Shrimp Louie Salad
Hi there friends and Happy Friday to you!
A special welcome to those who found their way here via FoodStack Library. For those who aren’t familiar with it yet, it’s a wonderful resource of food newsletters from all over the world, classified into categories. Just like our favorite public library, it’s a cool place to hang out and read.
If you haven’t yet read my guest post for FoodStack Library featuring California Cuisine, please check it out. Included in it is a recipe for these Korean Bulgogi Street Tacos!
Today we say goodbye to August and to our Oven Evasion series. It’s been a fun challenge keeping our kitchens cooler this month.
So, what’s happening around here in September?
Starting Next Week
The Fall 4-Week Cooking Habit begins next week! Get excited for a month of menu plans and recipes delivered to your inbox on Fridays.
How does it work?
Every Friday in September, subscribers will have access to a menu plan for the following week along with recipes and a shopping list. This allows you to grocery shop over the weekend to prepare for the week ahead. Come Monday, you’re sitting pretty with a schedule of meals, recipes at the ready, and ingredients in your fridge or pantry.
Free subscribers continue to receive one weekly recipe, plus the menu plan.
Paid subscribers have access to all the recipes, plus the menu plan and a printable shopping list.
You are going to love the variety! There are lots of choices in animal and plant proteins, seasonal veggies, and some popular Southern California flavors.
Louie Salad
This week’s recipe is a riff on a famous West Coast salad. Most culinary backstories are murky on dates, contested in origin, and just a little convoluted. And so it is with the history of Louie (sometimes spelled Louis) Salad.
All versions of the backstory seem to agree on a few things: it was born on the West Coast of the U.S., sometime in the early 20th-century, and with crab as the star ingredient. Crab Louie Salad started appearing on menus in upscale restaurants in San Francisco, Seattle, and Spokane as early as 1904.
The classic ingredients included iceberg lettuce, Dungeness crab meat, sliced tomato, hard-boiled eggs, sliced cucumber, and lemon wedges. Louie dressing, a mayonnaise-based dressing similar to Thousand Island, was drizzled over everything.
Today, there are lots of iterations of the salad. Some include asparagus, avocado, and capers. It is a cool, refreshing salad that highlights seafood and a luxurious dressing.
In our version of the Louie, crab is replaced by shrimp, which is a dream menu item. It is high in protein but low in calories. A typical serving size of shrimp is four ounces, which yields 30 grams of protein, 1 gram of carbs, and just 120 calories. Wow.
It is helpful to always stock shrimp in your freezer. A one-pound bag of frozen shrimp can be cooked in under five minutes, whether thawed or not. Cooked and chilled, it makes a great appetizer. It’s so easy to add to tacos, pizza, pasta, or rice. And to salads like this one.
Recipe
Shrimp Louie Salad
Serves 4
Time needed: 30-ish minutes
Bright, fresh, and dramatically pretty, Shrimp Louie Salad comes to the table with minimal effort. Assemble a few ingredients, whisk together the dressing, and let the feasting begin. That’s the beauty of a Louie.
Perhaps you are not into shrimp? (I understand, I have a child that despises it. Plus, I’m surprised you’ve read this far.) Good subs are cooked crab, lobster, or scallops.
Dressing Ingredients:
1 cup mayonnaise
3 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp pickle relish
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp prepared horseradish
¾ tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp smoked paprika
A few grinds of black pepper
Salad Ingredients:
1 lb frozen jumbo shrimp, thawed
1 head romaine or red leaf lettuce, rinsed and chopped
2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
1 avocado, sliced
1 or 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
Garnish: capers, chopped parsley
Directions:
Make the dressing by combining all the dressing ingredients in a bowl. Stir well to combine. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl with ice cubes and cold water and set it to the side.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook the shrimp by plunging them into the boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes or until pink. Remove the shrimp from the hot water and immediately add to the ice bath to stop the cooking. Do not leave them in any longer than this or they will turn rubbery and you will regret everything.
Place the lettuce on a large platter or on 4 individual serving plates. Evenly distribute the sliced egg and sliced avocado. Add the tomatoes.
Pat the shrimp dry with paper towels. Add the shrimp to the salad platter or plates. Garnish with capers and parsley. Place in the fridge until ready to serve.
Drizzle the salad with the dressing and eat!
Tell Me
What’s been your favorite Oven Evasion recipe this month? Fresh Vietnamese-style Summer Rolls, Waffle Iron Zucchini Frittatas, No-bake Fridge Cake, or One-Pot Protein Bowls? I’d love to know which one you liked the best.
Next week starts our Fall 4-Week Cooking Habit! Look forward to a month of menu plans, recipes, and shopping lists delivered right to your inbox. See you next Friday.