Description
Mini Crab Louie Appetizer – a refreshing and light appetizer that is very simple to make, yet delicious and elegant! Can be made-ahead. Gluten-free, low-carb and dairy-free.
Ingredients
- Butter lettuce- one head (or 8 perfect leaves)
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1 turkish cucumber, sliced or cut into thin ribbons ( use a veggie peeler)
- 3 radishes ( watermelon radishes are pretty)
- 8 ounces Dungeness crab ( or sub cooked shrimp, or smoked salmon or lox)
- few sprigs fresh tarragon or dill
- optional additions – sliced snap peas, blanched asparagus tips, sliced cherry tomatoes, hard boiled quail egg (sliced in half), capers, sprouts, edible flowers
Crab Louie Dressing ( see notes)
- 1/2 cup mayo (or use vegan mayo)
- 1/4 cup ketchup (or ketchup based chili sauce like Heinz Chili Sauce)
- 1/2–1 teaspoon sriracha, if using ketchup (more to taste)
- 1/2–1 teaspoon horseradish
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire (optional)
- salt and peper to taste
Instructions
Pick out 8 beautiful, similarly sized butter lettuce leaves and arrange on a platter.
Divide the avocado and cucumber ribbons, placing long ways in the cups.
Divided the crab among the lettuce cups then tuck the radishes in and around it.
Top with sliced snap peas, or tuck in any other veggies or additions. Top with a few fresh tarragon or dill leaves. At this point you could wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 4 hours.
Make the dressing by whisking the ingredients together in a small bowl. Taste, adjust salt and lemon. Serve the dressing on the side or drizzle over top, right before serving. Sometimes I’ll place the bowl of dressing in the center of the platter, with the cups arranged around it.
Notes
For an even lighter version, you could serve with a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper – but the creamy dressing is really tasty.
A fresh tarragon mustard seed vinaigrette is nice with this too.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: one lettuce cup
- Calories: 159
- Sugar: 6.3 g
- Sodium: 707.5 mg
- Fat: 8.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 13 g
- Fiber: 3.4 g
- Protein: 8.3 g
- Cholesterol: 24.3 mg
