Printable Recipe: REAL Spanish Salpicon- Marinated Seafood Salad in Olive Oil

REAL Spanish Salpicon Recipe:
Marinated Seafood Salad in Olive Oil

You'll notice this recipe doesn't have a lot of what you would consider "flavoring" ingredients, such as spices. Heck, it doesn't even have garlic. And while it's almost unheard of for me to make food without garlic in it, I do it with this Spanish salpicon. Because the flavor of this dish is all about freshness-- the freshness of the vegetables, the tang of the vinegar, the sweetness of the seafood.

The original recipe called for sliced, cooked octopus tentacle, but I took it out when I translated the recipe from Spanish. Why? Because though it tastes great in there, most Anglos are a touch antsy about eating things like octopus. But if you can get it, it's delicious in this simple easy cold appetizer!

What makes this cold seafood appetizer recipe really easy is that you can assemble it the morning of your party and let it sit-- unlike most salad recipes it won't get soggy, because there's no lettuce. For prettiest presentation in salad cups, line each cup with a lettuce leaf before adding the salpicon. Makes about 20 salad cups.

Ingredients:
32 peeled, de-veined shrimp, cooked and coarsely chopped
16 canned or freshly steamed mussels, meat only
1/2 lb. good-quality imitation crab, coarsely chopped
2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped
1 sm. green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 sm. red pepper, seeded and chopped
2 sm. tomato, chopped
2 sm. white onion, finely chopped
1/2-3/4 C. spanish olives, left whole (optional)
1/4 C. minced fresh parsley
Salt, to taste
1/4 C. red wine vinegar (or to taste)
3/4 C. good-quality extra virgin olive oil (or to taste)
20 bright green lettuce leaves (not iceburg!) (for garnish)

Instructions: 1. Place your seafood, veggies, olives, and parsley in a large bowl. Stir to mix. Add salt to taste.

2. Stir in vinegar. Start with just a bit and add the amount that fits your tastes (sorry, it's hard to be specific-- most Spanish recipes are just "taste as taste can".

3. Stir in oil. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour two, or up to 12 hours, before serving.

4. Line each salad cup with a lettuce leaves and divide your prepared salpicon recipe evenly among them.

REAL Spanish Salpicon Recipe: Marinated Seafood Salad in Olive Oil

REAL Spanish Salpicon Recipe:
Marinated Seafood Salad in Olive Oil