Have you run out of healthy salad ideas?
Shrimp and Avocado salad is the easiest and healthiest salad you can think of, especially during the summer. Filled with zesty lime, fresh tomatoes, yummy shrimps, and more.
This delicious salad is keto friendly and low carb and is ready in minutes. Just Imagine the flavor explosion when you take your first bite of this Shrimp Avocado Salad!
WHAT IS SHRIMP AVOCADO SALAD
This salad is known for being a fresh and light salad, perfect for people following a diet and for all seasons.
Its diverse ingredients make of it a colorful and eye-catching salad, and it’s mainly composed of cucumbers, tomatoes, fresh lime, shrimp, avocado, red onions, cilantro, basil, corn (optional)and olive oil.
HOW TO CHOOSE THE PERFECT AVOCADO
Choosing the right avocado is the crucial part that will determine the success of your recipe.
When choosing the latter, you need to make sure its firm to the touch but slightly turning brown on the outside part.
If it is too bright and rocky, it means it’s raw and gross to taste. On the other hand, if it’s brown turning black, that’s definitely rotten inside so don’t buy it.
The secret of choosing the avocado is removing the little knob at the top to get a peek of the inside of the avocado.
If it appears to be bright green, it’s not ripe enough, if it’s dark brown it’s too ripe if it’s beige then TAKE IT!
How to Make Shrimp Avocado Salad:
In a medium bowl place the shrimps, sprinkle with 1 tsp cajun spice, 2 pressed garlic cloves and a pinch of salt. Stir to combine the ingredients.
Over a medium-high temperature, heat a large nonstick pan, swirl in 2 Tbsp butter.
After, add shrimp at once and stir-fry it about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip over the shrimps and sauté again until it’s cooked. Once cooked, take it out to rest on a different plate.
Rinse and wash your romaine lettuce, then chop it to medium slices and put it in your salad bowl. Then gradually add the remaining ingredients such as chopped tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, sliced red onions, cajun shrimp, boiled/grilled corn and avocados.
The salad is not yet complete without the sauce. In order to make the dressing, you need a small bowl and whisk together all of the 3 Tsp of olive oil, 3 Tsp of lemon juice, ½ cup of chopped cilantro and 1 tsp sea salt in a small bowl, whisk together 3 Tbsp olive oil, 3 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, 1 tsp sea salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper.
Once the dressing is ready to sprinkle it over the shrimp avocado salad then toss to combine et VOILA!
IS SHRIMP GOOD FOR WEIGHT LOSS
Most diets often require consuming a variety of foods to lose weight.
Shrimp is one of the most recommended ones as it has nutrients, for instance, vitamin B12 & E, Omega3 fatty acids, and many more.
It also has protein, which is an essential nutrient as it digests slowly and makes you full for longer periods.
As long as you eat it moderately and you cook it in a low-fat method such as steaming or grilling, it will help you lose weight.
CAN I EAT SHRIMP IF I HAVE HIGH CHOLESTEROL?
People with high cholesterol are required to follow certain diets that will prevent them for any increased health issues.
When it comes to shrimp, there is a large misconception about how it negatively affects people with high cholesterol.
The correct information is that consuming shrimps helps increase the level of HDL, which is the healthiest and good cholesterol.
Resulting in the fact that shrimp is a health-friendly ingredient, therefore you should make more shrimp salads.
Some variations I would suggest are;
- Grilled chicken is a great option to consider if you don’t have shrimps;
- If you enjoy wraps more than regular salad style, you can use leafy greens;
- Feta, mozzarella or blue cheese is always a tasty option to add to salads
- If you follow a keto diet, you can omit the corn;
Making changes is always welcome as you still need to respect your body needs. Bear in mind that these variations will not change the taste but rather than that it will make your salad much cooler.
CAN YOU USE FROZEN SHRIMP?
Various large markets sell bags of frozen shrimp. In order for you to use the frozen shrimp correctly, the bag should clearly state if the shrimp is farmed or wild.
The “IQF” on the bag, stands for “individually quick frozen” which means the shrimp weren’t frozen in a big block of ice and have better texture, flavor and that the only ingredient listed should be shrimp: no preservatives or chemicals or salt.
Tips & Side Notes:
To make a perfect salad I have gathered for you a number of tips that we hope you can use:
- I recommend using wild-caught shrimp. If you use frozen one, makes sure to thaw it in the refrigerator, then get rid of any excess water.
- Using seedless cucumbers and tomatoes will prevent your salad to become watery.
- Using raw or cooked shrimp can give a different flavor to your salad. Fresh shrimp will appear grey, whereas cooked shrimp will be pink in color.
- Make sure to peel and devein the shrimp.
- Choose the perfect avocado. Will raw avocados make your salad gross while overripe avocado will make your salad more of a guacamole salad and you want an avocado shrimp salad right?
- Any additional seasoning ingredient of your preference could work out for this salad, make sure it goes hand in hand with the taste.
This looks so good! I haven’t heard about your method of looking for an avocado before, but I will have to try it. I am that one who is squeezing all the avocados with the slightly colored skins to see which one is not too soft and not too firm haha 🙂 Yours sound like an easier method.
Yeah, this method is very easy. Try it.
Thank You very much