On my days off, I love to spend a little more time on everyday things – like food I like putting together elegant recipes, and then sitting back with a glass of wine to enjoy the meal. Sometimes, I think I’d love to run away and become a chef, either creating cookbooks or beautiful food in a gourmet restaurant, but at the same time, the idea scares me.
Not because I’m afraid to tackle the challenge, but because I’m afraid of turning something I love into work, and then losing the love for it. It happens so often with art. It becomes work, and you lose the passion that drew you to it and your clients to you in the first place, and then you’re yolked to something that has lost its magic. It doesn’t hurt that I already love my current job, so making food stays in the realm of fun.
Speaking of challenges, one of the things I’ve been working on lately is cleaning out the pantry and fridge – not just cleaning them, but clearing them out of all the old stuff we’ve had sitting in them before I go and spend money on new stuff. And there’s some old stuff in there. We’ve got a pantry full of cans of soup, containers of rice, flour and sugar and salt, noodles, salts and sauces and God only knows what else that were picked up during the move.
So I’m cutting down on the amount of new stuff I buy significantly until all of that stuff is either used, or if there’s no way I’m actually going to use it, it goes to the food bank. So some days, dinner is a heated can of beef stew with broccoli served over rice, and other days, I get to do something a little more elegant like this:
Layered Crab Salad
Makes 4 appetizer servings or 2 main course servings.
What you’ll need:
- 8 oz lump crab meat
- 1-2 tbsp chopped chives
- 1 tbsp (+/-) olive oil
- sea salt and fresh black pepper
- a dozen grape tomatoes
- 1 avocado
How to make it:
1. You’ll need three bowls. Put the crab meat in one of them, dice up the grape tomatoes and put them in the second, and peel, pit, and dice the avocado and put it in the third.
2. Divide up the olive oil and pour it over each of the three bowls. Add a good shake of chives, salt, and pepper to each of the bowls as well. I also add a little lemon to the crab.
3. If you’re making appetizers, you’ll need four half-size wide-rimmed glasses, and if you’re making entrees, two will work. Whiskey glasses or stemless wine glasses like I used are perfect for this.
4. Divide most of the crab among the glasses {save about a spoonful for each glass}. Top the crab with the tomatoes followed by the diced avocado. Use the remaining spoonfuls of crab meat that you reserved to make a little garnish on top of the avocado layer. Sprinkle chives and grate a little salt and pepper over the top.
5. Serve it up immediately – you want it nice and cool!
This recipe works as an appetizer and also as a main meal, depending on what size you decide to serve! You can also get creative and serve it up wrapped in Boston lettuce with a little vinaigrette to dip it in, or mix it up and serve it up on a large piece of toasted sourdough. And, when push comes to shove, whatever form it’s in, it pairs up perfectly with a nice bubbly Moscato for a refreshing treat on a hot afternoon!
Once again, I would love to hear your suggestions! After reading over last week’s recipe, Laura gave me some wonderful suggestions for spicing it up with chili spice and sweet mango salsa – which I am definitely going to try!
Seriously, going back to my original thought, what kinds of things fire your passion? How would you keep the passion for them if you turned them from a hobby into a part-time or full-time job?
Here’s hoping everyone’s having a lovely week!
KCS
Filed under: FOOD Tagged: avocado, cooking, crab, food, photography, recipes, salad, simple food
