It’s full-on summer here, which means it’s (usually) hot and humid. Terribly, awfully, stickily humid. Even with modern air conditioning, for which I’m grateful, hot days mean cold suppers. Shrimp and avocado salad is a blessing on a sticky hot day: it’s cool and delicious, and also quick and easy to pull together.
This salad is one of my favorites, and came to me via my habit of browsing the food sections of far-away newspapers. I think it was the Sydney Morning Herald that published an interesting article on red and green holiday recipes. Of course Christmas and New Years are hot weather holidays down under!
I took the idea of a red and green shrimp salad and played around with it. I like to use fresh local radishes, crunchy and crisp, and put them with avocados and cold cooked shrimp. Neither avocado nor shrimp are local foods here, but for this salad, I can let that slide. Local or not, this is one terrific salad.
I tend to keep a bag of cooked frozen shrimp on hand, so this becomes a pantry dish, as well. All I need is an avocado and some radishes, because everything else is already on hand.
Shrimp & Avocado Salad
Ingredients
FOR THE DRESSING
- 1½ Tbsp lime juice (or lemon)
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- generous pinch salt
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
FOR THE SALAD
- 1 lb cooked shrimp, peeled, chilled
- 1 large avocado
- 6 radishes
Instructions
FIRST MAKE THE DRESSING
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix the lime (or lemon) juice, olive oil, and salt. Whisk it well, until it is thoroughly emulsified. Add the chopped dill, and mix again.
ADD THE REST AND MIX
- Slice the radishes thinly. If they are very large, cut them in half, and cut into thin half-circles. Add them to the bowl with the dressing. Chop the avocados into bite-sized chunks, and add them also to the bowl. If the cooked shrimp are very large, cut them in half; otherwise, just add them to the bowl with everything else.
- Mix the salad thoroughly, so that all ingredients are glazed with the dressing. Serve immediately.