Crab, Apple and Watercress Salad

I’ve spent hours upon hours researching how to make my blog just a little bit better, and I discovered one thing I was missing: printable recipe cards.

I know a lot of you probably just bookmark or save recipes that you like, but having a hard copy is always good—-plus, it makes reading recipes on the web way easier.

Unfortunately, with this blog being a wordpress.com blog (as opposed to a wordpress.org blog), I was limited in how to go about adding these nifty recipe boxes to my blog.

Thankfully, I found a good tutorial (directly from WordPress) and it reminds me of programming HTML for my MySpace page wayyyy back in the day. Yeah, I was a huge MySpace nerd…blech.

HTML can be intimidating for most, but as long as you have a good tutorial (WordPress>support>recipes) you can usually end up just filling in the blanks!

That being said, the format to my blog posts will change just a tiny bit. After an intro/story/brief description of a recipe, you will find the entire recipe in a neat box  complete with ingredients, serving size, time and instructions. This box will come complete with a handy-dandy “Print” button so you can print out just the recipe! Immediately following that, you will find the same recipe with picture step-by-step instructions, similar to what I’ve always done!

I hope you enjoy this new feature—and I hope it makes saving your favorite recipes a little easier. The first recipe using this new format is one that I’m sure you’ll love: a crab, apple and watercress salad with a tasty walnut vinaigrette.

The original recipe called for lump crab, but that can end up being expensive; one small can is $13. I ended up buying the flaked white crab meat (DO NOT USE IMITATION!) from the tuna aisle and it was only $2 a can. The taste might have suffered a bit, but the salad itself offers a whole range of different flavors. Pecans, apples, and spicy watercress finish it off.

I had never tried watercress before and was a bit shocked when I took my first bite. It has a zing like arugula, and a slight hint of peppermint. I probably would have preferred mixing in some other greens with this salad instead of just using watercress, but it still tasted fantastic.

Crab, Apple and Watercress Salad

• Servings: 4
• Time: 30 mins
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

A fresh, light, summer salad that's perfect for entertaining.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 TBS white wine vinegar
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 2TBS walnut oil
• 2 TBS olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 2 bunches of watercress (14 ounces), washed and thick stems discarded
• 2 cans white crab meat
• 1 Granny Smith Apple
• 1/3 cup pecans, chopped

Directions

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar with the shallot and mustard. Whisk in walnut and olive oils and season with salt and pepper.
2. In a medium bowl, toss the watercress with 3 tablespoons of the dressing. In another small bowl, gently toss the crab with the apple and pecans and the remaining dressing.
3. Transfer the watercress to plates and top with crab mixture.

Step-By-Step Instructions:

First, wash trim watercress. The long stems can be tough, so trim all but about 1 inch off of the stem (the closer to the leaf, the less tough the stem is).

Make the dressing: first, combine the vinegar, shallot and Dijon mustard. Whisk well. Then, add both oils (walnut & olive) and a couple of grinds of salt and pepper. Stir together until well combined.

In a large bowl, toss 3 tablespoons of the dressing with the watercress. Set aside. In another large bowl, toss the rest of the dressing with the apples, pecans and crab meat.

Place watercress on four salad plates. Top each serving with the crab mixture. Grind some salt and pepper over each plate. Your salad is ready to serve!

This salad looks incredibly fancy yet is so effortless. If you’re seeking to impress somebody, make this salad! It definitely has that ‘wow’ factor.