Fresh & Simple Crab Salad

When it comes to the very best crab salad, less is always more. Fresh, succulent jumbo crab meat is a delight — sweet with just a hint of briny, mineral flavor — and shouldn’t be masked by too many add-ins. This minimalist recipe does just that, looking toward Maryland with its Old Bay and chive accents but keeping the crabmeat front and center. It’s bright, light, and incredibly versatile — everything you could want in a refreshing summer salad.

As with many of the finer things in life, you’ll pay dearly for fresh jumbo lump crabmeat — likely $30 to $40 a pound. All the more reason for not wanting to mask crab’s delectable flavor under a heavy sauce or overload of spices. That said, lump crabmeat, made from smaller pieces of body meat along with broken or small pieces of jumbo lump, can be found for about half the price; canned crabmeat is even cheaper.

In terms of how to enjoy this salad, the possibilities are pretty much endless. My favorite preparation, the classic crab roll, showcases the cool crab salad on a toasted, buttered hot dog bun (top-sliced Pepperidge Farm, ideally), perhaps accented with a few lettuce leaves.

For a festive lunch, serve the crab salad on a bed of Bibb lettuce or atop a halved avocado. For an appetizer, pile it onto crostini or serve as a canapé atop thin slices of crunchy Granny Smith apple or cucumber. For a more casual get-together, blend the crab salad with cream cheese and sour cream for tangy crab dip. Or, embracing the “less is more” mentality, simply grab a spoon and eat the salad straight out of the serving bowl.