Thursday, April 24, 2008

Crab Tacos

My family loves crab meat for crab cakes, tacos, seafood lasagna, cocktail appetizers, stuffed in mushrooms, and so many other varieties of dishes. I decided to try a new crab taco with ready-made shells. The salsa and the crab meat has a little bit of kick with the addition of jalapenos but once put together, you can not taste the heat unless you literally bury the food in salsa. I was perusing the Sunset Magazine for garden ideas and ran across this recipe. The only piece of advice that I can give you is to make sure that you use fresh crab meat because you will be able to taste the difference. I love the addition of avocado slices and wish that I had thought of this a long time ago.

Crab Tacos
Ingredients:
4 Toma tomatoes
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 large jalapeno chiles, halved, seeded, and sliced, divided
1/2 c. fresh cilantro leaves, divided
3 T. fresh lime juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 t. olive oil
1/2 c. chopped onion
8 oz. shelled cooked crab
8 taco shells or soft tortillas
1 c. Iceberg lettuce, thinly sliced
1 c. shredded Jack or Cheddar cheese
1 avocado, thinly sliced
1/4 c. chopped green onion

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put tomatoes, garlic, half of the jalapeno, 1/4 c. cilantro, and the lime juice in a food processor and pulse a few times to chop. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set salsa aside.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion and remaining jalapeno until soft, 4 minutes. Add crab and cook just until crab is warm, about 2 minutes.
Put taco shells or tortillas on a baking pan and warm in oven, about 3 minutes. Arrange on a platter and fill with crab mixture, dividing evenly. Top crab with lettuce, cheese, and avocado. Sprinkle tacos with green onion and remaining 1/4 c. cilantro. Serve immediately, with salsa on the side or on top.