My favorite meals are made with simple, fresh ingredients. When the ingredients are the stars of the recipe, you don’t have to do a lot to make it good. This light citrus salsa with cucumbers and tomatoes really brings out the brightness of the crab for these fab tacos.
To find sustainably caught crab, look to the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program. Crab from Alaska is a “Best Choice,” and crab caught on the U.S. West Coast is a “Good Alternative.” Blue crab caught with trotlines in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay waters is a “Best Choice,” and you can also find “Good Alternative” rated crab from Alabama, Delaware, Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay waters, and New Jersey’s Delaware Bay waters.
Atlantic rock crab caught in Massachusetts is a “Good Alternative,” but all other sources are on the “Avoid” list. Don’t buy U.S. blue crab from Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay waters.
Always avoid Atlantic rock crab from Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia. Also, stay away from Florida stone or Gulf stone crab from Florida. Most imported crab is on the “Avoid” list, so try and find something that is from the U.S.
That can be a lot to remember so I recommend downloading the Seafood Watch app!
Makes 4 to 6 servings
- 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
- 1 small red onion, chopped
- 2 vine-ripened tomato, seeded and diced
- 2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground cumin
- 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 12 fresh 8-inch corn tortillas (I like the green chile tortillas for this recipe!)
- One head butter leaf lettuce, separated into leaves, washed and dried
- 3 cups fresh lump crab meat
- 2 avocados, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- dried kelp, crumbled
- In a large bowl, mix the cucumber, onion, tomato, cilantro, cumin and citrus juices (except the lime juice) together. Season with salt and pepper. Let this stand at room temperature while you prepare the tacos.
- Working with several warmed or grilled tortillas at a time, place a lettuce leaf on each tortilla, add some crabmeat, and then two tablespoons of the cucumber salsa. Top each with an avocado slice. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with a little lime juice and olive oil. Fold each taco in half, sprinkle with seaweed, and serve!
TIP: The crab meat should be mild and sweet, with no fishy odor. If it is previously frozen, it may have surplus water. Drain off the water, blotting the crabmeat with a paper towel to remove the excess moisture.
Want more taco recipes? Try these Roasted Vegetable & Seaweed Tacos or Classic Salmon Tacos with Salsa & Kelp Lime Mayo!