Part two of my summer vegan crab recipe series is for a zesty, fresh, and delicious Cobb salad! With a crabby twist, of course.

For the full recipe and nutritional information, click here or keep reading!

This salad is inspired by a seasonal salad from the restaurant chain Chop’t that came out about 3 years ago. Full of crunchy oyster crackers, sweet corn, and a savory Old Bay (Old Bae?) ranch dressing, the Chesapeake Bay Cobb Salad is topped with our old friends, Gardein crabless cakes. It’s a little taste of summer you can enjoy all year. Let’s get started!

In my opinion, the star of the show is the Old Bay ranch dressing. I’ve made it before using silken tofu, and it’s fine, but it takes 100x better made with good ol’ vegan mayo. If you’re planning on making this on a regular basis, you may wish to keep this on the healthy side by switching the mayo for silken tofu and a little extra lemon juice or vinegar, but I only make this a handful of times a year, so I go for taste first.

In a small blender (if possible), mix together some vegan mayo, Old Bay, lemon juice, dill, parsley, onion powder, and garlic powder. You can use any unsweetened non-dairy milk to help thin it out, but I like to use yogurt for extra tanginess.

Add the greens of your choice to a large bowl. I prefer something mild tasting, like romaine or baby spinach, but I happened to have a bit of spring mix and butter lettuce on hand, so I tore those into rough bite-sized pieces and used that today. Toss with the dressing (I used about half, though the full amount is reflected in the nutrition facts), corn (fresh is best, but I usually use canned), diced bell pepper, and oyster crackers. You know, those little hexagonal crackers that are perfect in cream of crab soup? Those. You could use croutons or crumbled saltine crackers instead, but oyster crackers have such a nice, airy crunch, so they’re mandatory in my book. Also, the original Chop’t salad had jack cheese in it, but honestly I can never taste it so I don’t usually bother.

I also like to top this salad with a few crabless cakes that I’ve either pan-fried or baked. And that’s it! A fresh, creamy, crunchy salad for summer, or anytime you’re longing for the seaside.

I hope you give this super easy recipe a try, and tell me what you think!

~M

Chesapeake Bay Cobb Salad | Printable Version

Makes 4 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes (optional)

Ingredients:

1 bag Gardein Crabless Cakes (optional)

Old Bay Ranch Dressing:
½ c vegan mayo
¼ c vegan unsweetened milk or yogurt
1 T Old Bay seasoning
½ t onion powder
1 T lemon juice
½ T fresh or ½ t dried dill
1 T fresh or 1 t dried parsley

6 c romaine or butter lettuce
1 c whole kernel corn
1 c oyster crackers
½ c diced red bell peppers

Directions:

1. Prepare crabless cakes according to package directions, if desired.
2. Combine all dressing ingredients in a small blender and blend.
3. Combine all salad ingredients in a large serving bowl. Toss with dressing. Serve topped with crabless cakes.