Dungeness Crab Salad with Avocado and Orange

As crab season opens on the Central Coast, enthusiasm is high to head to everyone’s favorite local seafood hubs (or watch for dock sale alerts!) and bring home these tasty crustaceans. This recipe, courtesy of our friends at Real Good Fish, is a perfect way to incorporate fresh dungeness crab into a healthy, nutritious dish to kickstart a new year. Check out the Local Catch Guide to help you source the freshest dungeness crab near you.

Ingredients
1.5 Dungeness crabs, cooked and cleaned, meat removed
2 heads of little gems lettuce or one head red butter lettuce, washed and torn into pieces
2 cups wild arugula 
2 small heads of endive or escarole, chopped 
2 Cara Cara oranges 
2 ripe avocados 
2 cucumbers, sliced thinly (Persian cucumbers are delicious here, if available)
3 scallions, chopped finely 
1 cup cooked quinoa 
Salt and pepper to taste 
White wine vineaigrette (or similiar) 

Preparation

1. Peel and chop Cara Cara oranges and avocados into similar sizes.

2. Combine with lettuces, arugula, endive, cucumber, scallions, quinoa, and crab in a bowl. Add the dressing, toss, and divide among 4 plates.

Dungeness Crab Nutrition

Like other types of crab, Dungeness crab contains long-chain Omega-3 polyunsaturated acids, according to Salcombe Finest. These types of fatty acids may protect against heart disease and aid brain development; some studies suggest that they also might inhibit aggressive behavior. Crab meat also serves as a rich source of selenium, a mineral that helps prevent damage to the body's cells and tissues, and which plays an important role in the function of the immune system.