Monthly Archives: July 2013

The Date Dinner

Posted by countryk in Cooking, Dinner, Paleo and tagged with , , ,

I had a friend over for a dinner last night, and I wanted to make something really fresh, fun, and impressive! He’s very into clean eating/living and I am in the middle of a lifestyle change where I’m switching my habits and routines to something much healthier, which meant I couldn’t make my usual first homemade date dinner of Carolina BBQ. That BBQ recipe is my signature dish; but I won’t blog about it because I firmly believe some recipes should be family secrets and that one is going into the vault, along with my chocolate chip cookie recipe. I was scouring Pintrest for healthy recipes for a while, and came across one that looked really tasty and interesting. This shrimp and avacado salad would definitely fit the bill. http://addapinch.com/cooking/2013/06/26/shrimp-avocado-salad-recipe/#.UeNiUbG9KSM shrimp-avocado-salad-DSC_3837-640x425

Ingredients
  • 2 pounds boiled or steamed shrimp, peeled and deveined – KB NOTE: BUY PEELED SHRIMP. I did not and spent a good 30-40 min peeling baby shrimps and fighting off cats. It was INCREDIBLY tedious and I was quite mad at myself for not looking more at the grocery store.
  • 2 avocados, cut into large pieces
  • 2 tablespoons diced red onion
  • KB’s addition: 1 cucumber
  • For the Dressing
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • ¼ cup red wine vinegar
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon parsley, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • salt and pepper, to taste
 Instructions
  1. Add shrimp, avocado, and onion to a large bowl.
  2. In a 2-cup measuring cup, mix together ingredients for the dressing. Whisk until well-combined.
  3. Add dressing to shrimp avocado salad until it has the amount you desire. Serve additional dressing on the side.

photo_1

The remnants. I chose to keep the dressing separate because I'm particular about dressing.

The remnants. I chose to keep the dressing separate because I’m particular about dressing.

I also added a cucumber to my salad because I wanted it to have a little more crunch. The onions do give it crunch, but I don’t like raw onions planned to pick them out. I made it with brown rice and it was delicious!! There was so much left over from two people that he took a good sized tupperware home with him and I had two smaller tupperwares for myself, one of which is now in the office fridge for my lunch!