this with lobster, too
Wow, I would love it with lobster too, Karen. Dungeness is very available here and I use it a lot in special dishes, but lobster!!!! Now that's a rare treat. And very pricey too.
I adore that kind of salad, Cathy. Fruit and seafood on one plate. This is making me hungry!
Ooo… such an awesome combo between the fruits & crab meat! You did again, Cathy. Have a great day.
Cheers, Kristy
I've said it before and I'll say it again I am nuts for crab and am jealous of all you eat! This is a beautiful dish. Gorgeous picture, Cathy!