If you just say crab salad, it sounds like the crabby equivalent of tuna salad. But I feel that if you add that "e" -ooh, la, la, salaaaddeee- your mind is directed into a fancier direction. Frankly, with the delicate wonder that is lump crab meat, you should go fancy. Not nuts, definitely simple, but decidedly highbrow! Yesterday at the market, I picked up a tub of jumbo lump crab meat. I'm always shocked by the price, but if you've ever caught and then steamed and picked clean crabs, you'd want to charge someone a lot too. I get it. So I bought my tub and noodled on a springy salad with crab as the star. The lettuces in my garden this year are a tender buttercrunch and an equally sweet black-seeded Simpson; those plus some fresh tarragon leaves, diced celery and slivered celery leaves would make a beautiful base for the salade.

I also plucked two baby radishes and one tiny carrot, added the tender leaves to the bowl of greens and shaved the bulbs on top.

Then to the crab. I made a simple dijonnaise of mayo and Dijon mustard, added a good bit of fresh lemon juice and some salt and fresh pepper. I gently folded in the crab, spooned it onto the bed of greens and sprinkled capers all around. Meanwhile, I'd toasted some pain de campagne, a lovely, chewy sourdoughy bread and put out some good butter.

We ate well, watched an episode of 24, and called it a day.