California Roll Salad for a Crowd

This is my first recipe post since I've returned to California. I credit this recipe to Charlotte who made it for church lunch in Boston one Sabbath. I tweaked her recipe by adding cucumber and pre-mixing the crab salad over chopped romaine hearts.

Imagine a typical inside-out California roll: imitation crab, cucumber, and avocado wrapped tightly in nori with a sushi rice exterior and rolled in bright orange tobiko. Now imagine taking out the nori and rice, and mix the rest of the ingredients with some mayo. Top it over a bed of light leafy lettuce greens and you've got yourself an impressive salad.

I'd definitely make it again for a potluck or church lunch. I like that it's a no-cook recipe, so the most time-consuming part of prep was the washing, drying, and chopping up the romaine hearts. The fake crab sticks are pre-cooked (much like hot dogs), so using a mandoline to slice the frozen sticks on a bias make for really pretty crab bits and it kept the salad cool for transport. The salad was even kid-friendlier than I imagined. I figure the no-raw fish aspect of the dish and the automatic Japanese-food-is-cool factor helped. Even more, I cut costs of the roe low by buying frozen masago (capelin roe @ $4.95 lb) rather than frozen tobiko(flying fish roe @ $9.00/lb) or "fresh" tobiko ($20.00/lb)

The results are:
delicious (probably because of the touch of MSG in Japanese mayo);
colorful (tobiko/masago sweat food coloring like nothing else);
crunchy (romaine + cucumber + tobiko); and
kosher (as far as I can tell if you use regular mayo - maybe we should ask a Rabbi).

Prepares one party tray of salad/20-25 people

• 5 romaine hearts (I used a Costco pack)
  
• 1 package of frozen imitation crab sticks (2 lbs - the package should confirm kosherness)
  
• 1 large cucumber
  
• 3 large avocados
  
• 1 package of frozen masago (capelin are in the smelt family and smelt have scales, so that's why I think it's probably kosher)
  
• 1 cup Japanese mayonnaise (use a kosher mayonnaise to be sure - the MSG might be pork-based)
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  

1. Prepare the bottom layer of the salad by washing, drying, and chopping the romaine hearts.

2. Prep the "crab" from frozen. Unwrap each stick from its platic forming tube and slice the sticks on a bias using a mandoline or chop sticks into bite-sized chunks.

3. Prep the cucumber. Quarter the cucumber in long strips, then use a spoon to scrape out the seeds. Use a mandoline to slice each quarter into fine slices.

4. Prep the avocado. Half and pit the avocado. Score the flesh with a paring knife without piercing the skin. Use a spoon to harvest your diced avocado bits.

5. Combine the "crab," cucumber, avocado, masago, and mayo until all are uniformly distributed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Finish the salad by topping the greens with an even mix of the "crab" mix.

As with all salads using mayo, keep it chilled until serving time and don't let it sit out for too long.