Thursday, February 16, 2012

Shrimp & Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing

IMG_3287e This is my fifth month participating in the Improv Cooking Challenge which is hosted by Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker.  As always I looked forward to participating and finding or coming up with a great recipe which included the two theme ingredients.  This month the participating bloggers were asked to make any recipe of their choosing using the two given ingredients of ginger and carrots.  At first I was going to make a soup, being that it’s winter…supposedly…as our temperatures had been balmy and gorgeous…well until this past week when we hit the deep freeze…but even so, I decided to make something light, healthy and fresh, thus my Shrimp & Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing.  I loved this salad so much and as I had plenty of dressing, I ended up eating it for lunch five days in a row,.

This Carrot Ginger Dressing is very similar to what is served in Japanese restaurants so if you enjoy it out I’d suggest making it at home as it’s super simple and it keeps in the fridge for about a week.

My previous Improv Cooking Challenge entries:

January 2012 Lemon & Sour Cream:  Ponderosa Lemon & Sour Cream Tart 
December 2011 Eggnog & Cranberries:  Eggnog Popovers with Cranberry Butter 
November 2011 Pumpkin & Cream Cheese:  Praline Pumpkin Cheesecake 
October 2011 Caramel & Apples:  Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies 

IMG_3289e Shrimp & Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing

raw shrimp, peeled & deveined, tail left on
Shichimi togarashi
chia seeds
baby salad greens
avocado, peeled & sliced
tomato, sliced
carrot, julienned

Dry the shrimp well and then lightly sprinkle with the Shichimi togarashi and chia seeds.  Cook the shrimp under the broiler or in a lightly oiled hot pan until they are opaque and just cooked through.  Arrange the salad greens, avocado, tomato, cooked shrimp and carrots on a plate and drizzle on the Carrot Ginger Dressing.

 

Carrot Ginger Dressing

1 medium carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 TBS. chopped peeled fresh ginger
fruit pulp from 1/2 of a lemon
1 TBS. ketchup
1/4 tsp. Shichimi togarashi 
2 TBS. water
1/2 cup Grapeseed oil

Put all the dressing ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for about a week.

Enjoy!

27 comments:

  1. The colors in your photos are just phenomenal. What a gorgeous dish. I went with a donut for the challenge but I have been completely blown away by the creativity of everyone.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh WOW that looks so good. Your picture is amazing! So colorful and brilliant!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This looks amazing, Lisa!!! I wish I had a plate of this lovely salad for lunch!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I can have salads forever! I love the sound of the dressing ... very refreshing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sounds delicious, Lisa, and your pictures are gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sounds great, Lisa! The dressing is a true winner here!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh.wow.wow.wow!
    My palate just went "ding!"
    This looks quite zippy, but I adore shrimp & avocado in a salad. Are there varying degrees of shichimi togarashi? I also love that you used chia seeds. YUM!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is a fantastic idea for a dressing, one I want to make, very soon. Sounds like it has great flavor.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Melody, I only know of one degree of Shichimi Togarash but if you don't want the extra seasonings that it includes and you just want the heat of the peppers you could use Ichimi Togarashi.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This dressing sounds soooo good! That salad is gorgeous and I definitely need to give it a try.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow...that dressing sounds scrumptious for most any salad...but this one is a beauty!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love shrimp and avocado and your dressing sounds like it compliments the two perfectly.

    ReplyDelete
  13. WOW! This is an amazing Savory Dish! How inventive! Thanks for Sharing! I love it! Thank you very much for stopping by my carrot cake ice cream!
    Happy Cooking!

    ReplyDelete
  14. This looks just devine! I love salads and this looks like a winner! Found you through the challenge!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Doesn't this look fresh and lovely! I love the sound of this dressing. :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. This salad looks so delicious Lisa! I love the flavors that you used. Super yum! Great blog you have here - I'm glad to have found you!

    ReplyDelete
  17. This looks amazing, and delicious! What a great recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Such a different approach! Love it :) I think the ingredients this month were just perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I love this! Your salad looks like something I could easily eat every day of the week.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wow! That looks and sounds delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Your shrimp & avocado salad w/ ginger dressing looks so good! I love the colors, you can tell by the picture, it's a salad exploding with flavor! Yum! I saw your share at Tasty Tuesdays - had to click on your link! Looking forward to your future posts and creations!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi Lisa,
    This is a great salad!
    Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday. Hope you have a great week end and come back soon!
    Miz Helen

    ReplyDelete
  23. Ok.....so much better than a soup. Ok....well...I love soup too but your dressing is so original. I can tell you must be an awesome cook. Love new ideas and I am printing this one off. Went to Amazon to buy the spice already. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you and I hope that you love the salad and dressing as much as we do.

      Delete
  24. How delicious looking! That That salad looks so colorful and tasty :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. This looks so good! I love the idea of shrimp and avocado together :)

    I featured this on this week's What's New Wednesday! I hope you'll stop by and link up more great things!

    ReplyDelete

I love and adore your wonderful comments, so please don't be shy and let me know that you visited.

I also love responding to your comments but I can't do that if you're a no-reply blogger. Please link your e-mail up to your profile so that I can reply to you.

It's a simple change and here's how you do it.

1. From your PROFILE, go to your DASHBOARD.
2. Go to EDIT PROFILE
3. Click 'SHARE MY PROFILE'
4. Click 'SHOW MY E-MAIL ADDRESS'
5. Enter in your e-mail address.

Easy-peasy and now I can reply to all your e-mails and questions!

Related Posts with Thumbnails