Seafood Salad with Squid and Shrimp
A delicious, light seafood salad is one of my favorite appetizers made with salad leaves and seafood. I’ve tried it in many versions, and it was always good. In the simplest version it’s green salad with a seafood cocktail, a frozen mix of different seafood. But if you can use several kinds of fresh seafood, it turns into a masterpiece.
When I was little, a seaweed appetizer was popular, sold ready-made by weight. I can’t say I’m a fan of seaweed, but back then I liked it. That kind of salad mix was commonly called “sea salad”. Seafood itself appeared in regular shops much later. People like it, and it’s perfect for everyday cooking.
The base of a good seafood salad is lettuce or any of its varieties. You can use romaine, torn into pieces, or Chinese cabbage. But I prefer juicy head lettuces, and iceberg is ideal. Iceberg heads look a bit like young white cabbage, and they’re sold in large stores. The juiciness of iceberg means you need only a little dressing when serving.
The more kinds of seafood go into a seafood salad, the tastier and brighter it is. Seafood is generally taken to mean everything from the sea except fish. Ready-made seafood mixes usually include mollusks, shrimp of all kinds and sizes, squid, octopus, crab meat, and so on. Ideally, use wild-caught seafood rather than farmed.
To make a seafood salad, you can always buy mussels in the shell, shrimp, squid rings, or a frozen seafood cocktail.
If you can’t buy all the seafood you want separately and are making the salad with a seafood cocktail, I strongly recommend buying fairly large shrimp and fresh mussels in the shell. First, it will make the appetizer look better, and second, it will taste better. If you like, you can vary the dish with some mild herbs, bean sprouts, or grated carrot.
Ingredients
2 servings
- Iceberg lettuce 1 head
- Cherry tomatoes 6-7
- Bean sprouts 50 g
- Frozen squid (rings or pieces) 50 g
- Frozen seafood cocktail 100 g
- Shrimp 12-15
- Mussels in the shell 10-12
- Olive oil 1 tbsp
- Salt, oregano to taste
- Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, fish sauce for the dressing
- Basil for garnish
Step-by-step recipe
For a salad for two, a small head of iceberg is enough, or half of a large one. Like any lettuce, iceberg is better torn by hand than cut. It’s great if you can add a handful of bean sprouts, such as soy or mung. Mung beans are often available and are a common crop. Mung sprouts are mostly used in Asian cooking, and they go into pho soup and other dishes. For variety, you can add some small cherry tomatoes to the salad.
To keep the cooking simple, you can buy a frozen seafood cocktail made of 5 or 6 kinds of seafood. Large frozen shrimp and fresh mussels in the shell are almost always available. Mussel shells look great in a salad. Besides, mussels boiled in the shell are one of my favorite dishes. For a salad with a seafood cocktail, boil the mussels in their shells in salted water for 5–7 mins. Shells that haven’t opened can safely be thrown away, because they aren’t fit to eat.
To thaw frozen red shrimp, just cover them with boiling water. You don’t need to cook them, since they’re ready to eat. After thawing, peel the shrimp, leaving only the tail fin. Cover the frozen seafood cocktail with boiling water for a few minutes and rinse. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a small saucepan and fry the seafood cocktail in it for 1–2 mins. Don’t fry it longer, or the seafood will surely turn tough. Use a slotted spoon to lift all the seafood out onto a saucer.
Take the leaves off the iceberg head one at a time and tear them into large pieces. It’s best not to use the coarse parts of the leaf. I usually don’t wash iceberg with water, I just remove the top 2 leaves, which are dried out and limp. Put the torn lettuce into a bowl and add a handful of washed mung sprouts or leaves. Sprinkle the salad with a pinch of salt and toss. It needs a few minutes for the salt to dissolve.
It’s best to assemble the salad right before serving, on large flat plates. Divide the lettuce evenly among the plates. Top with the boiled shrimp tails and the fried seafood. Drain off the liquid left after frying. Sprinkle the salad with a pinch of dried oregano.
Wash the cherry tomatoes and pat them dry with napkins. If the tomatoes are small, you can put them on the plate whole. Cut larger tomatoes in half. Around the edge of the plate arrange the mussels boiled in the shell, open side up. In a small bowl or cup, mix 2 tbsp olive oil, 2–3 drops of balsamic vinegar, and 0.5 tsp each of Worcestershire sauce and fish sauce. Whisk the mixture vigorously with a fork and pour it over the salad right on the plates.
If you like, add finely grated carrot and mild herbs to the salad. A sprig of basil is a nice garnish. Seafood salad is a delicate dish and shouldn’t be made ahead. Serve the appetizer at room temperature with a glass of dry white wine.
Calories and macros
535 kcal
Serving ≈ 550 g
- Protein54 g43% of kcal
- Fat24 g43% of kcal
- Carbs17 g13% of kcal
100 g97 kcalProtein 9.8 gFat 4.4 gCarbs 3.1 g
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.
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