Crab, Corn, and Tomato Salad with Lemon-Basil Dressing with Leek and Potato Fritters and Lemon Meringue Pie

I have to admit - this might not be the healthiest meal that I ever made. You'll need a good deal of vegetable oil to *gasp* lightly fry the fritters and as much as we try, lemon meringue is inherently unhealthy to a certain extent. But every so often, it's worth it!

This meal combines the cool lightness and the health of a crab, corn, and tomato salad with the warm (and shall we say deliciously not-as-healthy?) fritters. And yes, these fritters are basically latkes but not quite. They are made with leeks rather than onions and vary slightly in their make-up and preparation. But the end result is the delicious taste of fresh latkes... and who can resist them? Finally, the meal is rounded out with a freshly prepared lemon meringue pie. The quintessential summer dish, this pie is made as healthy as it can be and does not fail to satisfy. So invite over some friends and jump on in!



Crab, Corn, and Tomato Salad with Lemon-Basil Dressing
This salad is actually surprisingly filling, so keep it in mind when planning your meal! In fact, despite filling three people at dinner, this continued to serve as a lunch throughout the entire week. So grab the recipe and go food shopping. It is simple to follow and actually takes very little time to make.

The recipe calls for you to place tomato on a plate first and then place the crab salad on top, but I see no reason to split up the ingredients. I mixed everything together, tossed well, and served as it was. Enjoy!

Leek and Potato Fritters
They're close to latkes and that's good enough for me! I love latkes. Shred 3 pounds of potatoes. I use a food processor with a shredding blade, but have done it by hand in the past when I needed to... I don't recommend it but it's definitely possible! Put them in a bowl and add 1 or 1.5 cups of diced leeks, depending how much you enjoy leek. Mix together. You now need to get rid of as much moisture as possible. The best way to do this is to place the entire mixture into cheese cloth and squeeze out as much moisture as possible. It's very important to do this now or you will not be able to form the necessary patties later.

Heat up vegetable oil in a pan over medium heat. Yes, it's oil. And yes, this means there will be some frying going on. But there is really no way to make this without some calories and fat. You can try to limit the oil, but in the end it won't taste as delicious. It's sad, but true. So go for an extra work out and dig on into this delight.

And now back to the vegetable oil :) As the oil is heating you'll finish preparing the potato mixture. Add an egg, 2 egg whites, salt, and pepper. Toss well. You can check the oil by dropping a bit of water into it. If it starts boiling and popping it's ready to go, but the hot oil will hurt. Beware! Wear an apron and stand well back from the oil.

Form patties from the mixture and squeeze out any remaining oil. Place into the pan. Cook until the edges of the latke are well cooked and brown, then flip. When you lift the latke out shake the spatula a little and place onto a paper towel on top of a plate. The paper towel will help soak up the oil. Continue cooking the latkes until done and enjoy them plain or with apple sauce.

Lemon Meringue Pie
Ready for some summer deliciousness? It's definitely hard to beat a lemon meringue pie when the weather is hot outside. Or anytime. The recipe below is not only delicious, but also shockingly healthy. There's no way around the sugar in the meringue, you'll still have some calories, but it cuts out nearly the entire amount of fat, leaving you with far less guilt.

Ingredients:
Crust
8 full graham cracker cookie sheets
1 tbsp fake butter, melted
1 egg white
2 tbsp sugar

Filling
1/2 c fresh lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
2 tsp freshly grated lemon rind
1 carton (6 oz) lemon fat free yogurt
1 can (14 oz) fat free sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin

Meringue
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
6 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

First, get your oven pre-heating to 325 degrees.

Place the graham crackers in a heavy duty plastic bag and seal. Use a rolling pin to mash until you have crumbs. You'll want to rotate the bag a few times to smash evenly. It's okay if a few slightly bigger bits are left, but overall you definitely want crumb texture.

Put the graham cracker crumbs in a bowl. Lightly beat the egg white in a separate bowl. Add the egg white, fake butter, and sugar to the graham cracker mixture. Use a pastry blender or a fork to evenly mix.

Press the graham cracker mixture into a greased pie pan. Sometimes it helps to dampen your fingers so the mixture doesn't stick as you press. Make sure the crust is even on the bottom and sides. Bake for 15 minutes and then let it cool.

While the graham cracker crust is cooling, turn to the filling. Combine the lemon juice, lemon rind, yogurt, and condensed milk in a bowl. Stir to evenly combine.

Put 3 tbsp water in a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top and let it sit for 1 minute. Then, microwave for 15 seconds. Stir until the gelatin is dissolved and then add to the filling mixture. Stir until evenly mixed. Place the filling into the cooled crust, evening the top. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours or until set.

Once the filling is ready to go, you'll want to make the meringue. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Place the 4 egg whites into a large bowl with the cream of tartar. And don't be tempted to skip the cream of tartar- it's essential! Beat on high speed until foamy. Continue to beat on high and add the sugar 1 tbsp at a time, beating well in between each addition. After all is added continue to beat until the meringue is stiff and glossy. Be careful not to underbeat and make sure you achieve stiff peaks. Add the vanilla and beat that in as well.

Spread the meringue onto your chilled pie, making sure to seal the edges to the crust. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the meringue is just lightly browned. Cool and enjoy!