Crab and Avocado "sandwiches" with Mango Coulis

Don't you love when you see a recipe and are filled with enough confidence thinking "I can do that" and then it flops. This was not fully the case with this recipe, only partly so. Remember this is not a five star restaurant kitchen with [nearly]unlimited ingredients and funds. I only have one chance to make it right - if not, you eat as is or grab a bowl of cereal.

I have never made any of Cat Cora's recipes. I am familiar with her, mainly from Iron Chef America, and have caught old reruns of some of her older shows. Obviously, I am not about to attempt anything from Iron Chef. So when I found a copy of Cat Cora's Kitchen for $3, I was pretty excited.

Upon skimming through the book, the first thing that caught my eye were the Crab and Avocado Sandwiches, the picture was gorgeous. I knew I'd be making these very soon since our family loves crab cakes.

Everything was great, except I had trouble getting the crab cakes to stay together. I had 3 or 4 successes, then they turned into crab...hash? They tasted awesome though and I plan to try again. Typically, when I have made crab cakes in the past they have some sort of binder like egg, is this correct? Any suggestions to improve them next time? Either way, by the time I was finished, I really did not want to mess with slicing them in half to make a "sandwich".

Loaded with awesome fruits and veggies such as mango and avocado I figure this is a perfect entry for Cate's ARF/5-a-day event. I always plan to participate in this event, but seem to forget. I blame it on weekend brain. Go visit her site for other great recipes and occasional funny stories.

Recipe can be found here.