Grilled Soft Shell Crabs and Fresh Bean Salad

It's a BIG foodie day in Santa Monica! First stop the Santa Monica Farmers' Market. One of the biggest and best farmers' markets around. The vendors are superb and there is so much farm fresh food to choose from it boggles the mind. Chefs get first shot at the goods and restaurant menus feature fresh fare from the market daily. So.......sensory overload while I do my best to reign in my compulsion to buy everything in sight.....I am only cooking for 2! Now, what to serve for dinner tonight.....I bought 4, yes 4, different kind of beans (green string, green romano, yellow wax beans and sprouted garbanzos), corn, tomatoes (you didn't think I would pass on more tomatoes did you??), radishes, wild arugula, cucumbers, fingerling potatoes, French melons, and strawberries. The fridge is packed!

Second stop: Santa Monica Seafood, where I was planning to buy a simple piece of fish to accompany aforementioned vegetables......however, they had soft shell crabs.......had to buy them. Now, soft shell crabs usually command a weekend night for our dinner, but they were lined up so perfectly, a lovely shade of cobalt blue, brighteyed and plump .......who knew if there would be more this weekend? Now, 2 little cleaned crabs are nestled among ice cubes in my fridge. I think I'll make a bean salad to accompany, and that means recipe hunting. I'm looking for something with a bit of an Italian flare to it, but we'll see what I come up with.

Fresh Bean Salad, serves 3-4, Total time: 45 mins*

This is a rif on a salad in Bon Appetit's August 2010 issue and it's already on the Epicurious website (Summer Bean Salad with Toasted Walnuts and Pecorino Fresco) if you'd like to try their version.

Dressing:

1/2 tbsp minced shallot

2 1/4 tsp Sherry wine vinegar

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 tbsp walnut oil

Salad:

Handful green beans, trimmed

Handful Romano beans, trimmed

Handful yellow wax beans, trimmed

Handful sprouted garbanzo beans, raw (you could use canned garbanzos if you wish)

2 tbsp walnuts, toasted, chopped

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

Mixed baby greens

Combine the dressing ingredients. Cook the beans individually in chicken broth. As each batch is cooked, remove with tongs to an ice bath to stop the cooking. Beans can be cooked and then stored in the refrigerator a day in advance*. Wrap them separately in paper towels and place in a ziploc bag.

Combine beans with dressing and place on top of greens. Top with thyme and walnuts.

Grilled Softshell Crabs, serves 2, total time: 30 mins

2 Softshell Crabs, cleaned and patted dry

Olive Oil

Freshly squeezed lemon juice

Coarse kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Prepare grill. We grill these on high on our grill, but it's not all that powerful. If you have one of those mega BTU jobs, you probably want to try medium high. The same goes for charcoal I would think. Rub crabs lightly with olive oil and a few squeezes of lemon juice per side. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill 4 minutes a side (this is Dave's favorite directive: everything cooks on the grill for 4 minutes a side...well almost everything...) Ta da!

Bottom Line: Yum! Fresh flavors all around and very easy clean up for Dave!