Shrimp & Vegetable Salad with Lemon Honey Vinaigrette Recipe

Today I’d like to introduce another quick salad recipe that’s sure to satisfy. This one includes tons of interesting vegetables, a really tasty vinaigrette and some fried shrimp. It also pretty much covers the spectrum from a health standpoint. Vitamins, minerals and protein. Now that’s my kind of salad.

The Recipe

This recipe originally included tofu as the protein, but Laura and I decided to switch things up to shrimp instead. We’re trying to incorporate more seafood into our diets and the substitution was an easy one. Also, a few other ingredients were substituted as well. Maple syrup for the honey, oyster sauce for the fish sauce, olive oil for the vegetable oil – things like that. I used what we had in the kitchen and what we were able to get our hands on from the grocery store. I think the dish I prepared came our fairly on par with the one I found in the cookbook.

For this salad, I’d say the vinaigrette is the star. It’s super tasty and when everything is tossed with it, the entire salad tastes great. I’m turning into a huge fan of mixing seafood with salads, so that was a nice move, if I don’t say so myself.

Overall, the salad was really filling and the taste and texture was what I expected – very good.

Ingredients

Serves: 4

For the Vinaigrette

3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
3 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
3 Tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 Teaspoon Regular Table Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

For the Salad

1/2 Medium Sized Head Napa Cabbage, Shredded
6-Ounces Snap Peas
2 Carrots, Peeled and Shredded
Stems from 3 Beets, Cut into 1-Inch Pieces
1 Cup Sprouts
1 Bunch Scallions, Chopped
3 Tablespoons Fresh Cilantro, Chopped
3 Tablespoons Parsley, Chopped

For the Shrimp

1 Pound Fresh or Frozen Shrimp, Tail Off
Regular Olive Oil

Step-by-Step Instructions

Before I go any further, I do want to mention that I pulled the original recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks – The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen. As I mentioned above, their recipe was fine, but I had to modify it some to our liking. So anyway, thank you America’s Test Kitchen for another splendid vegetarian recipe. Well, almost vegetarian.

Make the Vinaigrette

In a medium sized bowl, combine the lemon juice, maple syrup, rice vinegar, oyster sauce, ginger, olive oil, salt and pepper. Whisk these ingredients together well and set aside.

Make the Salad

In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, peas, carrots, beet stems, sprouts, scallions, cilantro and parsley and mix well.

At this point, you have the choice of either adding the vinaigrette to the salad bowl and tossing or waiting until the finished salad is plated and spooning the vinaigrette onto each salad individually. I suggest adding it to the large bowl now and tossing.

Cook the Shrimp

If you have frozen shrimp, make sure it’s thawed. You can do this by leaving it out at room temperature for an hour or so in a colander (in your sink) or by running it under warm water in that same colander. Either way, warm a large skillet over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of regular olive oil to it. When the pan is to temperature, add the shrimp and cook for about 5 minutes or until each one turns pink, as opposed to gray. Be sure the shrimp are cooked through all the way.

Plate & Serve

When the shrimp is finished cooking, go ahead and divide the salad up between four plates or large bowls. Do the same for the shrimp. If you haven’t already added the vinaigrette, you can drizzle that over each bowl now.

The Final Salad

Here’s another view of the salad. Since Laura and I are only two people, we have enough leftover for tonight. I may even roast a few beets to add to each one. That would be wonderful. Enjoy!