The holiday season shouldn’t be an eating free-for-all, whether you’re pregnant, nursing, or not!  When you’re expecting, you may feel entitled to giving yourself some extra leeway for celebrating: a few sugar cookies, another glass of eggnog, or just a couple more pigs in a blanket, perhaps?

Surely, like everyone else, you will eat more from now until New Year’s Day, but try to make those calories work for you.  Check out this delicious and nutritious crab salad from dietitian Ellie Krieger’s book, The Food You Crave. If you don’t already own this book I suggest you snag one for your cookbook collection, and buy copies to give as holiday gifts. The book is full of wonderful recipes and beautiful photography.

I made this crab salad for an appetizer on Thanksgiving, and it was a big hit. The best part is that I doubled the recipe and we had leftovers the next day.
This easy recipe is festive, and it’s light, so you won’t feel bogged down. Plus, cooked crab is low in fat and is a source of omega-3 fats, which are necessary for your growing baby’s brain development and vision.

The original recipe is called Crab Salad in Crisp Wonton Cups.  I did not use the wonton cups. Instead, I put the crab salad into endive leaves, which provided a nice crunch.

Here’s the recipe for the crab salad:

1/2 pound lump crab meat, picked over for shells and cartilage
1 stalk celery, finely diced (1/4 cup)
1/2 cup peeled and finely diced ripe mango (I used frozen, thawed mango)
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped cilantro
1/4 cup coarsely chopped radicchio

For the Dressing
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons olive oil (I used half olive oil and half canola oil)

In a medium sized bowl, gently toss together the crab with the celery, mango, scallions, cilantro and radicchio.

For the dressing, in a small bowl whisk together the lime juice, lime zest, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Add the oil and whisk until well combined.

Add the dressing to the salad and gently toss to combine.

Enjoy!