Seafood Salads at Asheville's Fisherman's Quarters II

"Salad, a term derived from the Latin "sal" (salt), which yielded the form salata, "salted things" such as the raw vegetables in classical times with a dressing of oil, vinegar or salt. The word turns up in Old French as salade and then in late 14th century English as salad or sallet."

Salads have become a fixture of our modern menu. Food historians document that salads were eaten by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Like any popular dish, salads evolved as chefs placed their signature on a mixture that traditionally included raw vegetables with oil, vinegar or salt. Adding ingredients and layering salads a fore-runner to the chef salad became popular in the 18th century.

George Baxevanis, owner of Fisherman's Quarters II in Asheville, NC, loves salads.

"When fresh produce becomes available in the warmer months, salads are a great light meal or addition to a dinner. Of course, if you get tired of eating greens you can always have one of my favorites - seafood salad," says Baxevanis.

Anytime Classics: Shrimp and Tuna Salads

Seafood salads can be made of all sorts of ingredients. Crab, lobster, fish and shrimp are all popular ingredients. Even tough and rubbery conch can be tamed using citrus juice to create a fabulous seafood salad known as ceviche. At Fisherman's Quarters II, Baxevanis serves the classics - Shrimp and Tuna Salad.

Tuna salad may be easily prepared. Perhaps that's why it's become standard across the U.S. both in lunchboxes and poolside at country clubs. People are uncommonly particular about the ingredients of their tuna salad. Some prefer mayonnaise, some oil. Onions, celery and relish are other common additions. Tuna salad is versatile and can be used on a sandwich like a tuna melt or served as a true salad over mixed greens or iceburg lettuce.

Baxevanis' personal tuna salad recipe calls for chopped black olives, parsley, parmesan and capers dressed in his secret Greek dressing. After mixing these ingredients, he places the tuna salad atop a wedge of iceburg lettuce and garnishes with quarters of boiled egg, sliced onion and wedged tomatoes.

Asheville's Favorite Shrimp Salad

Another healthy seafood option is shrimp salad. Baxevanis mixes one pound of cooked, peeled and de-veined chopped shrimp with a half cup of mayonnaise, ¼ cup of diced celery, ¼ cup of diced onion, two minced cloves of garlic, salt and pepper to taste, 1 teaspoon of finely chopped tarragon, 1 tablespoon of rough chopped parsley and 1 teaspoon of paprika mixing the ingredients thoroughly. He serves his shrimp salad over mixed baby greens with tomatoes and red onion.
Salmon is one of the most popular fish to serve over salad. Baxevanis prefers to make the salmon into a salad with one of his most popular seafood salad creations:

Salmon Salad
Serves 4

Ingredients
• 1 pound of salmon cooked (grilled)
• ¼ cup chopped celery
• ¼ cup chopped red pepper
• 1 tablespoon capers
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• I head Boston bib lettuce
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard

Crumble the cooked salmon in a large mixing bowl. Add celery, pepper, capers, sliced red onion and dill. Mix thoroughly. In small mixing bowl, add mustard, vinegar and whip with whisk while slowly drizzling oil until well blended.Arrange washed greens on four plates with salmon mixture on top. Lightly dress each plate with dressing and garnish with lemons and dill sprigs.

To find great Fish recipes and tips visit: http://fishermansquarters.info

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Chris Wingate
Freelance journalist, outdoorsman and adrenalin junkie, Chris can be found exploring the forests of the South East where he is a white water raft guide on the French Broad River. When not wet or covered in mud Chris produces shows for his local public access TV station URTV and plays bass in an alt-country band "Hobos and Lace".
To find great Fish recipes and tips visit: http://fishermansquarters.info