I love grilling and would cook every breakfast, lunch and dinner on the grill if I could.
The original grilled seafood salad recipe from Giada de Laurentiis is awesome, but being a tinkerer, I had to play with the recipe, especially since it was lacking shrimp and we all know how amazing shrimp is on the grill.
I also added a lobster tail. This is a recipe you can really play with to put your own spin on with seafood that you like. The radicchio is just for décor so you can skip it if you want, just use a bed of arugula under the salad instead.
This can be a starter or a side dish serving 12 people or more easily, or a main course for 8. You can have everything prepared before your guests arrive and simply leave the seafood salad in the fridge until it’s time to serve. See the notes below for more information on advance preparation and serving.
You will want a grill screen or grill pan to ensure the scallops and possibly the shrimp don’t fall though. See the Notes below for some more information on those.
Prep, Cook, Servings
Prep: About 1 hour
Cook: About 45 minutes
Servings: 6 as main course. 12 – 16 as appetizer
Ingredients
Dressing 3/8 cup olive oil 1 1/2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped 3/4 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parley 3/4 tsp chopped fresh marjoram leaves (can substitute fresh oregano) 3/4 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves 0.19 cup fresh lemon juice Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Salad 3/4 lb sea scallops 3/4 lb squid, bodies only 3/4 lb medium to large shrimp, deveined, shells on. (24 – 16 count) 1 1/2 lb lobster tail (optional), meat removed from the shell, cut into thick slices. 2 1/4 oz arugula leaves (about 6 cups) 1 1/2 carrots peeled, cut into thin strips. (matchstick carrots) 3/8 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips. 3/4 (15 oz) can white beans (cannelloni) drained, rinsed. 3/4 large head radicchio, leaves separated.
Instructions
See the Note below about the dressing and prepping portions of this in advance.
Heat the oil in a heavy medium skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic, let it cook 1-2 minutes. Add the herbs and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Cool to room temperature. Whisk in lemon juice. Season the dressing with salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cool, can store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Set your grill to medium high heat and set your grilling screens down onto the grill surface (see note below). Pat the scallops, squid, lobster and shrimp dry with paper towels.
Add about 3 Tbsp of the dressing to a small bowl and then toss the scallops in the dressing. Drizzle more if necessary. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper and place onto the grilling screens. Cook the scallops until just cooked through, turning once, 2 – 3 minutes per side.
Repeat the process with the lobster tail slices and squid bodies. If you have particularly thick squid bodies, they might require an extra minute on the grill.
Repeat the process with the shrimp, and cook the shrimp approx 2 minutes per side, until really light pink and the shells get a little char on them.
Cool all seafood completely. Cut the squid crosswise into 1/4 in wide rings. Cut the shrimp into at least 2 pieces. If the scallops are oversized, cut them into 2 or 4 pieces. Cut the lobster down into bite sized pieces.
Combine the arugula, carrots, bell peppers and cannellini beans in a large bowl. Toss with 1/2 cup of the dressing to coat.
Place 1 large or 2 medium radicchio leaves on each of the 4 plates. Spoon the bean salad onto the radicchio cups. Top with the scallops, squid, shrimp and lobster. Drizzle with a little more dressing over the seafood and serve.
Notes
For grilling seafood, you generally want to use a grill screen, fish basket or a grill wok to ensure the seafood doesn’t fall through. While you can purchase disposable grill screens at any supermarket, I highly recommend getting something a little nicer as you can use them for all sorts of smaller items like vegetables. I have about 7 different variations of grill woks and baskets myself and I do spend a little more so they last a good while. Here’s a great Weber grill pan along with a Weber Fish Basket. Just because it’s call a “fish basket” doesn’t mean it can’t be used for other things. A grill wok like this one doesn’t have as much room but they are very versatile for other grilling, I use mine all the time for peppers, onions and potatoes. Oh and get yourself a pair of Ove Gloves along with some OXO tongs, awesome for both the grill and the oven.
I highly recommend you double the amount of dressing, it’s a really good dressing and having the extra comes in handy when it’s time to serve. You can make it up to two days in advance and leave it in the fridge.
You can prep all of the elements of this salad the day you are serving it and then leave it all in the fridge until your guests arrive. The key is to NOT add the arugula until you are ready to serve. Grill and prep all the seafood, drizzle with some more dressing and set aside in the fridge. Prep and combine all of the veggies EXCEPT the arugula, drizzle with a little dressing and set aside in the fridge. When it’s time to serve your guests, toss the arugula with the veggies and plate the salad. The arugula will simply get too soggy if you leave it in the fridge tossed with the dressing.