Colors of Shrimp Salad!

If you are a shrimp lover, then you will love this recipe. It is:

• Lean protein.
• Crunchy, colorful and yummy.
• Healthy and satisfying.
• Dairy free.
• Gluten free.
• Easy to make with commonly available ingredients.
• Best for a cozy meal at home.
  

  Colorful details of a delicious salad.

  

  Details of a salad! Up close and personal!

My seafood addiction needs to be known. It is an obsession. Where I live in Pennsylvania, I am far from fresh fish markets. I easily get tired of salmon and tilapia. And I sometime drive hours for getting some fresh seafood in my belly. I love shrimp. And anything that’s made with shrimp. I have been juicing strawberries, pineapple and blue berries for the last two weeks. With all the fresh summery fruits around, how can you not right?! And now I am kind of off that wagon and want some healthy summery protein! Shrimp in a buttery sauce or on a skewer sounds great! Something juicy and light. May be something sweet and savory. Creamy avocados? May be some nuts and fresh veggies in a shrimp salad ? That will be amazing!

I just described above, how my food brain works. I made this shrimp salad for my husband. He had a stressful day at work and called me to say he is hungry. This is a pretty normal thing in our household. I then run to the kitchen and whip up something. We usually stay home with our home cooked meals and call it an evening after a long day at work. I love cooking for him, something I really love to do. Serving any dish I prepared and being able to see his happy face with every bite, is something I live for.

Shrimp avocado salad dressing:

This recipe was made with lots of love. I tried so hard to bring the flavors together for a balanced recipe. Peanut butter in a dressing? Yes! nutty peanut butter with sweet honey, sour lemon juice and the umami of soy sauce made this dressing perfect for shrimp avocado salad. Finally when it was just perfect with the right amount of sweetness, saltiness, sourness, my husband was home.

I want some of this salad now!

Shrimp:

Really was in the mood for a  crunchy, something crunchy and fun. I wanted it to go well with the crunch of nuts, crispy fresh sweet peppers and creamy avocados. I seasoned the shrimp first and then coated it with corn starch and pan fried it. The corn starch forms crunchy outsides and seal in the moisture in the shrimp. And the shrimp is well seasoned inside the crispy crunchy exterior. This created a really awesome “OMG-I-cannot-stop-eating” shrimp recipe!

Salad:

I chose a simple spring mix for the salad body. I think a mix that include kale and spinach will work perfectly here. The dressing is not watery and is kind of thick so it needs salad leaves that can stand the weight. Also, the salad dressing needs the subtle bitterness of kale and spinach to offset the dressing’s flavor combo. Peanuts, avocados and sweet peppers along with the dressing created an incredible flavor union in this simple shrimp avocado salad.

Hope you enjoy this meal and please let me know what do you think of it. If you want another delicious meal check this out!

Can’t get enough of this!

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Shrimp Avocado Salad With Sweet Sour Dressing

Shrimp avocado salad, a wonderfully satisfying main course meal. Crunchy, sweet, sour and nutty. This colorful salad explodes with flavors and textures. At the same time, it brings together luscious greens, sweet peppers, scallions, peanuts and creamy avocados with a perfectly crafted dressing.

Course Main Course, Salad

Cuisine American, Asian, Asian Inspired

Keyword avocado, salad, salad dressing, shrimp

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Calories 517kcal

Ingredients

For the dressing:

• 4 Tbsp Peanut butter
• 2 Tbsp Soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp Honey
• 1 Juice of one whole lime.
• 1 1/2 Tsp Chopped ginger.

For the shrimp:

• 12 Oz Large shrimp (deveined,peeled)
• 1/3 Cup Corn starch
• 1/4 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tsp Chilli powder ( or as much as your like!).
• 1 Tsp Garlich powder
• 3-4 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil.

For the salad:

• 1/2 Cup Chopped bell peppers (yellow, red and orange)
• 1 Large tomato chopped.
• 2-3 Sprigs Scallions chopped.
• 2-3 Tbsp Roasted peanuts for garnishing.
• 4 Servings of salad leaves mix of your choice.
• 1 Whole ripe avocado cubed.

Instructions

Dressing:

• Blend all the ingredients in a blender into a smooth emulsified dressing and set aside. Easy as that! 🙂
  

Shrimp:

• Preheat the oil on medium heat. Wash the shrimp and squeeze them gently to remove excess water. Mix in the dry seasonings, then set aside.
• In a bowl take cornstarch and dump your shrimp into the cornstarch. Mix the shrimp and cornstarch from the bottom up. Lifting up shrimp from the bottom and letting it tumble and mix in the cornstarch. This should coat the shrimp without any wet spots on the shrimp.
  
• Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Test if the oil is properly hot, before placing the shrimp (see notes). Place the shrimp quickly, cook the shrimp 1 - 1 1/2 mins per side ( See notes). If you see uncooked spots on the curved sides of large shrimp, use a tong to pick them up and place it in oil to cook them through. This rarely happens but it does at times. Set aside the cooked shrimps, to drain the oil on a paper towel lined plate.
  

Salad:

• Mix everything together except peanuts, shrimp and dressing. Then garnish it with peanuts. Pour on the delicious dressing and enjoy.
  

Notes

Notes:

1. Make sure the oil is hot before pan frying shrimp. This is very important for this recipe to work. Oil is hot when, it easily moves around in the pan. And the oil shimmers and glistens when it is properly heated. You can also test the oil by dropping in a tiny bit of cornstarch, if it sizzles, then the oil is ready.
2. Make sure to start flipping the shrimps you placed first, otherwise they will be overcooked.
3. In our household we eat a lot of avocados. May be a bit too many. But recommended portion of avocados is 1/3 of avocado per person.
4. The total calories of this recipe includes the calories the entire amount of dressing. That's a lot of dressing!. Please use as per your preferences.
5. Slightly bitter leaves like Kale and spinach mixed in with other salad leaves work best with this dressing.
   
   Nutrition Facts

   Shrimp Avocado Salad With Sweet Sour Dressing

   Amount Per Serving

   Calories 517 Calories from Fat 251

   % Daily Value*

   Fat 27.9g43%

   Saturated Fat 4.5g28%

   Cholesterol 122mg41%

   Sodium 1061mg46%

   Potassium 572mg16%

   Carbohydrates 49.3g16%

   Sugar 13.2g15%

   Protein 25.6g51%

   Vitamin A 23350IU467%

   Calcium 120mg12%

   Iron 8.1mg45%

   * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition

Calories: 517kcal | Carbohydrates: 49.3g | Protein: 25.6g | Fat: 27.9g | Saturated Fat: 4.5g | Cholesterol: 122mg | Sodium: 1061mg | Potassium: 572mg | Sugar: 13.2g | Vitamin A: 23350IU | Calcium: 120mg | Iron: 8.1mg

The post Shrimp Avocado Salad With Sweet Sour Dressing. appeared first on Delish Buzz.

Beautifully vibrant vegan pesto.

This version of vegan pesto:

First of all, I added parsley as an experiment instead of traditional basil. And the result?! Its fresh aroma was out of this world! Mixed with extra virgin olive oil and garlic, I believe this recipe is as good as any pesto. Frankly, I couldn’t stop eating it straight out of my blender. In another words, I am still a food addict. Next time, I am planning to experiment with spinach and kale in addition to fresh parsley. Though this was scary at first, I found that vegan pesto is very forgiving.

Magical ingredients of vegan pesto.

Love this vibrant green!

Blended and ready to go!

Cashews instead of pine nuts:

I tried different nuts in my pestos. While almonds and walnuts are great substitutes for pine nuts, I prefer cashews. The smooth texture that cashews add to the pestos is unbeatable. Also, the high fat content in cashew (12g per oz!) makes it a perfect candidate for pesto. When vegan pesto is blended with cashews, it is equally creamy as any pesto with dairy that I have used. So it coats the pastas perfectly and it tastes divine.

More reasons to use cashews are:

• High in unsaturated healthy fats.
• Rich in minerals.
• May help with several health issues.
  

Vegan cashew pesto is for using in:

• Paninis – melted with cheese and any dressings!.
• In soups – it will thicken the soup e.g. in creamy tomato soups.
• Use them in sauces and in meat/vegetable stews as thickening agent or as flavor enhancer.
• Can be used instead of pizza sauce and also to drizzle over pizzas after it is baked.
• You can add pesto to your breads or pizza dough.
• Pesto is amazing in meat marinades or can be used with meat seasoning.
• Perfect in frittatas and delicious in mashed potatoes.

Finally, if you want to use this pesto in a simple, colorful vegan pasta dish then try this recipe.

Delicious creamy vegan pesto.

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Vegan Pesto With Cashews

Cashew pesto is creamy rich and is vibrant.This simple pesto is made from fresh parsley and raw cashews.It is so versatile, it can be used in many things beyond pasta.This deep green vegan pesto is zesty and it lifts up your dishes in a hurry with fresh flavors.

Course Main Course, Salad, Side Dish, Soup

Cuisine Italian inspired

Keyword cashew pesto, home made pesto, pesto, simple pesto, vegan

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Calories 134kcal

Ingredients

For the pesto:

• Half cup cashew.
• Half bunch curly leaf parsley or Italian parsley (2 heaping cups).
• 1/2 cup extra virgin oilve oil.
• 2 cloves garlic (medium).
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper.
• 1/2 tsp sea salt.
• 1 whole lemon's juice.

Instructions

Instructions for making the pesto:

• Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend!.
  
• Choose a slower speed for a coarse pesto and stop occasionally to stir the mix from the bottom up to make sure even blending.
  
• The consistency of this pesto is adjusted by adding some water i.e. if you want a saucy pesto.Omit lemon juice if you want no tang in your pesto. I like this pesto with juice of a half lemon if I am making a creamy dairy based pasta dish. (more recipes to come!)
• I opted for a smooth pesto, which I like. Flavors are combined well this way and it coats the pasta better. This strictly is a personal preference.
  
• After you make your pesto add an additional table spoon or two of EVOO if you want to store your pesto for later. This helps it from drying out and keeps it fresh. In my humble opinion, this makes the pesto very pretty as well.
  

Notes

     Notes:

1. Any type of parsley can be used.
2. Raw cashews are better than roasted cashews. But with other nuts like walnuts and almonds I find that roasting them before making pestos really add enhanced flavor to it.
3. Lemon juice can be omitted from this recipe but I think adding 2 table spoons of lemon juice really balances out the flavors.
4. Pestos made in a mortar and pestle are said to have much flavor. It takes much more effort and need to be made in small batches.
5. High ratio of cashew in this version of vegan pesto replaces the need for cheese.

Nutrition Facts

Vegan Pesto With Cashews

Amount Per Serving (10 g)

Calories 134 Calories from Fat 121

% Daily Value*

Fat 13.4g21%

Saturated Fat 2.1g13%

Sodium 46mg2%

Potassium 148mg4%

Carbohydrates 4g1%

Fiber 0.9g4%

Sugar 0.6g1%

Protein 1.6g3%

Vitamin A 2550IU51%

Vitamin C 36.3mg44%

Calcium 20mg2%

Iron 1.6mg9%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition

Serving: 10g | Calories: 134kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 1.6g | Fat: 13.4g | Saturated Fat: 2.1g | Sodium: 46mg | Potassium: 148mg | Fiber: 0.9g | Sugar: 0.6g | Vitamin A: 2550IU | Vitamin C: 36.3mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1.6mg

The post Vegan Pesto With Cashew And Parsley. appeared first on Delish Buzz.