Seafood Salad Cucumber Cups

Nestle sweet shrimp and crabmeat salad in a refreshing cucumber shell and top with tart, jewel-like pomegranate seeds for an elegant holiday appetizer.

Ingredients

6 sprigs fresh dill

2 lemons

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 pinch cayenne (ground red)

pepper

Salt

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

8 ounces (approximately 16-20)

shrimp, shelled and deveined 2 large (1 pound each) seedless

(English) cucumbers

8 ounces refrigerated lump

crabmeat, picked over

2 tablespoons snipped chives

1/4 cup pomegranate seeds

Directions

1. Separate dill leaves from stems; reserve separately. From lemons, finely grate 1/2 teaspoon peel and squeeze 1/4 cup juice into large bowl. Reserve rinds.

2. To peel and juice, whisk in mustard, cayenne and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Whisk in oil in slow, steady stream, until blended. Dressing can be refrigerated up to 3 days.

3. In 4-quart saucepan, combine dill stems, lemon rinds and 8 cups water. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to maintain gentle simmer. Add shrimp; cook 3 minutes or until just opaque, stirring. Drain. Rinse under cold water until cold; drain. Discard dill and lemon. Coarsely chop shrimp. Shrimp can be refrigerated overnight.

4. Trim cucumbers; cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices. With melon baller, scoop out centers of slices without cutting through bottoms.

5. Finely chop 1 tablespoon dill leaves. Gently fold into dressing along with shrimp, crabmeat and chives.

6. Fill each cucumber cup with 1 tablespoon salad mixture. Garnish with pomegranate and dill. Makes about 36 pieces; serves 12.

Each serving: About 75 calories, 4g total fat (1g saturated), 42mg cholesterol, 300mg sodium, 3g carbohydrate, 1g dietary fiber, 7g protein.