2 Healthy Seafood Salad Recipes

Salads don’t have to be boring – there’s no reason at all you should stick with plain old lettuce and carrots to create a light meal. Here are two delicious recipes perfect for making the most of fresh seafood and other healthy ‘good for you’ ingredients. Developed by Chef Owen Tilley. Executive Chef and Director of Culinary, at Nova Scotia’s High Liner Foods, each recipe incorporates seafood into the salad for a fresh taste that will fill you up and of course…tastes fantastic.

Seared Scallop and Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

12 large sea scallops
3 cups cooked Quinoa
½ garlic clove, minced
1 medium cucumber, peeled, diced
1 medium tomato, diced
2 tbs red onion, diced
2 tbs fresh basil, chopped
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Spray a large sauté pan with pan release and heat over medium high flames. Season scallops, on all sides with salt and pepper. Place scallops in hot pan, do not move. Allow scallops to cook without moving or shaking pan for 2 ½ minutes. You will see the edges turn a deep golden brown. Using tongs carefully flip each scallop individually and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes or until center of scallop is opaque. Mix remaining ingredients in a non-reactive bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Place about 1 cup of quinoa salad onto center of plate, top with 3 cooked scallops and garnish with a sprig of basil. Serves 6

Asian Tuna and Spinach Salad

For Marinade:
½ cup tamari soy sauce
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
2 tbs sesame seeds
1 tbs fresh ginger, minced
1 tsp fresh garlic, minced
½ tsp red pepper flake (optional)

Combine and set aside

For Salad:
2 ¼ lbs fresh tuna steak
1 lb fresh baby spinach
36 grapefruit segments
3 tsp sunflower kernels
¼ cup red onion, julienne

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Reserve ¼ cup of marinade for dressing. Place tuna steaks in shallow container and cover with marinade. Allow fish to marinade for 10 minutes. Place fish on Teflon baking pan and bake to desired temperature. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 2 minutes. Place reserved marinade in small mixing bowl and whisk in ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil. Toss remaining ingredients in large bowl and dress. Distribute salad evenly over six salad plates. Slice rested tuna and fan over salad. Serves 6

Special thanks to Chef Owen Tilley and High Liner for permission to reprint each recipe.

Image: sxc.hu