An authentic traditional Crab Louie salad is a composed West Coast classic featuring a generous mound of fresh Dungeness crab meat on a bed of crisp iceberg or romaine lettuce, accompanied by hard-boiled eggs and tomato wedges, all topped with a rich and tangy Louie dressing.
Sources are divided on whether this was developed in San Francisco or Seattle in the early 20th Century. It's a simple salad of Dungeness Crab dressed with Louie Dressing, a sort of piquant version of Thousand Islands Dressing.
I made this one for a big party, so for portion control I set out the crab in sections of Belgian Endive, it worked out great.
This old chestnut has lost popularity, but it really is a great salad when you make it with good ingredients. It's pretty and refreshing on a table loaded with heavier offerings.
There's a really good write-up on its history at the Dutch foodie site Coquinaria.
