5 Easy, Healthy Recipes for Summertime Seafood

From grilled branzino to oil-poached tuna, we've got plenty of easy summer seafood recipes--plus tips on what to do when it's too hot to cook
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Gentl & Hyers
Gentl & Hyers
GENTL AND HYERS ©2013
GENTL AND HYERS ©2013
GENTL AND HYERS ©2013
Gentl & Hyers

Quick to cook and easy to prepare, these summer seafood dishes prove that sometimes less really is more.

Fill Your Plate

When it's too hot to cook, the less time spent at the stove, the better. Turn our pared-down seafood dishes into meals with any of these quick side ideas.

Just Add Toast Some crusty bread--grilled or toasted, then rubbed with garlic and drizzled with olive oil--is the perfect way to sop up every last drop of mussel broth or chorizo pan sauce.

Keep It Cool (and Crunchy) Pair the whole grilled fish with a refreshing cucumber and fennel salad: Chop the vegetables and add a handful of your favorite fresh herbs, a bit of olive oil, and a splash of lime juice or rice vinegar. Done.

Start Shucking Cut the kernels from a few ears of corn and saute them in a skillet with butter, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Serve with the cod, scallops, or whole grilled fish. For a salad, toss raw kernels with scallions, chopped tomato, and cilantro. Dress with a red wine vinaigrette and serve alongside any fish you wish.

Catch It While You Can

Like produce, seafood has peak months when local varieties are available or especially abundant. In Southern California, summer means amberjack and Pacific mackerel; farther north, it's all about king salmon, king crab, and pink shrimp. In New England, this is a great time of year for cod and swordfish, while red snapper and white shrimp are being celebrated in the Southeast.The seafood showcased here should be available year-round, but it's always worth asking your fishmonger for the local catch. If you want to fish around, try substituting bass or snapper for branzino, swordfish or halibut for cod, and albacore for bigeye tuna.