Keep It Light And Fresh With These 20 Summer Seafood Recipes

Nothing says summer like fresh seafood straight from the sea. This summer, when you plan your next seaside vacation or family gathering, consider making one of these light and refreshing summer seafood dishes. From crab cakes to seafood pastas to simple salmon dishes and more, we have plenty of reasons to keep cooking all summer long, which is why we made summer seafood the theme of this week's SWAT (Sharing With A Theme).

Our Culinary Content Network is serving up the freshest catch of the day with recipes for grilled shrimp, smoked salmon, and fresh fish tacos.

Tender white fish baked in the best blackened seasoning recipe and dressed in a delicious avocado fish taco sauce! This blackened rockfish recipe will rock your world! A seafood recipe perfectly paired over vegetables or in fish tacos. — Danielle Fahrenkrug, Delightful Mom Food

For the Blackened Rockfish With Avocado Fish Taco Sauce recipe, click here.

If you want to make things even easier on yourself at the dinnertime hour, get the pickled vegetables started the day before and let them hang out in the fridge — they only get more delicious! Same thing with the oil— just keep in mind that if you use olive oil it will solidify in the refrigerator, so you'll need to let it sit out or run the jar under hot water for a bit before serving. — Becky Winkler, A Calculated Whisk

For the Caramelized Salmon With Basil Chile Oil and Pickled Vegetables recipe, click here.

It's fun to go outside of your comfort zone once in a while. I haven't put together many fish dishes and it's experiences like this one that beg the question that I have asked so many times to this end, "Why?"  Be sure and take a look at the ingredients in these cod cakes. Dill pickles. Just a bit. Tabasco. Just a bit. Dill weed. Just a bit. Lemon zest. Just a bit.  Crunch. Just a bit. — Dan Zehr, Platter Talk

For the Cod Cakes recipe, click here.

A delightful herb and citrus fish stew with a richness from coconut milk. This recipe is a great use of summer herbs and tomatoes. — Rinku Bhattacharya, Spice Chronicles

For the Creamy Tomato Fish Curry With Cilantro, Basil, and Summer Squash recipe, click here.

These healthy cod fish tacos drizzled in Southwest sauce are firm in texture and superior in flavor! This delicious gluten-free dinner is sponsored by Kodiak Fish Market. — Danielle Fahrenkrug, Delightful Mom Food

For the Delicious Cod Fish Tacos recipe, click here.

A simple Asian marinade gives them plenty of flavor, and the colorful slaw is tossed with a dressing that has two types of sesame: sesame oil for its toasty aroma and tahini for its creamy richness. Sliced avocado with lime rounds out the meal; black sesame seeds on top make it extra pretty and add one more layer of sesame. — Becky Winkler, A Calculated Whisk

For the Grilled Shrimp Skewers With Creamy Sesame Slaw recipe, click here.

I love a main course salad in the summer, and this is a fantastic addition to my collection.  The grilled romaine has a perfectly tender, but not wilted, texture, and it's an all-around fun salad to make and eat. The pre-marinated Morey's Seasoned Grill Wild Salmon makes it so easy! — Sue Moran, The View From Great Island

For the Grilled Wild Salmon Salad recipe, click here.

I have a bit of an obsession with Meyer lemons. I love them for their tart, citrusy flavor and complex, fruity and floral notes. Like I always say, Meyer lemons can do anything regular lemons can do, but with a little more flair. Today I'm adding that flair to barramundi, a fish you need to know about if you don't already. — Coley Gaffney, Coley Cooks

For the Herb Roasted Barramundi With Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette recipe, click here.

As my friend and I chatted over various recipes I wanted to make, I decided I did need to make the utterly simple, but outrageously delicious lemon garlic shrimp pasta. The most difficult decision was if I wanted to use a long, thin noodle or a short, sturdy noodle. Obviously in the end, I opted for the short and sturdy. I did invite my friend over to enjoy this dish, since it was my conversation with him that pushed this recipe to the top of the to-make list.

You're free to use any type of noodle that makes you happy. I've had it with angel hair, spaghetti, and linguine. All work. I used a cast-iron skillet because I like how it browns and develops a deeper flavor. But any skillet will do, make sure it is at least 12 inches. — Michelle De La Cerda, The Complete Savorist

For the Lemon Garlic Shrimp Penne recipe, click here.

Now I do not remember where I got the idea for this glaze (or I would share it), but my process is that I usually look around for some ideas and then roll with the basics and put it together the way I would like to eat it. In this recipe, I used maple syrup and brandy for the marinade. This Maple Glazed Salmon was topped with a mango and orange purée and served on a celery root purée. Sounds pretty advanced even to me. — Peter Block, Feed Your Soul Too

For the Maple Glazed Salmon recipe, click here.

I've made these sandwiches quite dainty, but if you want to make these heartier, use goat or cream cheese in place of the mayo, and maybe add some thinly sliced red onion, or a slice of boiled egg along with the salmon. Obviously this concept is meant to be played with. Thinly sliced cold steak would be amazing — just add creamed horseradish, onion, or delicate fried shallots for a completely different experience. Mmmmm, I just talked myself into trying that one. — Sue Moran, The View From Great Island

For the Nordic Open-Faced Smoked Salmon Sandwiches recipe, click here.

Even though you'll need three pots to cook this meal, it's still quite simple and quick as most of it is done at the same time. Put a pot of water to boil for pasta, heat up butter and wine to prep for cooking clams, and, in another pan, heat up some olive oil and first lightly sauté pressed garlic, then add sliced almonds, red pepper flakes, and a drizzle of honey to prepare your garnish. — Diana, Food N Thought Peddler

For the Seafood Linguine With Mushrooms and Spicy Almonds recipe, click here.

Enjoy the paella. Don't let it intimidate you. Have all your ingredients ready and this is easy enough. I started the mixture ahead of time and stopped before I added the rice. You could even grill the veggies and set aside until ready. Keep it simple and relaxed. Now send in the flamenco dancers! — Abbe Odenwalder, This is How I Cook

For the Seafood Paella recipe, click here.

This is by far our most requested recipe! Be sure to write this recipe down on some recipe cards because no matter where you bring this salad, you will be asked for the recipe. — Lynn Huntley, Turnips 2 Tangerines

For the Seafood Pasta Salad recipe, click here.

A simple and flavorful recipe with scallops tossed in a ginger, blueberry sauce. — Rinku Bhattacharya, Spice Chronicles

For the Seared Scallops in a Ginger Blueberry Sauce With Basil recipe, click here.

This is such an easy dish to make but comes off looking like you spent hours prepping in the kitchen. It's as simple as skewering shrimp around a slice of chorizo and serving it up over a bed of red beans and rice or a lentil-vegetable medley. — Linda and Christina, 2 Cookin' Mamas

For the Shrimp and Chorizo Skewers recipe, click here.

Shrimp po'boys — served with a delicious creole Remoulade sauce. Shrimp is battered in cornmeal and oven-fried to perfection. Perfect for parties or dinner! — Tiffany Bendayan, Living Sweet Moments

For the Shrimp Po'Boys With Creole Remoulade Sauce recipe, click here.

You can use fresh or frozen shrimp in this recipe and any type of bean your family loves. If you're not a cilantro-lover, leave it out or substitute with parsley. Heck, you can even use mint. — Liz Weiss, Meal Makeover Moms

For the Shrimp Tacos With Black Bean Salsa recipe, click here.

The beauty of cast iron is that you can get it extremely hot which allows you to achieve a lovely char on the green beans in this recipe. (A stainless steel skillet will work just as well if you don't have a cast iron one.) The shrimp is relatively simply seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Some fresh lemon juice adds brightness to the dish and brings it all together. — Aaron Hutch, The Hungry Hutch

For the Spicy Shrimp and Charred Green Beans With Lemon recipe, click here.

Besides the nutritional value of tuna, I love the convenience of canned tuna. I always keep it in my pantry. This Tuna White Bean Pasta was made primarily from pantry staples. It was also perfect for a hot summer day because the only thing that had to be cooked was the pasta and the spinach! — Diane Balch, Simple Living Eating

For the Tuna White Bean Pasta Salad recipe, click here.