Grilled Shrimp Salad with Citrus Mint Dressing, Avocado and Orange

The flavors in this healthy shrimp salad are absolutely fresh and divine. The citrus and mint dressing that soaks the sweet cherry tomatoes and the bright red onion is so very tasty.

And with a lively surprise of hot sauce, you’ll fall in love.

The crispy grilled shrimp are sweet and luscious. And the garnish of fresh orange wedges and healthy avocado, you’ve got a fabulous main course seafood salad.

One of the keys to this grilled shrimp salad is sweet orange slices. Orange slices that have had the white bitter pith properly removed. You find instructions on how to supreme an orange below.

How To Remove White Pith From An Orange

Before we get to the recipe, I want to show you how to “supreme” an orange. That means, to cut the rind off the orange to remove the white bitter pith. And create orange wedges that are clean, pleasant to the eye and the palate. A technique I learned at Culinary School.

• With a sharp knife, slice the two ends off of the orange.
• Turn the orange onto one of the ends, and angle the knife so that you can slice the first piece of rind from the orange.
• Move the knife downwards and along the curve of the orange.
• Don’t be shy with this, you want to make sure you’re cutting off that white pith.
• Continue slicing the skin from the orange until you have a completely naked piece of fruit.
• You’ll then find those thin white lines that mark where the segments are.
• Using the tip of your knife, cut along those lines and remove the pieces of orange into wedges.

Voila, clean orange slices that have no flavor indication of that white bitter pith flavor.

Culinary School Tip: Tip: hold the peeled orange over a bowl to separate the wedges and capture the juice for a vinaigrette.

Now that we’ve got that beautiful clean orange, let’s make this grilled shrimp salad.

Let’s Make This Grilled Shrimp Salad

This fresh citrus shrimp salad recipe is one that can most certainly grace your dinner table year round. With the containers of orange, red and yellow petite tomatoes that are available to us, you can have Summer in a bowl, year round.

This shrimp salad is a great recipe for clean eating during the Winter and Summer months. Use your outdoor grill in the warm months and grab that stove-top grill pan during the Winter.

15 minute marinade for grilled shrimp

We’ll first marinate the shrimp.

• Simply place raw, deveined and peeled shrimp in a deep bowl.
• Add olive oil, hot sauce, orange juice and mint.
• Let this sit for about 15 minutes.
• You can leave or remove the tails. I like to leave them.

Meanwhile, slice the tomatoes, the onions and chop the cilantro. Place this in another bowl and add lime juice, olive oil and more hot sauce. Set aside and grill the shrimp.

Stove-Top Pan Grilled Shrimp for Salad

Is your grill covered in snow most of the Winter like mine? Just grab your stove top grill pan. It works beautifully to sear shrimp. Let’s take a look:

• I simply spray the pan with Pam. Or you can use a silicone brush to coat the pan with olive oil. Heat grill pan over medium high heat.
• Once the pan is hot, add the shrimp.
• Most importantly, don’t let the shrimp touch. You need air to circulate around each piece. If you crowd the pan, you’ll find moisture building. This will prevent the shrimp from getting that perfect sear with those perfect grill marks.
• Cook shrimp in batches if you need to.
• Let the shrimp cook about 2 minutes per side.
• Shrimp have a built in pop-up timer – as soon as they turn pink, they’re cooked.
• Done!

To grill the shrimp outdoors, coat the grates of a grill with oil and heat to medium high. Add the shrimp and watch them closely. Grill 1 – 2 minutes per side. I like to use a slotted grill pan for shrimp. With the cost of premium quality shrimp, I don’t want to lose any between the grates.

Assemble The Salad

• To plate the salad, add a big spoonful of the onion and tomato dressing to a plate.
• Add orange slices and sliced avocado and top with the grilled shrimp.
• I’ve added some garnish of frisee lettuce for garnish.