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Get your salad on

shrimp salad with corn and tomatoes

For me, salad is a vehicle to enhance tomatoes…now that might not seem like a big deal to you… but to me…well, I’m looking to enhance natural perfection, so I try just a little bit harder each and every day.

This brilliant concoction was my lunch. It started with some fresh corn, lightly cooked and chilled, then cut from the cob. To that I added a diced onion from my CSA share, and a crisp, bright green bell pepper that actually smelled like a green bell pepper that I purchased from the delightful Gassen family at the Westside Farmers’ Market. I added in some shrimp, and tossed it with a combination of mango chilli vinegar, lime juice, olive oil, chili oil, and dried chipotle. I was specifically look for a sweet, citrusy burn…one where the burn isn’t apparent right away but sneaks in…not overwhelming but more ladylike. But stand back now because this is where I got my freak on (so to speak), I added 4 slices of dried, chilied mango diced finely. This absolutely made the salad come alive and dance.

Easy as pie…really quick too. Obviously the bright colors made it a breeze to plate but I had the added benefit of those stunning red and green zebra-strip tomatoes. They have an nice acidic note so they married well with sweetish, citusy spice of the salad. Everything got a liberal toss of sea salt and that was it…the tomatoes and salad were not just marrying well…lord no…they were actually spooning. No lie!

July 24, 2007 | Filed Under Local, Wisconsin, food, food porn, low carb, low cal, quick and easy, recipe, soup, salad, sandwich, spicy, vegetable, vermont Valley CSA 

comments

4 Responses to “Get your salad on”

  1. Ferdzy on July 28th, 2007

    Wow, those are gorgeous.

  2. Barry on July 28th, 2007

    The tomatoes look like they are from Black Earth Valley (Dan Deneen) right next to the Gassen/Statz family at the Westside Community Market. They are wonderful at this point in the season. I agree that salads are vehicles for tomatoes; my problem is that I eat the tomatoes faster than I can ever plate them.

  3. Amy on July 29th, 2007

    Red currants always sit in our fridge too long. Eventually, we get around to making a syrup by boiling them in water and sugar (to taste), straining through mesh strainer, cooling, jarring, and sticking in the fridge until some flavor is needed in a cool, refreshing drink: Try a couple tablespoons of this syrup in sparkling water or iced tea.

  4. Ros on July 30th, 2007

    Those are very pretty tomatoes, and with the salad on top, they look even better. The tomatoes I usually get here are so far from perfection that it’s not even worth bothering with them. I need to start making room in my rucksack for the nice ones at Borough.

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