Having worked in California food establishments on the west coast of America for several years, I came to appreciate the bright flavors and simplicity of most recipes of which I experienced - one of them being the Crab Louie Salad which entices the palate with fresh seafood and locally grown produce.

My version of this popular regional dish, Shrimp and Crab Louie Salad recipe, involves no cooking, unless you want to boil and pick the crabs yourself that is. This salad is easy to prepare and takes no more than ten minutes to put together.

Check out my Chef's notes at the end of the recipe for options using canned ingredients which will save you a few dollars if you are on a budget - but I have to say that this recipe is best using fresh seafood.

Either way, you will love my light option for the dressing and you can always use the traditional dressing used in most west coast restaurants - good old Thousand Island! There are many variations on the internet for other dressings for this type of salad, some which include adding chili powder to the dressing for a little kick! You can experiment with the dressing as you wish but my favorites for this recipe is the white balsamic and the traditional thousand island salad dressing.
The following ingredients for this recipe will typically serve 4 people as an entree or 6-8 people as a small side salad. This recipe is light and bright, flavorful, full of texture - and low calorie too -if you don't go the thousand mile! Try this, I really think you will enjoy it!


Ingredients

3 heads romaine lettuce
8 hardboiled eggs, sliced
2 avocados, chopped or sliced
4 cups cucumber, peeled and sliced
1/2 lb. cooked bay shrimp
1 lb. lump crab meat, shredded
Sweet grape tomatoes, halved
White balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
Lemon wedges

Method

Wash and cut the lettuce into bite-sized pieces and divide equally among 4 plates. Alternatively, if you are serving this family style, place in a large bowl.

Layer the sliced eggs around the outside of the bed of lettuce and then the cucumber. Divide the bay shrimp and crab meat and arrange in the center with a few grape tomatoes as garnish. Place the sliced avocado around the salad and lemon wedge on the side of the plate. Drizzle the salad dressing over the plate.

Chef's Notes:-

If your budget doesn't allow you to purchase fresh lump crab meat and shrimp, this salad is still good using the canned versions. For this recipe you would need approximately three 8 oz. cans of crab meat and two 8 oz. cans of tiny shrimp. You will need to drain these and squeeze out the crab meat before adding it to the salad.