I used to be one of those people who "saved" seafood for dinners out. I think it was a remnant of my childhood. We rarely ate seafood at home because it was too expensive. In the summers when I'd visit my dad on Long Island we'd fish and broil the fresh flounder we caught that day. Sometimes we'd steam clams or crabs we caught on my grandfather's old, rickety clam boat. If we caught it we ate it but I have no memories of Mom buying fish fillets or shrimp on a regular basis except maybe fish sticks. Grabbing a pound or two of fresh shrimp for dinner just didn't happen. Holidays maybe, as we never ate meat on Christmas Eve, but it was, for sure, a special treat.

Now that I'm making all the meal decisions I catch myself skipping over the seafood counter out of habit more than anything else. It feels too expensive for a midweek family meal, yet a pound and a half of shrimp is still cheaper than a typical dinner for one at pretty much any restaurant.

So I'm making an effort to buy something like shrimp at least every few weeks. The family likes them simply boiled and chilled, which makes dinner super easy for me. I can boil them the night before while cleaning (#wycwyc!) and then just serve them with some simple sides. Last night was corn and broccoli.

Making shrimp this way also opens the door for me to make fun dishes only for myself. Last night I whipped up an amazing salad and topped it with a fresh dressing using herbs from my garden. It came out awesome! The perfect compliment for the shrimp.

Here's what I did...

Green Salad With Shrimp and Basil-Mint Dressing

Ingredients

Dressing:

Handful of fresh basil leaves (15g)
About 10 leaves of fresh mint (1-2g)
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon water
½ teaspoon ground mustard
¼ teaspoon salt

Green Salad With Shrimp:

Pile of mixed salad greens (I used a mixture of butter lettuce and spinach)
½ bell pepper (I used half green and red)
¼ cup corn (off the cob would be great but truth be told, I used canned)
3 oz cooked shrimp, chilled and shelled
2 tablespoon Basil-Mint Dressing

Instructions

To make the dressing: Chop the basil and mint. Just keep running your knife through until all the leaves are minced.

Mix the herbs, garlic, vinegar, oil, honey, water, mustard and salt together and set aside.

Assemble the salad: Pile the greens on a plate, top with the peppers, corn and shrimp. Drizzle on half the dressing.

Such a simple, light summer meal!

Just wait until you see what I do with the other half of the dressing -- more soon. 🙂

📖 Recipe