Simple Shrimp Salad Recipe

If someone were to ask me what my favorite kind of food in the world was, I'd answer without so much as a thought - seafood! Being low in fat content, and high on health benefits, seafood is the definite way to go when leading a healthier lifestyle, devoid of junk food and preservative ridden meals. Shrimp to be specific, is sadly a source of high cholesterol, and those who have high levels of bad HCL will have to go easy on these unfortunately. No one ever said that if you suffered from something, that you couldn't indulge in it just a little bit. Just be careful not to go overboard if you are likely to bump into cholesterol some issues.

Homemade Shrimp Salad Recipe

It's important to know different food textures, smells and flavors, to help you gauge what would work best with another ingredient, and if it makes sense to use two contrasting elements as one in a recipe.

Charred Shrimp with Chili and Garlic Salad Dressing

What You'll Need:

• 1 cup of large-sized shrimp (de-veined)
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• 5 cloves of garlic (finely sliced)
• 2 tablespoons of chili flakes
• A handful of cilantro (fresh)
• ½ teaspoon of mint leaves
• Two tablespoons of low-fat cream
• Olive oil
• Shredded lettuce (1 cup)
• Cherry tomatoes (½ cup)
• ½ cup of sliced olives
• Salt to taste

Method of Preparation:

Take a deep dish and fill it halfway with water and bring this to the boil. Then on medium heat, poach your shrimp and let it simmer in the boiling water for five minutes without the lid on. Remove these from the water and let them sit on some kitchen roll paper. Your grill should be nice and hot before you place your shrimp over it (use thin wooden sticks as makeshift skewers if you don't have any on hand). Using a wide brush meant for coating food, slather your shrimp with olive oil, and sprinkle a pinch of salt over the shrimp. Then place these over the grill, gradually letting them get charred. Keep an eye on them since they don't really take time to cook.

First take a wide deep-bottomed pan and drop in your butter, adding a little olive oil to avoid it from burning. Then toss in your garlic (keep flame on medium high), cilantro, mint and chili flakes and sauté these for about a minute. Turn the gas off, and then transfer the contents of the pan into a mixer, adding your cream to this.

Blitz the contents briefly for five seconds and then pour this mix into a bowl and keep aside. Take your shrimp off the grill, and let them cool down. Meanwhile, in a big salad bowl put in your shredded lettuce, tomatoes, olives and lemon juice. Then to this, add in your grilled shrimp and pour into the bowl your salad dressing using two spoons to mix it all up well. Once everything has been evenly coated, you can garnish this with some more cilantro if you'd like and then kick back and feast on your salad.

Shrimp Tossed with Macaroni and Fromage Sauce

What You'll Need:

• 1 cup of large shrimp (de-veined)
• 1 cup of macaroni pipes
• 100g of Parmesan cheese
• Two tablespoons of low-fat cream
• 1 tablespoon of butter (unsalted)
• ½ cup of chopped spring onions
• 2 green chilies
• 1 teaspoon of white vinegar
• ½ cup of julienned green capsicum
• ½ cup of sliced black/green olives

Method of Preparation:

Take a medium-sized pot and drop in your macaroni once the water comes to the boil. Wait for the pasta to soften; if it sticks to your teeth when you eat it, it isn't done yet, if it's still chewy but doesn't stick, it's al dente. Poach the shrimp in boiling water, but on medium high for five minutes; turn this off and let it simmer until it turns pink and the tails curl upward. Remove these and place them on one side, and get started on the dressing until the shrimp cool down to room temperature.

Take a bowl and mix together your cream, butter, shredded Parmesan cheese, finely sliced chili (you can de-seed these if you want to cut down on the heat) and vinegar. Mix these together nicely until you get a nice thick creamy mix, and drop this into your salad bowl with the rest of your salad ingredients. Add the shrimp and macaroni, nicely coating everything in the dressing in an even amalgamation. It doesn't get any cheesier and creamier than this.

These salads are a piece of cake to make, with easy to use ingredients that you can very well interchange and play with until you find what works well for your palate. It's a nice way of keeping things fresh and new when it comes to salads, especially if you're into the habit of preparing these yourself on a regular basis. Buon appetito!