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Thai Crab Salad
This is more Thai-inspired than authentic Thai, but you can hit up an Asian market for more authentic ingredients. Either way, this is a pretty tasty (and healthy) dish.
NOTE: It's up to you whether you use real Asian fish sauce or not. I substituted with worcestershire sauce with good results - not the same taste, but then again, that's the point. Most of the people I cook for HATE fish sauce. You could also use soy sauce if you prefer. You're the cook - you decide.
2 regular carrots or a handful of baby carrots, finely diced or julienned
1 yellow bell pepper, diced (you can use any color bell pepper or a combo)
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 tbs sugar
1 tsp dried pepper flakes
juice of 1/2 lime
juice of 1/2 orange
1/4 cup minced sweet onion or shallot
1 tsp minced fresh garlic
1 tsp olive oil
2 tbs Asian fish sauce OR worcestershire sauce (see comments above)
1 tsp sriracha or other hot sauce
2 cucumbers
2 tbs chopped cilantro
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/2 pound crabmeat, picked through
low sodium seasoning blend (I use Magic Swamp Dust)
Lettuce leaves (you choose the variety: romaine, butter, iceberg - all of them have worked well with this)
In a small bowl, add the diced carrots, bell pepper, rice vinegar, sugar, and pepper flakes. Combine well and let sit while prepping other ingredients. Let them marinate for at least 30 minutes. (While that's sitting, you could also season the crabmeat with the Magic Swamp Dust or a low-sodium seasoning blend.)
In a larger bowl, add the lime and orange juice. Mince the onion and add to the bowl with the garlic, oil and sauces. Peel, seed, and chop the cucumbers (you can use the seedless kind, but I can never find good ones in my area) and them to the mixture. Add the cilantro and green onions. Stir well.
Drain the carrot/bell pepper mixture as best you can. Add that mixture to the cucumbers, stir to combine. Taste it. If it needs a little more sugar (or anything else), add it now.
You can choose to serve this rolled in lettuce leaves or like a salad.
If you're rolling it up, combine the crabmeat with everything else, let that sit for about 10 minutes or so to marinate, then use a fork to add the crabmeat mixture to the lettuce leaves and roll them up. Make sure the leaves are nice and dry and that most of the dressing stays in the bowl, not in the roll, or it will run down your arms as you eat it. If you're making a salad, assemble this with the lettuce on the bottom, pile on the cucumber mixture next, the crabmeat on top, then drizzle a little of the dressing/marinade over the crab. Top with extra green onion if you like. Very pretty.