Sometimes an item on a restaurant’s menu can suddenly disappear because somehow, not enough people order that dish. I can see why though because sometimes the ingredients just sound odd together… blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and feta? In a salad? With a citrus vinaigrette? And shrimp? The first inkling would be, ew, what a weird combination.
Oh, but it was so delicious, this salad that I had at Earls last summer. Sadly, they removed it and it is not to be.
That won’t stop me though. I made my own version of it and I just love the savoury, briny, shrimpy and peppery citrus taste. In the spirit of March, and given that it’s still snowing where I live, here’s to Spring, a rare occasion, and to trying something new and adapting to new fresh and healthy flavours.
West Coast Salad
Yields 2 servings (or 4 small servings)
20 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 cups of mixed baby greens
½ cup of walnuts
½ cup of light feta, crumbled
¼ cup of blueberries, washed
¼ cup of raspberries, washed
¼ cup of strawberries, trimmed and sliced (optional)
1 tbsp sunflower oil (or any light cooking oil)
Grapefruit Vinaigrette
2 tbsp fresh grapefruit juice
1 tsp grapefruit zest
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper
In a large bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the vinaigrette until emulsified. Taste and add more salt and pepper as desired. Careful with adding salt since the feta will be salty as well. Set aside.
Pat the shrimp dry with paper towel. Heat a non-stick skillet with the sunflower
oil until the oil just starts to smoke. Add the shrimp to the pan and spread them out without overcrowding. Sprinkly salt and pepper over the shrimp and sear them until lightly browned on both sides. Transfer the shrimp to a bowl to let cool.
Wipe the pan clean with a paper towel. Heat the pan until hot. Break up the walnuts into halves and add them to the pan. Toast the walnuts until they start to brown. Pour the walnuts into the vinaigrette.
Add the shrimp, greens, fruit and feta to the bowl. Toss when ready to serve.
In my version I cheated and used a grapefruit infused olive oil instead of the homemade grapefruit vinaigrette. Both methods yield a very tasty and robust salad that is both light and pleasing in all ways sweet and salty. I learned a lot though through this one lovely salad and that while trying to stay healthy and in tip top shape, don’t knock new flavours that don’t seem all that normal at first. For me, flavour has become an obsession after embarking on my lifestyle change. This was a favourite for me while I was leaning up for the summer last year for my beach vacation. I hope you enjoy it!
