Crab Louie salad with homemade Thousand Island

Every year, for Christmas dinner, my family buys enough Dungeness crab for each person to eat their fill. To me, there is little that feels more indulgent than being full on fresh cracked crab.

We used to buy our crab from old cranky Mr. Knudson, in his back alley garage, in the coastal town of Anacortes. The last year that we stopped to see him, my mom got a small smile out of him and was sure that we were winning his affection, but he had a stroke the next year and we were told that he doesn't run his business anymore.

This year, we were pleased to have found Skagit's Own Seafood Market, and we stopped in for clams, mussels and crabs straight out of the waters around Anacortes. My mom and I were impressed by the liveliness of the crabs in the water tanks and were snapping photos of the big guys crawling over each other.

killer attack crab

The woman behind the counter asked if we wanted a better picture and stuck her hand in the tank to grab one for us. The next thing we knew, that sucker had reached around with his large pincher and had her by the wrist. She gasped, and I reached out to do something, although what I planned to do I am not sure. "No! Please! Don't touch!" she growled through gritted teeth, then reached around and grabbed the crab by the non-offending claw. With a Snap! she broke the claw back and then waited it out quietly, her nose curled in gritty determination. My mom whimpered, "I feel like crying!" and just then, the crab gave up and fell back in to the tank.

We headed back to the car, my mom a bit rattled, my brother impressed with the woman's fortitude, and me happily hugging the box of seafood.

Crab Louie with Thousand Island dressing
serves 6

for the salad:

6 large handful of salad greens
3 fresh cracked crabs (or 1 pound of crab meat)
1 can of black olives
3 hardboiled eggs

for the dressing:

1 cup of mayonnaise
1/4 cup of ketchup
1 lemon
Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup of minced onion
scant 1/4 cup of minced green olives
dash of cayenne pepper
pinch of salt
heavy dash of black pepper


Prepare the dressing: Mix mayonnaise and ketchup together in a bowl. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze in the juice from half of the lemon. Add a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and the onion and olives (I used the jalapeño and garlic stuffed olives that we had at home and it was oh so good). Stir in the cayenne, salt and pepper. Taste and add more cayenne, salt and pepper if desired.

Assemble the salads: Split the greens between each of 6 plates. Top each salad with 2 quarters of an egg, a handful of black olives, and a slice from the remaining half of a lemon. Split the crab between the six plates. Try not to eat too much of it while plating.

Add a large dollop of dressing to each salad (there is enough dressing for about 3 tablespoons per person) and serve.