Shrimp, Avocado, and Orange Salad with Spicy Orange Dressing with Guest Chef Sara Moulton

September 12, 2022

SHRIMP, AVOCADO, AND ORANGE SALAD WITH SPICE ORANGE DRESSING

Makes 4 Servings

When Sara Moulton kicked off her seventh season as host of public television’s “Sara’s Weeknight Meals,” in September of 2017, it was the latest milestone in a storied career that stretches back more than 30 years. A protégée of Julia Child, Sara was the co-founder of the New York Women’s Culinary Alliance, executive chef of Gourmet magazine, Food Editor of ABC-TV’s ”Good Morning America,” and the host of several well-loved shows on the Food Network during that channel’s first decade.

Ingredients: 

For the sauce:

  • 1 cup fresh orange juice
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (unseasoned)
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, preferably grapeseed
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon Asian chili paste with garlic (or your favorite hot sauce)
  • Kosher salt

For the salad:

  • 1 pound medium shrimp (26-30 count), peeled and deveined
  • 2 small heads butter lettuce washed and spun dry
  • 1 naval orange, peel and pith removed and cut into sections
  • 1 firm ripe avocado
  • 1 cup fresh mint leaves, torn
  • 1/3 cup toasted peanuts
  • ¼ cup chopped scallion, white and light green part

Directions: 

Make the sauce:

1. In a very small saucepan simmer the orange juice until it is reduced to 1/2 cup. Transfer it to a bowl and whisk in the remaining ingredients.

2. Add salt to taste and chill while you cook the shrimp.

3. Fill a large saucepan with enough well salted water to come just up to the bottom of a collapsible steamer.

4. Cover and bring to a full boil.

5. Reduce to a medium boil and carefully add the shrimp to the steamer basket (if your steamer basket is not large enough, cook the shrimp in two batches).

6. Make sure the level of the water is just below the steamer and doesn’t touch the shrimp.

7. Cover the saucepan and steam the shrimp for 2 minutes.

8. Take a shrimp out, cut it in half and if the center is still translucent, return it to the pan for 30 seconds. Immediately transfer the shrimp to a bowl of ice and water and let it cool completely.

9. Remove and pat dry.

 

To assemble the salad:

1. Line four bowls with the lettuce, mound the remaining ingredients in the center and drizzle the salad generously with the sauce.

Functional Food Benefits: 

  • Shrimp: have a variety of health benefits, are high in vitamins and minerals and are a rich source of protein and selenium. Shrimp promote heart and brain health due to its content of omega-3 fatty acids and the antioxidant astaxanthin (6, 11, 12, 13).