How To: Make Crab Salad with Savory Basil Sherbet

This is a refreshing and light crab salad with a savory basil lemon sherbet on top. I know it sounds weird, but it's perfect for summer and helps you cool off from the heat. 

For the salad:

• 1 corn on the cob, sliced off the cob after it's been grilled
• 1/2 of an avocado
• juice of 1 lemon 
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2-3 pinches of salt
• 1 package of mixed greens

For the lemon basil savory sorbet:

• 1 cup half-and-half 
• 2 tablespoons honey 
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest 
• 8 fresh basil leaves, divided 
• 2 cups of milk
• Juice of 2 lemons, chilled 
• 1 tablespoon salt

For the mango salsa:

• 1/2 mango, chopped
• 3-4 basil leaves, chopped
• 2-3 slices of jalapeno, chopped
• 1/4 of red onion, chopped

Okay, let's first start off with the mango salsa, which will be used to dress the salad. It's a simple recipe with 4 ingredients: mango, basil, red onion, and jalapeno peppers. 

Chop everything as I have done below;

All you need for this salad is olive oil and a pinch of salt—the tart mango will provide for most of the flavor. 

Now for the grilled corn which will also be used as a topping:

Grill the corn until you start to see light grill marks; rotate it as you go. 

Now to prepare the best part: the savory lemon basil sherbet. Start off by simmering the milk with fresh basil, salt, sugar, and lemon zest. Don't add the lemon juice now because it will make the milk curdle.

Heat everything for about 5-10 minutes on low heat, and then sift out the basil. Let this milk mixture sit in the refrigerator until it is completely cooled. 

Okay, after the mixture is cooled, you can now pull out the kitchen aid ice cream maker. This sherbet I'm making is not supposed to be really soft, it has a very light and icy texture to it—you don't want anything too smooth for the salad. As the ice cream maker is turning the milk mixture into sherbet you can add your lemon juice, plus chopped basil. It will take about 20 minutes for this to turn into sorbet. 

This is how the texture should be:

Let the sherbet freeze, and prepare two scooped out lemons. 

Crack your crab legs

This is a little appetizer version, the cold crab legs can be served with lemon basil savory sherbet during the summer. The lemon was frozen again after the sorbet was scooped into it to keep the sherbet cool: 

Now for the salad, slice the avocado while it is still inside its skin, just make vertical score marks just until you feel the skin. Then scoop out the avocado with a spoon—this is the easiest way to slice it. 

Steps to prep the salad: Gather your greens, dress it lightly with lemon juice, salt, and olive oil. Add the mango salsa you prepped earlier, along with the grilled corn (sliced off the cob) and the avocado. Of course, the crab meat is added here too, with the meat separated from the shell and bones. To top it off, add 2-3 scoops of that savory lemon basil sorbet. 

The tart lemon basil sorbet should slowly melt onto the dressed greens, it's very refreshing, tart, and sweet. The mango and sweet crab meat will balance the tartness out nicely.