In most parts of the world, and certainly throughout the Mediterranean, seafood salad is as simple as this: you dress some poached fish with olive oil and loads of lemon. (Actually some people prefer vinegar, and it’s certainly traditional in many places, but I always go with lemon if I have it.) If you want to make it more elaborate, you add poached vegetables or serve it on a bed of greens. So view this simple recipe as a guideline, not as dogma; use whatever fish you have, a variety or something as simple and common as shrimp. Add vegetables and vary the seasonings if you like. It will be fine any way you do it.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　Salt and black pepper to taste

　　1/2 pound swordfish, skinned and cut into 1/2-inch chunks

　　1/2 pound shrimp, peeled (halved if large)

　　1/2 pound sea scallops, cut in half through their equators (or quartered if very large)

　　1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

　　1 tablespoon capers with a little of their liquid, or to taste

　　1 shallot, minced

　　1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

　　Fresh lemon juice to taste

　　

Step 1

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and add salt. (If you have Fish Stock, page 161, use it; when you’re done, strain it and save it for reuse.) Turn the heat to medium-low and add the swordfish; 30 seconds later, add the shrimp and scallops. Cover and turn off the heat; let the fish sit in the liquid for about 10 minutes. Drain and cool, then chill. (You can prepare the fish to this point up to 24 hours in advance; cover and refrigerate until you’re ready to eat.)

　　

Step 2

Toss the fish with the parsley, capers, shallot, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add lemon juice, then taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.