A typical tapas here which offers the best from the sea and the best from the salad garden is a Salpicón de Mariscos. We also enjoy it as a light lunch or supper dish or a starter. Of course, there are many ways of making it, depending on what you have available. Avocado? Yes, put some in. Don´t like cucumber? Leave it out.
Here´s my version which I also made a lemon vinaigrette for. Typically though it would just be dressed with salt, white wine vinegar and olive oil.
Serves four as a starter or two as a main course.
Vegetables (all to be chopped into roughly 1cm squares)
- Two long thin green peppers or one green bell pepper
- Half a large red bell pepper
- One medium red onion (or a sweet white onion). Tip…if you thinly slice and then leave in iced water for about 30 minutes and then drain before adding to your salad, it will remove any harshness of flavour
- One small cucumber, partly peeled
- Two carrots peeled and cut into thin strips with a peeler (this is not typical, but I enjoy the crunch and colour) and then cut into smaller pieces
- One large salad tomato (add this just before serving)
- Two heaped tablespoons of chopped flat leaf parsley
Seafood
- A mixture of cooked prawns, octopus, mussels – I had about 2 cups in total
Dressing
- One clove of crushed garlic, half the juice of a lemon, olive oil (you want 3 measures of oil to one of lemon), salt, pepper, half a teaspoon of sugar, a quarter teaspoon of English mustard powder (or use half a teaspoon of made up mustard)
Also – the grated zest of one lemon
Method
Mix together the salad and seafood. If you are using tomato (and/or avocado) add just before serving.
Shake the dressing ingredients in a jar, taste and adjust seasoning to your preference. Pour over the salad and mix gently.
This benefits from sitting somewhere cool (but not cold) for at least an hour before eating. Otherwise you can make ahead, store in the fridge and then remove it an hour before serving. Add the tomatoes and/or avocado if using, grate over the lemon zest and give it one final stir.
Have plenty of crusty bread to hand to mop up all those lovely lemony juices.
Chica Andaluza 
That looks and sounds amazing – especially with your fantastic lemons 😉
Thanks MD – I make it when I miss summer! Luckily the lemons are growing year round 😉
This looks wonderful. I do the same thing with the squid when I run out of stuffing, use the leftovers for a salad. Such a cool, fresh dish.
Oh yes, squid salad is wonderful!
This is a delightful combination of flavors.. It’s so fresh looking and healthy as well! xo Smidge
You can feel the vitamins doing you good as you eat it!
This sounds divine! I’ll certainly add this to my list. Thanks for sharing
Thank you – I think I was craving summer food!
YUM! This looks amazing… so fresh and healthy, I really want to try it… I tried octopus for the first time last year, and it was weird… just like this squidgy thing in your mouth – with no particular taste to it… so now that I’m not scared of eating them, I’ll be happy to give this salad a go! 😀
Glad you overcame your fear. When it´s cooked slowly it is firm but tender with a lovely taste of the sea!
Oh, Tanya, must you torture us landlocked locavores?
Sorry 😉
This is such a fresh looking salad, Tanya! 12 cups of seafood? That’s just incredible! I’ve only one question: That’s fine for me. What are the other 3 going to eat?
Gosh I had to go back and check what I typed! I think it was only 2 cups 😉 Hey, you can always eat leftovers for a week 🙂
I feel like I could literally live off salads like this! So fresh and tasty 🙂
They are lovely aren´t they – but they fill you up too…
So simple and so tasty and so GOOD. you are a very lucky girl having all that seafood! Did the fish man cometh!?.. c
The fish man seems to have disappeared the last few weeks, but we now have a little fishmonger in the local village!
How beautiful! One of my favorite things to eat, seafood. And in such a lush salad makes it even better. Have a lovely week Chica 🙂
Thank you, glad you liked it! Have a wonderful week too 🙂
So fresh, So pretty!
When something looks this vibrant, you know it´s doing you some good!
without the onions for me please! Looks yum 🙂
Coming right up!
Oh la la – my taste buds are dancing about very excitedly at the prospect of enjoying this magnificent salad! DELICIOUS!
🙂 Mandy
I can see them doing a little Can Can over there!
Sounds fabulous and summery. Sitting in cold East Anglia I feel quite jealous!
It is very summery, although the weather here has turned decidedly wintery and grey today 😦 Thanks for visiting and commenting..am off to look at yours now!
Mmmmm seafood! Honestly I could eat it all day long… x
We are lucky in that we live in the mountains but close to the sea, so good meat and good seafood/fish! Probably like you in Dorset…
Just delicious – sorry about not commenting earlier but my email is deleting mail before I see it arrive!
Don´t worry Roger – no obligation to comment, but it´s lovely when you do!
Oh, wow wow wow…Does that ever scream Warm Weather! I can not WAIT until it’s warm enough for things like this on a daily basis around here!
I love your dressing – the lemon must really make the flavors pop…
We´re lucky to have our own lemons and they are super “lemony”, which is why I added a little sugar to the dressing. Very tasty indeed!
Wowza! That’s a beautiful beautiful salad! I’d make a light supper of it, and then pile another right on top! Does that ever speak summer sun and freshly delicious to me! I could make such a pig of myself! Absolutely gorgeous Tanya!
We´ve just had our first really dull and damp weather for ages and I think it made me yearn for summer!
We’ve had a Record-Breaking month of rain – March – and I think your gorgeous seafood salad could trick me into thinking (while my mouth is still full) that summer isn’t far away!
Salad and crusty bread…I’m sold. And I’ll add a nice cold beer.
I think the beer is obligatory!
A fabulous salad, and yes please to an extra portion. I know I will try and make something similar at home this summer. Yumlicious!
It would be wonderful with some seafood from the fishing huts and veggies from your garden!
That’s what I was thinking too 🙂 Ahh the taste of summer is definitely fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. Bliss!
This looks so yummy and refreshing! You’re like a bottomless pit of wonderful recipes, I don’t know how you do it. 😀
A bottomless pit..love it!
Rico rico!!
Uno de mis platos favoritos. De hecho cuando estaba embrazada de Javier (10 años ahora) este fue mi antojo: estuve todo el verano comiendo salpicón de marisco 😉
Por lo menos eran antojos para algo saludable! Es uno de nuestros platos favoritos también…
Beautiful, beautiful colors and I really am salivating just looking at this dish and all that lovely seafood. Honestly, these shots look like paintings!
Thank you – a splash of Modern Art on a dull day!
Another dish for me! I havent tried something like this yet but surely it will be my fave
If you like seafood, which I think you do, you´ll enjoy this one!
I could live on this fresh tasty food, your getting my tastebuds inspired for the long weekend
I guess you´ve still got warmish weather there too!
What a wonderful photo. This is one of my husband’s favorite meals. It’s a tasty, healthy and beautiful meal.
Ah, this is my kind of salad – looks delicious. I thought the shrimps were pieces of feta at first then I took a closer look. I can imagine the wonderful flavours – my wife would adore this too – I might surprise her with this on the weekend if I can find some nice seafood! I must say, personally I love the “harshness” of onion, so no soaking for me, but I know it’s not to everyone’s taste – good tip 🙂
Now that would be a lovely surprise for your wife!
I love the look of this salad – so fresh and flavorful! The colors are gorgeous.
That´s exactly how this salad is – glad you liked the look of it!