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Tropical Appetizers with Crab and Avocado
If you want to make fancy appetizer recipes, this one is definitely going to impress your guests. This crab appetizer is suitable for a dinner party and you can make it in advance and keep it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. These crab meat appetizers can be made with fresh crab or canned crab. If you prefer to use canned crab, spread it over a baking sheet and warm it for a minute in a 350 degrees F oven. Any tiny pieces of shell will turn white so you can see them and pick them out. This is a great tip for crab that you can use for any crab meat appetizers.
These tropical appetizers with crab are served on a quinoa base. Quinoa is pronounced "keen-wah" and it is a tasty grain. The grains are shaped like beads and look a bit like rice. When you cook quinoa, the grains expand to four times their size. You can find quinoa in health food stores and it is used in South American cuisine, although it is also becoming popular throughout Europe and in other countries too.
These easy party appetizers are made in timbales. A timbale is a mold that is usually tapered at the base and high-sided. If you order a prime rib you normally get the au-jus in a timbale, but they are also great to use whenever you need a small mold for a recipe. Double up this recipe if you want to serve four people instead of two.
Crab Appetizer Timbale with Minted Quinoa
Ingredients -
3 oz fresh cooked crab
1 tablespoon plus 2 ½ teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
5 teaspoons lemon juice
1 chopped avocado
2 teaspoons minced red onion
2 teaspoons minced jalapeno
2 teaspoons lime juice
1 cup quinoa
2 tablespoons minced cucumber
½ teaspoon dried mint leaves
4 chives
Mixed salad leaves, to garnish
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Preparation:
Cook the quinoa according to the directions on the package, then strain it and leave it to cool.
Combine the crab, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and 3 teaspoons of the lemon juice. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.
In another bowl, combine the avocado, red onion, jalapeno, lime juice, and ½ teaspoon of the olive oil.
Stir the rest of the lemon juice, the rest of the olive oil, the mint, and the cucumber into the cooled quinoa.
Divide the crab mixture between 2 timbales (small molds), then top it with the avocado mixture and finally the quinoa mixture.
Use a palette knife or spoon to smooth the tops.
Chill the crab timbales for an hour, then unmold on to serving plates.
Top each one with the mixed salad leaves and a couple of chives and serve immediately.
(Serves 2)
Photo Description:
This is a very impressive looking crab appetizer and your guests will love the combination of flavors. You can use fresh crab pieces or canned crabmeat for these tropical appetizers with crab and this is a colorful appetizer, as well as a flavorful one. The cucumber and mint flavored quinoa base is topped with a spicy avocado mixture and the crab sits on top of that. The garnish is a combination of chives and salad leaves. If you are using fresh crab you can use the crab claws to garnish these fancy appetizers. Serve these crab meat appetizers in a pool of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar or simply unmold them on to the serving plates as they are.
