Mediterranean Style Seafood Salad

MEDITERRANEAN SEAFOOD MEDLEY

Steps:

• Soak squid in milk for 1 to 5 hours; the longer the better. When the squid has finished soaking, strain, and discard the milk.
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, onions, carrots, tomatoes, and diced fennel. Cook and stir until the vegetables soften, about 10 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, and cook an additional 10 minutes. Pour in wine, and increase heat to high. Once the mixture comes to a boil, add the chicken stock, parsley, tarragon, thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns, and saffron. Return to a boil, then reduce heat to medium, and simmer until the liquid has reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 15 minutes. Strain out the liquid, and discard the solids.
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 45 seconds. Add sun-dried tomatoes and fennel; cook for 2 minutes. Pour in the strained saffron broth and chopped thyme; increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Place oysters on top of the fennel, cover, and cook for 1 minute. Set the clams and mussels into the pot, cover, and cook until the shellfish begin to open, about 4 minutes. Stir in the drained squid, recover, and cook for 1 minute, just until the squid firms.
• While the shellfish are cooking, season the sea bass fillets with salt and pepper. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place fish into skillet, skin-side down. Cover, and cook until the skin is crispy and the flesh of the fish has firmed and is no longer translucent.
• Pour the fennel-seafood mixture onto a serving platter and place the sea bass fillets on top. Garnish with parsley sprigs and serve.

MEDITERRANEAN SHRIMP PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Mix first 3 ingredients until blended.
• Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl. Add mayo mixture; mix lightly.
• Refrigerate 1 hour.

MEDITERRANEAN SEAFOOD SALAD

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and place pasta in a large bowl. Stir in crabmeat, celery, and olives. Mix in mayonnaise, Catalina dressing, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and Dijon. Stir in Cheddar cheese, cover, and chill at least 1 hour.

MEDITERRANEAN SHRIMP ORZO SALAD

Steps:

• Cook orzo according to package directions. Drain; rinse with cold water and drain well., In a large bowl, combine orzo, shrimp, vegetables, olives and herbs. Add vinaigrette; toss to coat. Refrigerate, covered, until serving.

MEDITERRANEAN-STYLE SHRIMP PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Make the lemony dressing. In a large bowl, whisk lemon juice, zest, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, spices, salt and pepper.
• Now build the salad. Add the pasta to the same bowl. Add remaining ingredients except the feta. Toss well to combine, then add feta and give just a gentle toss (see note below, if you want to make this pasta ahead of time.)

MEDITERRANEAN SALAD WITH SHRIMP

Steps:

• Thaw shrimp, shell and remove tails. Heat oil in skillet, add garlic and hot pepper flakes. Saute shrimp until opaque. Set aside in serving bowl.
• Combine all salad ingredients. Toss with dressing (use purchased dressing, or try one of many excellent 'Zaar choices). Serve immediately, topping with shrimp.
• You may want to reduce the amount of dressing used, or put less salt in if making from scratch - the olives and feta add saltiness.
• Grilled shrimp are very nice.

MEDITERRANEAN SHRIMP SALAD

Steps:

• Prepare your Shrimp- I know that shrimp can come in a can, but please do not use canned shrimp for this salad. I buy fresh shrimp right at the Seafood counter of my local grocery and in this case, to make it easy, buy the peeled and deveined shrimp. Toss a little bit of olive oil and about a 1/2 a tablespoon of butter right in your pan and saute your shrimp till cooked. The shrimp turn the glossy uncooked color to white once ready. Do not overcook. My shrimp took approximately 6 minutes to saute. [mv_img id="7412"]
• Put shrimp in fridge to cool down
• Chop your veggies - First you need to peel your avocados and then chop down your avocados and tomatoes into bites. You can really adjust the level of bite you like to tiny bits or large chunks. I like to change it up depending on what I am serving this salad for. If its a side salad, i like the smaller bits of veggies but if I am serving as a meal, I like bigger bites[mv_img id="7413"]
• Pull your shrimp out of fridge and remove tails. You can easily slide tails off if you pay attention with how they are on and this reserves a lot of shrimp meat. If you cut the tales off, you are missing extra shrimp. It doesn't take too long to take the tails off, just a few extra minutes.
• Chop your shrimp down into bites, I usually cut each shrimp into 3 pieces[mv_img id="7414"]
• In a separate bowl, add your lemon juice, olive oil and spices
• Combine your veggies and shrimp into one bowl
• Pour your olive oil mixture of your salad and stir
• Add optional fresh cilantro- I would not add dried herbs to this salad
• Season with salt and pepper[mv_img id="7415"]

MEDITERRANEAN SHRIMP

Steps:

• Place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Pat the shrimp dry, place in a mixing bowl, and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Toss to coat, then set aside.
• In a large, ovenproof skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add onion and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat as needed so that the onion softens but does not brown. Add the garlic and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
• Add the tomatoes, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let gently simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the red wine vinegar and honey. Remove from the heat.
• Scatter the artichokes and olives over the top, then arrange the shrimp on top in a single layer. Sprinkle with the feta.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the tomatoes are bubbling, cheese has browned slightly, and the shrimp are cooked through. Squeeze the lemon juice over the top and sprinkle with parsley. Enjoy hot.

MEDITERRANEAN TUNA SALAD

Steps:

• Prep the red pepper, shallot and English cucumber as noted above.
• Drain the tuna and place it in a medium bowl: mash it lightly with a fork. Add the chopped vegetables, capers, white wine vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard, feta (if using) and kosher salt and stir to combine. Taste and add more salt if desired. Stores up to 3 days refrigerated.

MEDITERRANEAN CHICKPEA SALAD

Steps:

• Serve: Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate. You can keep this salad in the fridge covered, for 5 days. Enjoy cold or at room temperature.

MEDITERRANEAN-STYLE SEAFOOD SALAD

Steps:

• Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and add salt. (If you have Fish Stock, page 161, use it; when you're done, strain it and save it for reuse.) Turn the heat to medium-low and add the swordfish; 30 seconds later, add the shrimp and scallops. Cover and turn off the heat; let the fish sit in the liquid for about 10 minutes. Drain and cool, then chill. (You can prepare the fish to this point up to 24 hours in advance; cover and refrigerate until you're ready to eat.)
• Toss the fish with the parsley, capers, shallot, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add lemon juice, then taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.