Crab Salad in Wonton Cups

For this week's FNCCC the chef is Ellie Krieger. She had quite a lot of tasty looking recipes but I finally settled on Crab Salad in Crisp Wonton Cups because I needed something to take along to a NAWC potluck and I had wonton wrappers in the freezer.

Crab Salad in Crisp Wonton Cups
Courtesy Ellie Krieger

For the Wonton Cups:
Cooking spray (Didn't use this, you're already oiling the wrappers, I don't think you need to oil the pans too)
18 wonton wrappers, thawed (if frozen)
2 teaspoons canola oil (I used sunflower oil)
1/4 teaspoon salt (I used my salt grinder and just ground a bit of Real Salt on each)

For the dressing:
1 teaspoon lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (I just used all the juice from the one lime that I zested. I figure it was close enough!)
1/4 teaspoons salt (Just ground in salt to taste)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper (You'll be happier if you use freshly ground pepper)
1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons olive oil

For the salad:
1/2 pound lump crabmeat, picked over (Since I'm not a gazillionare I used surimi sticks (aka "krab") and it worked brilliantly)
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1/2 cup finely diced mango
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions (regular old green onions)
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 2 mini-muffin (I used regularly sized ones and skipped the cooking spray) tins with cooking spray.

Brush the wonton wrappers with oil, and place each wrapper into a section of a mini-muffin tin. Gently press each wrapper into the tin and arrange so that it forms a cup shape. The wrapper will overlap itself and stick up out of the cup. Sprinkle with salt and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until browned and crisp. Remove from the tin and allow wrappers to cool.

Meanwhile whisk together the zest, lime juice, salt, pepper, and pepper flakes. Add the oil and whisk until well combined.

In a medium bowl, toss together the crabmeat, celery, mango, scallion and cilantro. Add dressing and toss to combine. Fill each cup with the crab salad and serve.

The Verdict:I used two wonton wrappers for each since I used a full size muffin pan. Lay one down straight and another on top at a 45 degree angle and press them into the tin. I had a lot of salad leftover after I was done filling the wrappers AND I did full sized cups so more filling would fit in them. Also, these were good on the first day, but I think making the salad a day in advance would make them even better! They got rave reviews at the potluck. The only thing I didn't like about this was cutting up the mango. Stupid mango pits.