Recipe of the Week

Hopefully Everyone had a very Merry Christmas. My folks made it safely and are currently headed back to California, Santa also arrived bearing many gifts for my spoiled children and the evil Christmas fairy delivered a good 10 pounds to all of our waistlines. All in all it was a great day and it was fun sharing it with the folks. We were minus Auntie Erica this year as her job and an incredibly large doctor bill kept her from visiting this year - what the hell kind of a doctor sends you a ginormous bill 2 weeks before Christmas - they are all sadists I tell ya!!! She was sorely missed but her stocking hung with ours over the fireplace - so she was here in spirit!

Here's my recipe for the week - a healthy one that will hopefully help shed those dreaded holiday inches...

Japanese Cucumber and Crab Salad

1 medium cucumber
2 tbsp. Mirin (Japanese rice wine)
1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
2 tsp. sesame seeds
1 tsp. olive oil

Peel and seed the cucumber. Shred finely with a cheese grater or do it the hard way and slice it paper thin with a knife. Place cucumber in a bowl and add remaining ingredients. Toss thoroughly to coat. Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

3 cans Chicken of the Sea lump crab meat
***
1/3 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. Mirin (Japanese rice wine)
2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp. grated ginger root

Combine soy sauce, Mirin, vinegar and ginger in a saucepan. Bring to a full boil and remove from heat. Cool to room temperature.

On small serving plates place about a 1/4 cup of the cucumber mixture on one side. On the opposite side place about a 1/3 cup of the lump crab meat. Dress the crab meat with a tablespoon or two of the soy sauce mixture and enjoy.

I have to tell you I'm not a fan of cucumbers at all! However, mixing them with the crab meat gives a really nice crunch and the flavors lend themselves to one another really well. Enjoy!!!