Shrimp Taco Salad
Today’s Shrimp Taco Salad recipe is a hearty & colorful dinner salad that fills you up — without being too heavy on a hot summer’s day!
Servings 4
Ingredients
for the marinade/dressing
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 small limes juice of
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce (I used chipotle Cholula)
- 1 tablespoon red or white wine vinegar
- 1.5 tablespoon minced garlic about 3 cloves
- 2 teaspoon honey
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- Sea salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
for the taco salad
- 12 oz raw shrimp peeled & deveined
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 12 oz garden salad
- 1 pint grape tomatoes halved
- 1 can black beans rinsed & drained
- 1 avocado chopped
- ¼ medium yellow onion chopped
- 4 green onions chopped
- Tri-colored tortilla strips to taste
- Shredded cheese to taste
Instructions
- Thaw and drain the shrimp. (Refrigerate them earlier in the morning to thaw gradually, or place in a colander and run under cold water until thawed.) Peel and de-vein, if needed.
- Make your marinade by adding all of the marinade/dressing ingredients to a small food chopper. Pulse until just combined. (I used my favorite mini food chopper for this — it’ll chop up the garlic for you if you’re using whole cloves, and also has a handy lid so that you can just remove the blade and pop the whole container into the fridge to save any leftovers or to chill while you make the rest of your meal.)
- Toss the thawed shrimp in two tablespoon of the marinade and let it marinate for about 5 minutes, reserving the rest of the marinade to use as salad dressing. While the shrimp is marinating, start chopping vegetables for the salad.
- Once shrimp is marinated, heat one tablespoon olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for one minute. Cook the marinated shrimp in olive oil over medium high heat until pink & opaque, about two minutes per side (being careful not to overcook).
- Divide the garden salad equally between four plates, then top each with cooked shrimp and all other salad toppings. Serve the shrimp taco salads with the reserved dressing (stir to recombine, because it will separate), plus additional lime wedges.
Notes
This marinade/dressing is fairly mild, so if you’d like your shrimp to have a little more kick you can season it with a little extra chili powder or cayenne before cooking. You can play with the toppings to suit your own tastes, too: Throw in some corn or bell pepper or pico de gallo, for instance, or substitute blue corn tortilla chips for the strips.