Sluttishly Savoury: Corny Crab Salad

Angela Hartnett was talking about crab on Great British Food Revival last week and it inspired me to come up with a recipe. Crab is delicious, healthy and sustainable, but yet we export half of everything we catch in the British Isles to Europe. Crazy!

Apparently the Brits are put off by crab's spider-like appearance. If you too are offended by its ugly mug, buy the meat ready prepared. I used Seafood & Eat It Cornish Fifty Fifty Crab (that's half white, half brown meat). It's dead easy to use and not too scary.

Although crab is quite a subtle flavour, it seems to soak up spiciness perfectly, and the sweetness of the meat pairs perfectly with corn. As it's super healthy, it's the perfect antidote to a weekend of dancing and boozing and celebrating an up-coming book (ahem!). It would work well for a lunchbox too, although you might want to take the dressing separately to stop the lettuce going soggy.

I discovered as I put it together that it would look a lot prettier if you kept the lettuce on the bottom of the dish and tossed together the heavier ingredients separately, but I was hungry and I wanted my dinner so this is the photo you get.

Corny Crab Salad (serves 2)

You'll need:

• 1 lime
• 1tbsp olive oil
• 1 avocado
• 1 iceberg lettuce, chopped roughly
• 1 red chilli, chopped finely
• 3 spring onions, sliced finely
• 100g cooked crab meat (or more if you like)
• 2 fresh corn cobs (or 1 small tin sweetcorn)
• 1 bunch of mint

Make it!

• First make the dressing. Zest and juice the lime. Whisk in the olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.
• Peel the avocado and remove the stone. Chop it into small cubes. Put the cubes straight into the dressing as the lime juice will stop them discolouring.
• Shred the mint leaves finely, or just tear them up if you're feeling rustic.
• Cut the corn kernels off the cobs by running your knife down the side. You'll probably end up with corn all over the kitchen and in your hair, but that's half the fun. If you're using tinned sweetcorn, drain it.
• Scoop the avocado out of the dressing and toss it together with the crab, corn, spring onions, mint and chilli.
• Arrange the lettuce on serving plates. Arrange the crab mix on top and drizzle over the remaining dressing.