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 