DINIING: Savory summer seafood salads

<p>Take chunks of crabmeat, shrimp and maybe a little lobster. Add spices and herbs, and, if you're indulging, some mayo. Pile a few scoops of the concoction on top of assorted greens or fill up a hollowed-out tomato. There you have seafood salad, and in the 90-degree summer months, it is about as crisply refreshing as a glass of iced tea.</p><p>Inside <b>Hotel Indigo is H20 Bistro</b>, where the $13 seafood salad with lump crabmeat, shrimp and hearts of palm is tossed in an extra virgin olive oil dressing. The array is then sprinkled with freshly squeezed lemon juice and blanketed over mixed greens. Not hearty enough? Have the sautéed crabcakes with Louisiana remoulade, and wash it all down with a strawberry, peach or blueberry smoothie. 1223 Boulevard of the Arts, Sarasota. 487-3800; srqhotel.com.</p><p><b>The Dry Dock Waterfront Grill</b> sure knows how to stuff a tomato. Example: the $11.95 Gulf shrimp salad — with its light mayonnaise dressing, green onion and chopped celery — is artfully tucked inside a flowered red fruit. This Longboat Key spot is also home to the $14.95 seafood salad with Gulf shrimp, crabmeat hunks and lobster, as well as cooling frozen cappuccinos. 412 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key. 383-0102; drydockwaterfrontgrill.com.</p><p>The $12 warm seafood salad at <b>Barnacle Bill's</b> consists of shrimp, scallops and market fresh fish that is pan-seared and arranged atop field greens with light soy ginger vinaigrette. The Crabcake Salad, with its seasoned mayonnaise is a similar score, not to be outdone by the shrimp, seafood, tuna or lobster "salad melts" that are presented on English muffins. 1526 Main St., Sarasota, 365-6800, and 5050 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. 355-7700; barnaclebillsseafood.com.</p><p>Lunch-goers, sample the <b.BeachHouse Restaurant's</b> $15.99 chilled seafood salad with pan-seared Gulf shrimp and sea scallops, as well as mixed greens, diced mangos, cashews, tomatoes and a tropical fruit vinaigrette. For a bowl of soup with your salad, add seafood gumbo with Andouille sausage and crawfish, and end the outing with the famed key lime pie. 200 Gulf Drive N., Bradenton Beach. 779-2222; beachhouse.groupersandwich.com.</p><p>Venture to Englewood for the $12 Gulf shrimp salad at <b>Farlow's on the Water</b> — a dinnertime fave with seasoned jumbo shrimp and a rainbow of strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, bleu cheese crumbles, and romaine and iceberg lettuces. At lunch, the $11 seafood salad with fresh blue crab, Caribbean-spiced shrimp, and tomato and egg slices is served in a taco shell. 2080 S. McCall Road, Englewood. 474-5343; farlowsonthewater.com.</p>