Antigua and Barbuda Caribbean Seafood Salad: Making Salad Exciting

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This Caribbean Seafood Salad from Antigua and Barbuda combines fresh, island ingredients to create a refreshing, delicious, fast, and healthy dinner! 

If you’re looking for a quick, healthy and delicious dinner this week…. I GOTCHU COVERED. I was a little overwhelmed when Antigua and Barbuda week started, so I was on the lookout for the quickest and easiest main course that the Caribbean could provide. This Caribbean Seafood Salad made that quest a perfect success.

This meal is a splendid on-the-go work lunch or even a cut-up-everything-the-night-before-and-throw-it-together-when-you-get-home-from-work dinner! Also, with lean shellfish, avocado, fruit, and sweet potato, this is one of those meals that’s so good, you don’t even realize how healthy it really is.

Quick, easy, AND healthy (okay, okay, aside from the one teaspoon of brown sugar I threw in there)? This salad has it all!

I Have a History with Salad 

I used to be one of those people that hated salad. I’ve always been a big advocate for healthy, mindful, and nutritious eating, but I’ve also always found joy in unique and exciting meals. For the majority of my life, I thought that when it came to salad, these two criteria were mutually exclusive. Up until about a year and a half ago, I thought there was absolutely no way that a salad could be exciting and healthy.

Let me promise you something right now…. If you still think this about salads, you’re not doing it right. It took me a while to figure it out, but salads can be some of the most delicious and exciting meals! Listen to me carefully, though: I’m not talking about pizza parlor salads with iceberg lettuce, some shredded carrots, and one lone cucumber. You know exactly what I’m referencing right now.

No, I’m talking about salads with good, quality, hearty ingredients. Sometimes that means being a little creative and throwing some things in the bowl that you never thought could sit atop some spinach. Truthfully though, there’s almost nothing you can’t throw on a salad. Once you start getting creative, you’ll never think about salad as boring again.

Antigua and Barbuda is a Caribbean country, so this Caribbean Seafood Salad is chock full of refreshing island favorites. Papayas and yams grow naturally in the Caribbean, and fresh seafood is in abundance on the Caribbean islands. Throw this salad together, and you have a taste of life in Antigua and Barbuda. I hope you enjoy this salad as much as we did! What are some of your favorite ways to make your salad exciting? Share with me in the comments below!

5 from 1 vote

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Antigua and Barbuda Caribbean Seafood Salad

This Caribbean Seafood Salad from Antigua and Barbuda combines fresh, island ingredients to create a refreshing, delicious, fast, and healthy dinner! 

Course dinner

Prep Time 15 minutes

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 head Boston lettuce washed, dried, and ripped into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 lb crab claw meat
• 1/2 lb sea scallops
• 10 jumbo cocktail shrimp
• 1 sweet potato boiled and diced
• 1/2 large ripe papaya peeled, seeded, and diced
• 1 avocado peeled, pitted, and diced
• 1 lemon sliced
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

Dressing

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 4 green onions minced
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp brown sugar optional
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Fill a pot with water and lemon slices. Bring to a boil and add the scallops until cooked through. This should be very quick, only until they lose their translucence and turn opaque, then run them under cold water to cool. 

   Note: For purposes of authenticity, the scallops in this recipe are boiled. However, boiling scallops doesn't normally accentuate their flavor, so you can also pan sear them in olive oil and then chill them before adding to the salad. 
   

2. Combine the dressing ingredients together.

3. Assemble the seafood and produce over a bed of lettuce, and drizzle with dressing. Enjoy! 

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