There are so many types of seafood salad. They range from the classic Crab Louis to exotic Thai seafood salads. This type of salad does not need to be complicated. You want to highlight the fresh, sweet flavor of the seafood. Light cooking and a dressing that complements the seafood are the most important factors in creating a successful seafood salad.

It is your choice whether you want to focus on a single type of seafood in your salad or if you want to combine several types. A shrimp salad, for example, is simple and elegant. Likewise, a seafood salad containing shrimp, fish, crab, mussels, and scallops is delicious and can make up an entire feast.

Pair your seafood with appropriate greens. Add some iceberg lettuce for a little crunch. Leaf lettuce adds nutrition and color. The different flavors of leaf lettuce also complement your seafood. For robust seafood salads, use romaine and butter lettuces. Spinach works well when you want to add more flavor, as do spicy greens like arugula and mizuna. For a light salad, you can also mix in wild greens like baby dandelion leaves, chickweed, and miner’s lettuce.

Small portions of your seafood salad can be served as appetizers. Just fill small cups or lettuce leaves with a spoon or two of salad and set them out at parties or potlucks. Seafood salad can also be served as a side dish or a main dish with a few slabs of crusty bread.

Recipe for Spicy Seafood Salad

This light and refreshingly spicy salad is simple to throw together.

What You Need

• 1/2 pound medium shrimp (31-40 per pound), shelled, deveined
• 1/2 pound bay scallops, rinsed
• 1 ripe mango
• 1/2 cup salad oil
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 ripe avocado
• 3-1/2 quarts baby lettuce leaves, rinsed

How to Make It

Boil 3 quarts of water in a 6 quart sauce pan over high heat. Add shrimp and let them cook for 1 minute. Add the scallops and cover tightly. Remove the pan from the heat. Let the seafood stand until the shrimp and scallops are barely opaque but still moist looking in the center. This takes about 2 or 3 minutes. Drain and rinse the seafood in cold water to cool.

Peel the mango and remove the pit. Slice it lengthwise in 1/2 inch slices. Set aside. Chop the smaller mango pieces and put them in a food processor or blender with the oil, cumin, lime juice, ginger, cinnamon, and garlic. Process until smooth. Add 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce and 1/2 teaspoon salt and taste. Add more if desired.

Peel the avocado and remove the pit. Slice into 1/2 inch pieces lengthwise.

In a large salad bowl, gently mix the seafood, mango dressing, salad mix and mango slices. Garnish with avocado slices. Serve immediately.