Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? If you have a 9-year-old like I do, you probably know the answer to that question. SpongeBob himself would approve of this tasty crabby patty slider. I have eaten spider crab from the Mediterranean, blue crab in New England, stone crab in Miami, soft shell crab in Louisiana and even the impostor “crab with a K,” but, in my opinion, nothing compares with the delicate sweet flavor of the Dungeness crab found here in the Northwest. An afternoon of picking crab from the Bell Buoy in Seaside, Oregon is just as much of a beach activity as a long walk on the promenade, flying a kite on the beach or twenty mindless games of ‘Fascination.’

If you’re searching for something fresh, look no further than this lovely concoction of greens and fruit topped off with Dungeness crab meat.

At Nostrana in Portland, chef Cathy Whims adds hazelnuts to bring an Oregonian flair to her pesto sauce, rich with Parmesan cheese, basil and extra virgin olive oil. Whims, who was a finalist this year for the prestigious James Beard Award for the best chef in the Northwest, said the hazelnut adds a lightly toasted nut flavor to her rustic Italian cuisine. “I like cooking with hazelnuts because they are such great local treasure,” says Whims. “Also they are a highly prized nut from my favorite region of Italy—Piemonte. They find their way into many traditional Piemontese dishes here at Nostrana such as Brutti e Buoni cookies (‘ugly and good’ hazelnut meringues); gianduja gelato (chocolate hazelnut); and salsa verde, a green nut sauce.” This recipe is a wonderful room-temperature sauce for salmon, halibut, tuna, chicken breasts and, of course, fettuccine and potato gnocchi.   Ingredients: 2 cloves garlic, peeled 2…