Seared Shrimp and Summer Vegetable Salad
The plan was to grill, but the weather wasn’t friendly and that turned out to be a good thing! We had the most delicious dinner with about 15 minutes of prep and cooking time all because of a rainy night. Well – not completely because of a rainy night, it also had a lot to do with the most marvelous salad dressing that my friend Joyce makes. Once she shared that recipe it’s been a favorite around our house.
The original menu for dinner was grilled shrimp and veggie skewers and maybe bake a couple of potatoes or some rice. Around 6:30 the weather still looked messy and my son called to say he’d be home sooner than anticipated, was hoping for dinner, and would love a salad since he’d been treated to a big lunch. Suddenly salad sounded like a great idea. There was a little arugula, and some romaine left in the fridge, plus a cucumber from the garden, an avocado, and leftover butterbeans. The veggies for grilling, corn, tomatoes, and onion were still on the counter and Joyce’s dressing comes together in seconds. Pretty brown eggs from the vegetable stand were just begging to be boiled and added to the ingredient list. That just left the shrimp to deal with. A sticky sweet honey glaze that was meant for grilling just didn’t sound right for shrimp in a salad, but you know there is nothing wrong with keeping shrimp simple and letting all that wonderful flavor shine through.
I tossed the shrimp in olive oil, salt, pepper and smoked paprika and gave them the quickest sauté in a very hot skillet. The salad was just a big bowl of lettuce and arugula topped with chopped tomato, sliced onion, avocado, fresh corn right off the cob, butterbeans, and cucumber. The shrimp went right on top and the whole thing was tossed with delicious dressing. Wow! The results were so good my son has already requested that we serve Seared Shrimp and Summer Vegetable Salad for some of his friends next week. No problem – can’t wait to have this for again. You will love this quick, easy, elegant dinner, and Joyce’s Salad Dressing will be a house favorite! Enjoy!
Seared Shrimp and Summer Vegetable Salad
Ingredients
Romaine lettuce and arugula (any combo you like – spinach would also be great)
1 -2 tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, sliced
1 avocado, cubed
1 cup corn kernels
1 cucumber peeled and sliced
1 cup cooked butterbeans (or sub other canned beans – black, kidney, chickpea – drained and rinsed)
Hard boiled eggs
1 ½ lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 tsp each – salt, pepper, paprika
Joyce’s Dressing (Printable Recipe)
½ cup orange juice
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp honey
1 clove minced garlic (not in Joyce’s original recipe – but I’m a fan)
Pinch of salt and pepper
Directions
Combine all ingredients for dressing in a jar and shake! *
Line a large bowl with salad greens and top with vegetables and add sliced hard boiled eggs.
Toss shrimp with 1 Tbsp of olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika.
Heat a large skillet with 1 Tbsp olive oil over high heat.
Add shrimp and sauté until edges begin to brown and shrimp is pink and firm to the touch – about 3 to 4 minutes depending on size.
Top salad with shrimp and toss with dressing.
*Dressing will keep stored in the fridge for about a week.
