The commercial Dungeness crab fishing season is off to a strong start here in the Pacific Northwest, which is music to my ears! Not only does it signal good things for our marine ecosystem, but it generally means plump, flavorful crab at buy-a-couple-crabs-on-a-whim prices. Truly one of my favorite things about living in Seattle.

After all the rich, indulgent foods of the holidays (caviar and baked potatoes—I regret nothing!), I'm ready for some lighter fare that still satisfies my ever-present need for lots. of. flavor. My go-to lunch or light meal when I've got a freshly cooked and cleaned crab in my fridge is this fennel salad dressed with lemon-dijon vinaigrette and jewel-like segments of blood orange. It's crunchy and beautiful and most importantly, it lets the subtly sweet local Dungeness shine.

Note: My favorite place to buy seafood in Seattle is at Wild Salmon Seafood Market at Fisherman's Terminal in Ballard.

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Ingredients

Serves 2 for a meal or 4 as an appetizer

1 bulb fennel
1 2lb cooked and cleaned Dungeness crab
2 blood oranges
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions

Crack the crab and pick the meat. When buying your cooked crab at the fish market (or even at Whole Foods), you can ask the fishmonger to clean it and even crack it for you.

Using a mandoline or sharp knife, finely shave the fennel bulb, reserving the green fronds for the garnish. Add the shaved fennel to a medium mixing bowl with the crab.

To make the dressing, combine the mustard, lemon juice olive oil, salt and freshly cracked pepper and whisk until emulsified. Taste and add more lemon, salt and/or pepper until it tastes good enough to eat on its own.

Segment the blood oranges by first slicing off both ends of the peel. Set the orange on one of the cut ends, then run your knife down the curved edge to remove the peel and pith. Repeat, turning the orange, until only the flesh remains. Then, holding the blood orange in your hand, use the knife to cut each little wedge from the remaining pithy sections.

Pour about half of the dressing on the crab and fennel. Use your hand to gently toss it all together. Taste again for salt and add more dressing if needed to lightly coat everything.

Plate the crab salad in a mound, top with blood orange segments and the reserved fennel fronds. Finish with a final twist of freshly cracked pepper.