Recipe: Paleo Sriracha Crab Canapes

I'm a sucker for seafood. I always love to buy crab meat and lobster at the grocery store and then I get home and I'm at a loss for what to make with it. When I recently bought a crab of can meat, I started thinking about a nice little paleo appetizer. I've always thought cucumbers slices made a great alternative to a crostini or filo shell for these kinds of things so I went to work. I figured it would all tie together with a little spice so I whipped up some sriracha mayo to go with it.

This is literally the easiest thing I've ever made and was perfect as a little appetizer for some friends I had over so I'm really excited to share it!

So this recipe has 4 ingredients. The hardest part of it is making the ingredients if you are trying to do strict paleo. Otherwise you just need crab, cucumber, mayo, and sriracha. I decided to make the mayo but I used pre-made sriracha since I have some awesome gluten-free stuff. The only paleo downside to mine is a little bit of sugar but I use sriracha so infrequently that it's never made sense to make my own.

For the mayo, I used the Nom Nom Paleo recipe. This recipe had always alluded me in the past. I could never hand beat the mixture hard enough myself and didn't have an immersion blender. I tried using my Ninja once but the power just broke it and I ended up with an egg vinaigrette. This time I decided to use a hand mixer on the lowest setting and it came out PERFECT. I think this is a more common tool than an immersion blender so I really recommend it.

Next was to the add the sriracha. Nom Nom Paleo has a recipe for that too! If you don't feel like making it though, Organicville is amazing gluten free Sriracha.  For the spicy mayo, you just combine 6 tablespoons of the mayo and 2 tablespoons of Sriracha.

From here on out, it's all super simple. I use about 2/3 of my Sriracha mayo mixture on a can of claw crab meat. The amount of mayo you use is really personal preference. Too little and there won't be that kick, too much and it will be super overdressed. I was aiming for the lighter side at first but it didn't really have enough Sriracha goodness so I added another tablespoon and that was perfect.

I used a mandolin to slice the cucumber slices. You ideal want a little under 1/4 inch thick slices. Too thin and they are kind of papery and won't hold up the crab. Too thick and it will be too much cucumber for crab. I super recommend using a mandolin (and definitely buying one if you don't have one). That's the best way to guarantee perfect slices and it's such a useful cutting tool.

Then all you have to do is plate your canapes. I spoonful on each cucumber is perfect. I served these with a couple of bottles of light acidic white wine and it was awesome. I definitely recommend these as a light appetizer for a summer BBQ.

Paleo Sriracha Crab Canapes

Ingredients:

- Can of crab meat (lump or claw are fine)

- 6 tablespoons paleo mayo

- 2 tablespoon Sriracha (homemade or bought)

- One large English cucumber

1. Mix paleo mayo and gluten free Sriracha to make Sriracha mayo.

2. Mix about 6 tablespoons of Sriracha mayo with crab meat. You can use more or less depending on how much of the Sriracha flavor you want.

3. Thinly slice an English cucumber to about 1/4 inch thick using a Mandolin.

4. Spoon the Sriracha crab onto the canapes.

5. Arrange on a pretty plate and make all of your friends happy by sharing them!

Bonus tips: if you are a Sriracha fiend, an extra drop of Sriracha on each one might pack the extra punch you love also. 

Wine pairing tips: A crisp white wine would go great with this. We enjoyed it with the Bonny Doon Pinot Gris/ Chardonnay which is light and acidic and went perfect with it. Try to avoid an oakey Chardonnay if that's your wine of choice. If you do add the extra Sriracha though, you'll want some sweetness to cut the spice. An off-dry Riesling would be a nice pick.