Seafood Escabeche Salad 

Tangy, savory, and utterly delicious, you won’t be able to get enough of this Seafood Escabeche Salad.

Start with fresh calamari, shrimp, and mussels from a favorite local fishmonger. Prepare them on the grill as instructed by Chef Kevin. Then, let them marinate together overnight with summer herbs and vegetables you can find at a favorite farm store or market. The next day you have a classic seaside salad that will keep you cool even as it delights your taste buds. Keep the Italian vibe going with sips of chilled Verdicchio.

What is Escabeche?

Escabeche is actually a culinary technique in cooking that has Spanish and Portuguese roots. It involves marinating and poaching food, typically fish, seafood, and vegetables, in an acidic mixture. The combination helps provide a burst of flavor, often tangy, and also gets served cold or at room temperature. For our Seafood Escabeche Salad, the process starts by lightly cooking the seafood and then steeping it in a zesty marinade full of ingredients like olive oil, vinegar, fennel, carrots, zucchini, and various herbs. This acidic bath not only infuses the seafood and veggies with bright flavors but also acts as a preservative, making this dish perfect for a make-ahead salad.

Seafood Escabeche Salad 

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• Author: Kevin Hermann
• Yield: Serves 4-6 1x

Print Recipe

Description

Seafood grilled to perfection and tossed with pickled vegetables? Count us in!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 6–8 calamari tubes/ tentacles
• 8–12 shrimp, tail off (16–20 size), split in half lengthwise
• 2 lb mussels, rinsed and broken mussels removed
• 1 carrot, large, peeled and julienned into 3-inch-long strips
• 1 cup roasted tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup zucchini, julienned into 3-inch-long strips
• 1 fennel, head, quartered and shaved thin
• 2 tbsp tarragon, chopped
• ¼ cup parsley, chopped
• ¼ cup basil, chopped
• 1 cup white balsamic vinegar
• 5 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 cup olive oil
• Salt and black pepper, to taste

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Instructions

1. Preheat grill to medium-high or prepare a bed of cooked down charcoal.
2. Clean the calamari and season with salt, pepper and olive oil. Set aside.
3. Season cleaned shrimp with olive oil, salt and pepper and set aside.
4. Place the mussels in a small pot or foil pouch to be placed on the grill.
5. In a small bowl combine vinegar, sugar, 2 tsp salt and 1 cup olive oil. Whisk until uniform and sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
6. Grill the calamari and shrimp only until there are grill marks on each item. Pull them off and place them together in a clean mixing bowl.
7. Once the calamari has cooled, cut into bite size pieces and add back to the cooling shrimp
8. Place the mussels on the grill either in the small pot with a lid or in the foil pouch. Allow to steam open. Remove and allow to cool. Once cooled pull each mussel out of the shell and place with calamari and shrimp.
9. Add the carrots, zucchini, fennel, tomatoes, herbs, and dressing mixture. Mix to combine evenly. Cover in airtight container and refrigerate overnight.
10. Serve and garnish with fresh herbs and grilled lemons for extra pizzazz.

Recipe by Chef Kevin Hermann, 408 Heirloom  
Styling by Keith Recker
Photography by Dave Bryce 
Linens by Adiv Pure Nature

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