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chilled seafood salad
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Chilled Seafood Salad

Chilled shrimp, mussels, scallops, and calamari tossed in a homemade herb lemon vinaigrette. Serve as cold as possible.
Course Appetizer, Dinner, Lunch, Salad
Cuisine American, Italian
Keyword frozen seafood
Servings 10 servings

Ingredients

SALAD INGREDIENTS

  • 1/2 cup diced red onion
  • 1 cup diced celery
  • 2-2.5 lbs frozen mixed seafood
  • 3 tbsp homemade seafood seasoning mix (see below)
  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp water
  • juice of one lemon

SEAFOOD SEASONING MIX

  • 1 tbsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp ground thyme
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 2 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 tbsp dried parsley flakes
  • 1/2 tbsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

PREP INSTRUCTIONS

  • Defrost seafood mix according to package instructions, either overnight or right before cooking.**
  • Chop onion and celery, then set aside in a large mixing bowl.
  • In a small bowl, mix together the onion powder, thyme, basil, oregano, parsley, salt, and black pepper until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

  • Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
  • While the water comes to a boil, make your seafood salad dressing: measure out 3 tbsp of the homemade seasoning mix you’ve prepped. Cover the remaining amount of seasoning mix and set aside; you may want to use it later.
  • Add the 3 tbsp seasoning mix to a mason jar, then add the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, water, and lemon juice. Screw lid onto mason jar and shake vigorgously until you have a thick, pourable salad dressing.
  • Now, your water is probably boiling, so it’s time to carefully add the defrosted seafood to the pot. Boil seafood 3-5 minutes, or until cooked through.
  • Drain seafood, then add to the large mixing bowl containing the chopped onion and celery.
  • Pour the salad dressing over the seafood and veggies, then mix together with a spatula until all ingredients are covered with the dressing.
  • Let cool slightly, then tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours, or up to overnight.
  • Once seafood salad is completely chilled, taste to see if you want to add any more of the reserved seasoning mix. If you do, you can simply sprinkle it onto the cold salad, or you can whisk a little olive oil into the remaining mix and pou rover the salad, mixing until combined.
  • Chilled Seafood Salad is best served cold.

Notes

**Most frozen seafood mixes recommend defrosting overnight in the fridge. When I’m in a hurry, I dump the seafood into a strainer, then run warm water over the seafood every 5-10 minutes until the seafood is mostly defrosted – about 30 minutes. If you use this method, make sure you use the defrosted seafood IMMEDIATELY.