GUSSYING UP passable food with a bit of crab is an unfortunate culinary crutch. "It's sort of a restaurant cliché that if you want to sell a dish, you put some crabmeat on it and everybody will buy it," said Frank Stitt. The Alabama chef, who has been working with local crab for nearly 30 years, is a firm believer in treating it with respect. When he cooks with crab, Mr. Stitt uses the good stuff, and lots of it. In this recipe, a tender, sweet mound of jumbo lump meat sits atop a rainbow-colored tomato and cucumber salad that sings of summer.

The...