This is my family’s favorite crab salad. We eat it every Christmas Day. What can I say? My dad is from Seattle, my mom is from San Francisco, and they really love crab. It isn’t Christmas without this crab salad! No matter if we eat my mama’s perfect lasagna or beef tenderloin with tons of yummy sides, we have had this salad on the table for as long as I can remember. I decided to make this for my Christmas Dinner Party so that I could share this recipe for you ahead of time.

I suppose we shake it up ever so slightly now and then. Our preference is Marcona almonds but on occasion we’ve used pistachios or slivered almonds. Sometimes we do bacon, sometimes we don’t. (Who is ever unhappy to see bacon in anything though, really?) Sometimes we serve the crab on top, sometimes we stir it through. We’ll switch up the greens. But we always, always have lump crab and hearts of palm.

I’m curious to know if you know what hearts of palm are. I put them in salad all the time. I thought it was so normal because I grew up eating them in salads. Here in Texas, I don’t think I’ve ever had a friend over who had heard of hearts of palm before coming to my house. They’re a delicious little vegetable found in the canned aisle by olives, an excellent place for them since I think they taste a bit like olives or artichoke hearts. They’re a fantastic addition to any green salad or pasta salad.

We love this salad with really high quality ranch dressing. My mom makes a wonderful ranch dressing (I’ll have to share the recipe sometime!) or we’ll pick up the freshly made ranch from Central Market (owned by HEB), which is an absolute game changer, let me tell you. My friends didn’t even believe me when I told them it was ranch dressing!

Crab Salad
Salad Greens (about 6 oz)
1 can hearts of palm
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 an English cucumber, sliced
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
Marcona almonds, chopped
3 strips thick-cut bacon
8 oz lump crab
Ranch dressing

1. Snip bacon into lardons and fry until crispy. Drain on a paper towel.
2. Toss together salad greens, hearts of palm, feta cheese, cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, and Marcona almonds, and bacon with ranch dressing. Top each serving with lump crab or stir the crab through right before serving.

Watch me make it:

 

Watch the Christmas Dinner Party episode of The Rose Table:

Xoxo,

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