Ocean's bounty (+recipes)

Photo / Babiche Martens

Now's the time to make the most of the deliciously healthy flavours that fresh seafood provides.

Well, it's the first week of February already - where did January go? And more importantly, what happened to all the New Year resolutions made with such heartfelt and sincere intentions after a cocktail or three?

Summer is an easy time to maintain at least one of the most common resolutions - to eat healthier food. Fresh ingredients bursting with colour and flavour, need but a splash of the best quality oils and vinegars you can get your hands on to make them sing, a sprinkle of flaky salt and a squeeze of juicy lime. Yum. And by involving the freshest of kai moana we can rest assured that we are treating our bodies like the temples they are, supplying plenty of essential oils and minerals to sharpen your brain and keep heart attacks at bay. Well at least until the weather begins to cool and we can start dreaming of winter puddings.

Today I am using octopus, prawns and mussels - all easily available, healthy and delicious paired with a few seasonal ingredients to rev them up.

Baby octopus are often available fresh but use frozen if you can't find any. When grilled on the barbie, their tentacles become deliciously crispy with juicy and tender bodies, quite a different experience from chewing on a squid ring. Prawns are panfried then made into a salad with sweet mango, tangy sheep's milk yoghurt and rich parma ham - a few pomegranate seeds add a crunchy burst.

Lastly, a mussel salad where the mussels in vinegar idea is re-worked with lots of fresh herbs and red onion - very succulent and vinegary - good either piled on toasted bread or add the bread to the salad to let it soak up all the juices.

Chef's tip

Eat all seafood as fresh and as soon as possible, don't overcook. If need be refrigerate for one day, covered with only a damp cloth. Clean mussels well - hairy bits and tiny crabs just don't taste that good.