Crisp salad greens and grilled shrimp are a hit combination for this grilled shrimp salad recipe with avocado. For more flavor and interest I added fresh raspberries and heart of palm. It turned out to be the best shrimp salad recipe. You can grill the shrimp ahead, chill and use for lunch the next day, which is how this recipe came to be. No grill? Use a grill pan
Recently I ended up with extra grilled shrimp. Not a bad thing to have extra of. When lunch rolled around the next day, I knew I needed to use the shrimp or they would go to waste.
Into a bowl of crisp arugula greens went the chilled shrimp, some fresh raspberries (because I am a raspberry fanatic), avocado, and some heart of palm. Basically what I had in the fridge to use up. To my delight, I discovered what has become one of our favorites entree salads. The colors and flavors all work together beautifully.
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Why You'll Like This Recipe
- Shrimp can be grilled ahead of time and chilled.
- Easy and fast to assemble for a terrific high protein salad.
- Terrific flavors, and the raspberry vinaigrette works for more than this salad.
Recipe Ingredients
For the grilled shrimp salad
- Shrimp: Get large shrimp, preferably wild.
- Avocado: Be sure you get a ripe avocado if making the salad the same day. Press the stem end of the avocado gently and it should give a little and be just soft.
- Berries: I use fresh raspberries for the salad as frozen and thawed are too wet and generally falling apart (better for smoothies and sauces).
- Heart of palm: Harvested from the the inner core and growing bud of certain palm trees, buy hearts of palm in cans with brine near where you find artichokes hearts. It tastes a little like artichokes hearts and asparagus and it's delicious in salads.
- Salad greens: Get your favorite greens of choice such as arugula or red lettuce, or a baby lettuce blend. You can also use very thinly sliced kale and romaine as well.
- Fresh herbs: Use either fresh cilantro or fresh parsley for color and flavor.
Raspberry Vinaigrette
- Oil: Use extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil for the best vinaigrette.
- Vinegar: Use raspberry vinegar. If you're not familiar with fruit flavored vinegars you are in for a treat! It's delicious and an easy way to flavor your vinaigrettes. Find it in many markets and online.
Please see the recipe cards for measurements and things like salt and pepper.
Chef's tip on shrimp: Buy shrimp with the peel on and shell and clean them yourself. It takes just a few minutes. The shrimp will be better as the shell protects the fragile flesh, and they are a little less expensive. I buy the 16-20 size of shrimp for this grilled shrimp salad. That means you will get between 16-20 pieces per pound. Larger or smaller shrimp work as well. For ease or in a time crunch, it's fine to buy them " P&D" or peeled and deveined.
Substitutions and Variations
- If you can't get good fresh raspberries, use fresh strawberries, blueberries or blackberries.
- If you can't find raspberry vinegar, try another fruity flavor such as pomegranate, strawberry, or blackberry.
- If you only have red wine vinegar, make a classic French vinaigrette. Find my recipe in this post on classic 3-bean salad with French vinaigrette.
Grilled Shrimp Salad Instructions
Step 1: Get the grill fired up and be sure the grates are clean. No grill? Use a grill pan or cook them under the broiler.
Ste 2: Peel and devein the shrimp if they need it. Make the raspberry vinaigrette and use part as the shrimp marinade. Shake in a jar or whisk in a bowl. Save the rest to dress the salad.
How to Clean Shrimp
Peel off the shells and legs, then use a paring knife to slice a shallow slit in the curved side. The slit will expose any debris in the digestive tract that needs to be rinsed out with cold water. After rinsing, set the shrimp aside on paper towels to dry.
Marinate and Grill the Shrimp
Make the vinaigrette recipe and use half to marinate the shrimp and the other half to dress the salad. How to cook shrimp for the salad? They grill in just minutes and tell you when they are done because the turn pink. Use a hot grill, grill pan or even under the broiler if you don't have a grill.
What is Hearts of Palm?
Hearts of palm is a vegetable harvested from the inner core of the cabbage or huasai palm tree. The hearts are slender, ivory in color and delicious. Heart of palm is tender and tasty, especially in salads, tasting a little like artichokes. Find it in cans near artichoke hearts in your grocery store. It comes packaged in a liquid. Once opened, store any unused portion in an airtight container in its liquid for up to a week.
Raspberry Vinaigrette Marinade and Dressing
Double the vinaigrette to have enough for both marinating the shrimp and dressing the salad. I use raspberry vinegar and avocado oil, but you could use olive oil. If you've never used raspberry vinegar, treat yourself to a bottle and enjoy. It's one of the many flavored vinegar's that are a staple in my pantry. Find it in most grocery stores and online. If you can't get raspberry, look for Black Cherry Balsamic. or other fruit flavors.
📖 Recipe
Grilled Shrimp Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Raspberry Vinaigrette
- ½ cup avocado oil or olive oil
- ⅓ cup raspberry vinegar see note below on vinegar
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1 pinch ground black pepper
Grilled Shrimp Salad
- 1 ¼ pounds large shrimp preferably wild
- 1 large ripe avocado
- 1 container fresh raspberries
- 1 can hearts of palm drained
- 6-8 ounces dark salad greens of choice
- 1 ½ tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro or parsley optional
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Instructions
Prepare shrimp
- If shrimp are not already cleaned, peel and devein them, rinse gently under a trickle of cold water and set aside on paper towels to dry.
Make marinade
- In a small bowl, whisk together the oil and vinegar. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Reserve ½ a cup of the vinaigrette in a small bowl to use for dressing the salad.
Marinate shrimp
- Add the cleaned shrimp to the rest of the marinade and toss to coat. Allow them to marinate at room temperature for about 30 minutes. While shrimp are marinating, prepare the grill, grill pan or broiler. Quarter the avocado, slice the hearts of palm crosswise. Place salad greens in four bowls.
Grill shrimp
- Cook the shrimp, turning once, just until they are pink, about 2 minutes per side. Add the shrimp to the salad bowl along with the berries, avocado quarter, and hearts of palm. Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro or parsley if desired. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of vinaigrette per person and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
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