Shrimp Salad

Sense of Home Kitchen

This recipe is an adaptation of a shrimp salad found in Patricia Wells' cookbook, Salad As A Meal: Healthy Main-Dish Salads for Every Season.  There are so many terrific recipes in this cookbook, I am anxious for the garden to start producing so I can try more; I adapted this one for our taste and ingredients on hand.  This salad is what happens when shrimp cocktail meets salsa and the result is better than any shrimp cocktail I have ever eaten. The crunch of fresh peppers and cucumbers really add to this recipe, and the spicy tomato juice seals the deal.

The tomato juice I used is some that I had made last fall, I only a few jars of juice so I froze, rather than canned the jars.  I almost forgot about this jar until I came across this recipe, the juice was just as fresh tasting as when I made it months ago.


Of course, there are no peppers or cucumbers growing anywhere near here, but the desire for fresh vegetables won out when I saw these at the store.  Besides the chives growing in my garden, it will be another month or two before we see garden produce.  Wild asparagus should be showing up early this year, we have had a very mild winter and early spring, but it will still be into May before we see that, I don't think I can wait that long.  There has been some good looking asparagus lately, and I have an idea for a new recipe, I can hardly wait until I have a few hours to start experimenting.

Shrimp Salad
~Sense of Home Kitchen, adapted from "Raoul's Shrimp Salad" in Patricia Wells wonderful book Salad As A Meal: Healthy Main-Dish Salads for Every Season~

This salad is a shrimp cocktail with a twist and can be served as an appetizer or salad.

Serves 4

1/2 cup tomato juice
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Approximately 10 drops of hot sauce
Sea salt, pink if available, to taste
1 red bell pepper, trimmed, seeds removed, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, trimmed, seeds removed, diced
1 cucumber, peeled if store-bought, unpeeled if from your garden or farmer's market, diced
1 green onion, minced
1 1/2 pounds (25 to 30) cooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro

In a large bowl, whisk together the tomato juice, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and salt.  Taste and adjust hot sauce and salt as desired.  Add red and yellow peppers, cucumbers, and green onion.  Stir and cover. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to let the flavors develop.

Add the shrimp and fresh cilantro to the sauce and vegetables, toss to coat.  Mound the shrimp salad on plates, and serve.


Sense of Home Kitchen / Recipes / Appetizers / Salads