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Salads

Salads make a perfect meal year-round, but especially during the warmer months. Served at room temperature, there’s no rush to get them to the table hot, and they can be enjoyed at a leisurely pace. Seafood, with its light flavours and array of colours, is perfect for warm or cold salads, as entrées, light meals or buffet dishes.

Here are a couple of classic seafood salads:

Prawn cocktail, that great 1970s and 80s dinner party entrée, is back with a vengeance. And why not? Made with fresh ingredients it’s a deliciously simple dish that deserves to stay in fashion. It traditionally consists of prawns in a cocktail sauce on a bed of iceberg lettuce. Marie-Rose, the classic cocktail sauce, is mayonnaise tinted pale pink with tomato ketchup (never the thinner, more acidic tomato sauce) and lifted with a little lemon juice and chilli in the form of Tabasco or cayenne pepper. You can use already cooked prawns, but you’ll find they’re much more tender when freshly boiled.

Salade Niçoise, from the city of Nice in southern France, is traditionally associated with canned tuna, for which the Mediterranean is famous. It was however originally a cold vegetable salad, tuna being a later addition.

Tips for making other seafood salads:

  • For a substantial salad, start by choosing a carbohydrate: boiled potatoes, pasta, rice, couscous, cracked wheat or other grains. This could be determined by what leftovers you have on hand.
  • Add any seafood you like, although it’s usually best to keep flavours simple and stay with just one variety.
  • Next add one or more vegetables, soft salad leaves or crisp greens such as asparagus.
  • Fresh herbs lift flavour and aroma; flat-leaf parsley, chervil, dill and coriander are all suitable, green onions add a bit of heat.
  • The dressing can be vinaigrette-based (oil plus citrus or vinegar) or a creamy, mayonnaise-based version. Either way be sure to add it at the last moment so leaves and vegetables don’t wilt, and stir it through gently so as not to break up the seafood.
  • Seek inspiration from simple classic salads such as coleslaw, tabouli, Waldorf or Caesar, using them as a base to create your own seafood creations.

Salade Niçoise (Provençal Tuna Salad)

Salade Niçoise (Provençal Tuna Salad)

This modern adaptation of the classical southern French salad replaces the more traditional...

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Serves 6 as an entrée
Sashimi Salmon Salad

Sashimi Salmon Salad

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Serves 4 as an entrée
Kingfish Ceviche

Kingfish Ceviche

Acidic marinades denature the protein in fish in a similar way to heat, turning the flesh opaque...

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Serves 6 as an entrée
Yellowfin Bream with Vietnamese Salad

Yellowfin Bream with Vietnamese Salad

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Serves 6 as an entrée
Bonito, White Bean & Tomato Salad with Caper...

Bonito, White Bean & Tomato Salad with Caper...

Related to Tuna and Mackerel, Bonito is high in healthy omega-3 oils.

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Serves 4
Rock Lobster & Herb Salad with Asian Dressing

Rock Lobster & Herb Salad with Asian Dressing

This salad is a good way to make one Rock Lobster go further.

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Serves 4 as an entrée
Rock Lobster Salad with Radish, Orange & Mint

Rock Lobster Salad with Radish, Orange & Mint

The fresh flavours of orange, radish and mint and the crunch of witlof and celery combine with...

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Serves 4
Prawn Cocktail

Prawn Cocktail

Classic recipes never go out of fashion, because they simply taste good.

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Serves 6 as an entrée
Prawn Salad with Chilli, Cucumber & Watercress

Prawn Salad with Chilli, Cucumber & Watercress

FOR A VIDEO VERSION OF THIS RECIPE, CLICK HERE. You don’t even need to turn on the...

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Serves 6 as an entrée
Crab Salad with Witlof & Snow Peas

Crab Salad with Witlof & Snow Peas

This dish can easily be converted to finger food by combining the dressed crab salad, avocado...

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Serves 4

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