Recipe: Crab Salad with Mango and Peppers

CRAB SALAD WITH MANGO AND PEPPERS

"Crabmeat has a way of being at once elegant and easy. This salad, with its tropical flavors and balance of sweet and sharp, spicy and cool, is perfect for a hot summer night."

3 tablespoons lime juice (plus 1 lime, quartered, for garnish)
4 tablespoons vegetable or light olive oil (or more)
1 generous pinch cayenne pepper (to taste)
salt (to taste)
1 pound crabmeat, picked over
3 scallions -- chopped
3 tablespoons chopped coriander (plus more for garnish)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger root
red leaf lettuce -- for serving
1 mango
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into strips

Make the dressing by mixing the lime juice, oil, cayenne pepper, and salt in ajar. Taste carefully for balance of seasoning and adjust as needed.

Mix the crabmeat in a bowl with the scallion, coriander, and ginger, trying not to break up the lumps of crab. Stir half the dressing into the crab mixture.

Lay a bed of lettuce leaves on 4 serving plates and make a mound of crabmeat in the center of each.

With a sharp knife or vegetable peeler, remove the skin from the mango; then cut in lengthwise strips down to the pit. Slide the knife under the flesh to free the strips.

Arrange the mango slices decoratively around the crab with the red bell pepper strips. Drizzle the remaining dressing over the salads, and garnish each with fresh coriander sprigs and lime wedges.

Servings: 4
From: Elizabeth Riely
Source: Boston globe, August 2, 2000