Sweet, Salty, Crunchy, Spicy, this summer-salad has it all. If you follow me on snapchat [@Taylorwalkerfit] then you may have seen the picnic Cory and I had last week. I made a small side-salad to go with our salmon, and to our surprise, it was my favorite part of the entire dish. The salad was definitely a happy accident, because it was basically made of all the leftovers I had in the fridge, and it has bacon, and how could anything with bacon be bad?
I decided to turn this into a dinner-salad and kept it light by using shrimp. It would pair well with grilled salmon, chicken or even lamb for that matter! Cory and I are heading out to Napa soon, and I cannot wait for the wine and all the farm-table-cuisine we are about to have. Sometimes I really try to pretend I am a chef when I create. I think the balance of this dish would wow event he pickiest of eaters. As for your boyfriends and hubbies, I could barely snap my pics before Cory’s was basically gone. Enjoy the salad al fresco, with a crisp cold beer or dry white wine. Don’t devaour it, but savor every bite, and enjoy the difference in flavor and texture.
BTW: If you do get shrimp. Try to get them cleaned and peeled. I try my best to buy wild caught seafood, and had this time around I had to do the peeling and de-veining myself. Wow! What a pain in the you know what?! This recipe would yield four side salads or two main dinner salads. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 lb Cleaned Shrimp
Old bay-Garlic and Herb or Lemon Pepper
1 tsp Coconut Oil
4 C Arugula
1 C Cooked Quinoa Warm
3 Crisp Bacon Slices
1/4 Red Onion Sliced Thin
1/2 C Cubed Cantalope
1/4 C or Less of Crumbled Feta
Dressing Ingredients:
1/4 C Red Wine Vinegar
1/8 C Olive Oil
1 tbs Spicy Horseradish Mustard
1 tsp Honey
1 tsp Dried or Fresh Dill
Directions:
Cook Quinoa according to package. While quinoa is cooking, fry bacon and set aside to crisp. Reserve 1 tbs of fat. Add a little extra coconut oil to bacon pan to melt. Making sure shrimp are clean and dry. Toss shrimp in Old Bay. Add to pan and cook about 2 minutes on each side.
In a small bowl combine vinegar, oil, mustard, honey and dill. Set aside. In a large bowl combine arugula and quinoa and toss in 3/4 of the dressing and mix. Plate the arugula/quinoa mixture on two dishes. Top with onion, bacon and melon. Add shrimp and drizzle remaining dressing , only if needed, then sprinkle with feta and serve immediately.
Enjoy! I hope everyone has an amazing holiday weekend! I will leave you with this post from last year! A tangly slaw that is 100% waistline friendly!
