My herby, tangy, and refreshing Chilled Seafood Salad is the perfect dish for a light summer meal.
I don’t know about you, but once June rolls around, all I can think about is having an icy glass of lemonade, reading lots of books instead of working, and wishing I lived by the beach instead of in the mountains.
And this year, after my adventures in Charleston where I ate ALL THE SEAFOOD, I just wasn’t ready to let go of that shellfish state of mind.
However…I live almost 2 hours from the nearest beach.
Although I manage to get down the shore once a year, fresh seafood is a luxury I don’t get very often.
Thankfully, my Chilled Seafood Salad doesn’t need fresh seafood.
It just needs FROZEN seafood.
Why is Chilled Seafood Salad the book-inspired recipe for Where the Crawdads Sing?
While so much amazing Southern food is mentioned in Where the Crawdads Sing, seafood — particularly, mussels — plays a huge part in the story. Main character Kya survives in the North Carolina swamp by digging up and selling local mussels each morning.
This book-inspired recipe is an ode to those little mollusks that basically saved Kya’s life, as well as to some other seafood that’s found in the Carolina marsh, like shrimp and scallops.
Awesome Cooking hack: Frozen Mixed Seafood
Unlike poor Kya, I didn’t have to dig up my own food for this dish. I just had to go to Whole Foods.
I found this seafood mix in the frozen section to use the base for my Chilled Seafood Salad. It came with pre-shelled mussels, shrimp, scallops, and calamari rings.
(Ugh! It also came with the calamari tentacles. I cannot stand those. I kept them in anyway. For you weird people that don’t mind swallowing mini suction cups.)
The frozen seafood mix made the prep for Chilled Seafood Salad super easy. I just poured the thawed seafood into some boiling water. Minutes later, the seafood was cooked.
While the seafood was thawing and the water was boiling, I prepped my other salad ingredients.
Some chopped celery and red onion for both color and crunch went into the bowl, and an assortment of dried pantry spices made up a homemade seasoning mix that went into seafood salad dressing. When everything was ready, I tossed it all together and let it marinate overnight.
Why I love this Chilled Seafood Salad
This Chilled Seafood Salad reminds me so much of one that my cousin would make for Christmas Eve dinner. Each bite of mussel, calamari, shrimp, and scallop bursts with flavor, from the oregano and basil in the seasoning mix, to the citrusy tang of the vinegar and lemon in the dressing, to the sharpness of the chopped onion.
Even though mussels are supposed to be the star of the dish, my favorite part of the salad is the calamari rings. I just love those slightly chewy bites against the crunch of the celery.
Obviously, you want to serve Chilled Seafood Salad when it’s cold. This is the perfect dish to haul out of your fridge on a hot summer day.
This salad is perfect as an appetizer or side dish for a dinner at home, but it also works really well as a main course if you serve it with a little crusty bread or some greens on the side.
Bring this to your neighbor’s BBQ or your coworker’s potluck, but make sure you KEEP. IT. COLD. No one wants a lukewarm Chilled Seafood Salad. Or, a bout of food poisoning.
Yeah, I went there. Ya gotta when we’re talking about seafood in the summer.
What do you serve with Chilled Seafood Salad?
Chilled Seafood Salad is the perfect appetizer for the ultimate fish and/or seafood feast! (Ahem, looking at you, Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes!) After the salad, serve up Pan-Seared Salmon in Creamy Dill Sauce or fill up casserole dishes with Baked Flounder with Shrimp Stuffing.
If you’re looking for a lighter seafood dinner, try dishing up some Cioppino with Garlic Toast and Lemon Piccata Flounder or Baked Sea Scallops.
Great, easy-to-make side dish options for any seafood dish are Herbed Couscous, Broiled Broccolini, Smoked Gouda Polenta, Mushroom Risotto, and Lemon Spinach Basmati Rice.
Chilled Seafood Salad
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.
