Shrimp, avacado, and tomato salad

Shrimp, Avocado, and Tomato salad!

Who made the rules that state that all summer salads must contain sour cream and mayonnaise?  Why not use the fresh creamy taste of avocado to spruce up that picnic basket, salad, or sandwich?  I have a feeling that this light and satisfying salad will do just the trick! And as an added bonus, your nutrition intake will skyrocket!

The first step to this fresh salad, is to macerate, or "cold sweat" 1/4 of a vidallia onion, finely diced, and a pint of grape tomatoes, halved in some quality olive oil and a hefty teaspoon of kosher salt. Mix this together in a medium bowl, and set aside.  The salt will get to work, drawing the flavored waters out of the onions and tomatoes, creating part of the dressing!

 

 

While those go to work, it's time to boil some shrimp!  I always grab frozen raw shell on shrimp when it goes on sale, so we tend to have a variety of sizes.  Because the shrimp will be chopped after cooking, I recommend medium shell on shrimp for this salad.  I really feel that the shell adds a ton of flavor to the final product! 

 

Get a large pot of cold water, and place a smashed garlic clove, one halved citrus (orange, lemon, lime all taste great), and a hefty palm full of kosher salt, and set to high heat till a rolling boil.  Add the frozen shrimp, stir, and wait.......

when the pot of water is boiling again, the shrimp is done.  drain, and set aside to cool, before peeling and chopping to dice-sized pieces.  (I like to save the delicious shrimp broth for stir fry and soups)

 

 

 

While the shrimp cools, dice your avocado.  The best way is to do a vertical slice around the pit, twist open, stab the pit and twist to remove from the other half, then dice the fruit before scooping out with a large spoon.  You will get perfectly diced avocado pieces every time!

 

 

Now comes the hard part...  ready for it? 

 

Just kidding!  Mix the whole bowl together, taste for salt and add pepper, and cool in the fridge until ready to serve!  This is so good scooped on a pile of greens, on a sandwich (think lobster roll), or just as a delicious potluck addition by it's self!