This is a hominy salad recipe made ultra-fabulous with shrimp, avocado, arugula and cherry tomatoes. A Southwestern delight that’s hearty but perfect for a hot Summer evening meal. Tossed with a zingy citrus dressing seasoned with all of your favorite Southwest spices and you’ve got a colorful delicious Summer shrimp salad.
This hominy salad has great textures and great flavors. Cool creamy avocado, tender sweet shrimp, sweet cherry tomatoes, peppery arugula and chewy hominy are heavenly tossed with a lively Southwestern citrus dressing. The icing on the cake is a sprinkling of salty Cotija cheese and chopped cilantro. Garnish with lime wedges for an additional squeeze of goodness.
Note to self: Make this soon for a filling for soft shell tacos.
This salad officially marks the beginning of our packing and moving adventure. Prepared and photographed on July 13, this is the last official blogable meal I’ve served since the contract on our new home was accepted. We’ve been eating out of the freezer and pantry to whittle down the access of food items on hand. And we’re now on first name basis at our local Papa Murphy’s take-and-bake pizza. I may officially smitten with their take and bake pizzas.
We’re one week away from moving and my task this morning was to take this overflowing and unruly container of Tupperware and Glad disposable storage containers and match them up with lids from this equally unruly drawer. I mean really, does a family of two need over sixty containers to store left-overs? Less than an hour later, I had organized the mess into the original container and anything without a lid, or highly worn pieces went into the Goodwill or the recycle bin. It appears I kept one too many pieces, as the lid won’t quite shut. But it’s good enough to be placed on the stack for the movers to carry out.
The mountain of boxes have made their way into the dining room and the dining room table has become the staging area for Goodwill. With 22 years of “stuff”, this has been a major undertaking. See the bay window across the room…that’s where I took most of my blog photos. It’s a West facing window with light opportunities on three sides. With all the worrying I’ve done over so many major decisions, I’m now fretting over where my new photography spot will be in the new place. Wonder if my photos will take on a completely new “feel”?
Using canned hominy for this salad makes this an easy meal to prepare. Of course you can use dried if you take the time to soak it overnight. You’ll then need to carve out time for a lengthy stove top cooking time or easier in a crockpot. Dried hominy is better in flavor and texture, but for this recipe I recommend canned – after all, it’s Summer and the living is easy.
Southwestern Hominy Salad Recipe with Shrimp.
No surprise where this recipe comes from. Adapted from my trusty Food and Wine Magazine. It’s a wonderful main course salad. I hope you give this beautiful hominy salad recipe a try. And if you do, please come back and let me know how you liked it and give the recipe a star rating. Your feedback is valuable to me for developing future recipes. And if you have favorite hominy recipes, let me know, I’m always looking for ideas.
This shrimp and hominy salad calls for pan frying the shrimp.
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1/2 tablespoon sweet onion minced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- SALAD
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 3/4 pound shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1 29- ounce can hominy rinsed and drained
- 3/4 pound cherry tomatoes halved
- 1/2 cup cilantro finely chopped
- 1 avocado quartered and thinly sliced
- 3 ounces crumbled cotija cheese
- 4 cups baby arugula packed
- Salt
- Lime wedges
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the citrus juices, onion, garlic, cumin, cayenne, honey and salt together until combined. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil in a thin and steady stream until the dressing is emulsified. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Pat the shrimp dry. In a large fry pan over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, heat for a minute or so, and drop in the shrimp. Cook for about 1-2 minutes on each side until shrimp are pink and slightly fried. Transfer shrimp to a large mixing bowl. Add the hominy and cherry tomatoes to the mixing bowl and pour in half of the vinaigrette. Toss to coat and let sit for a few minutes.
- Fine chop the cilantro, slice the avocado, and crumble half of the cotija cheese. Add the prepped ingredients to the shrimp and hominy mixture and fold in the arugula. Pour in the remaining vinaigrette and toss to coat. Season the salad generously with salt and a squeeze of lime juice.
- Transfer salad to a serving platter, sprinkle with the remaining cheese, and serve.
Southwestern Hominy Salad Recipe with Shrimp, It’s what’s for Dinner.
Velva says
August 17, 2014 at 2:31 pmThere is an old saying that goes something like this…”Tis better to have your house burn down twice, than to move it once” Moving is a huge undertaking. No doubt it will go well and you will soon be enjoying your new home. I am sure you will find a new sunny spoy for your fabulous photographs.
By the way, your salad is stunning. Beautiful.
Velva
Karen Harris says
August 17, 2014 at 3:36 pmI agree with Velva’s quote. We are thinning out to do the same thing. Ugh! Best of luck with your move. I love Tresana and now I think of you every time I drive by. Cheers to a new stage in life!
Larry says
August 17, 2014 at 3:54 pmThe salad sounds delicious Lea Ann. Your container drawer looks and sounds like ours and Bev then saves stuff from restaurants, etc – she can’t help herself. I think the only way we’ll ever get it organized is to move and that will only happen as the last of some really bad options.
Simply Sweet Justice says
August 17, 2014 at 6:27 pmThis sound so refreshing and light–perfect summer dinner! Good luck moving!
Robyn says
August 18, 2014 at 8:28 amLea Ann, we’ll be in the same boat as you but for much longer as we are about to redo our kitchen. It will be takeout for a while. luckily I grill everything but I still need a prep area! 🙂 I am loving this salad, where did you find the hominy? I’ve never cooked with hominy except for grits but I’m thinking these are different. You’ve been producing some really awesome salads lately! Love it! I can’t wait to see pics of your new photo spot! 🙂
Heather says
August 18, 2014 at 9:12 amLooks beautiful! I love the bowl! pinned!
Sam @ My Carolina Kitchen says
August 18, 2014 at 11:48 amI haven’t thought of hominy in years. What a great idea with the shrimp. I don’t envy your move. We’ve moved so many times I’ve lost track of the number.
Sam
Jaime, the German granddaughter says
August 18, 2014 at 1:51 pmAnother delicious looking shrimp recipe! I bet you’re going to miss your community garden! Hope you have much to look forward to at your new home! Good Luck w your move LeaAnn!
Helen @ Scrummy Lane says
August 19, 2014 at 7:56 amOooh, I totally know this feeling! Been there, done that a few months ago and got it all to come again really soon. But wow, 22 years of ‘stuff’ – that would be tough!
The salad sounds absolutely fabulous … all those beautiful flavours!
Susan says
August 19, 2014 at 3:35 pmI’ve never had hominy! Nonetheless, your salad looks absolutely delicious as I’m a huge avocado and shrimp fan. I do envy the fact that you’ve culled out so much unnecessary stuff even though I don’t envy the work and decisions you’ve had to make!
John@Kitchen Riffs says
August 20, 2014 at 3:23 pmWhat a lovely dish! And how nice to make it for us, when you’re so busy. Moving is loads of work — I know you’ll be happy when it’s finally over. And it’ll be interesting to see if your photos look different in your new location!
Carol at Wild Goose Tea says
August 20, 2014 at 4:09 pmWhoa Nellie, now this is a salad to sit down and dig into. I am not a big hominy fan, but I can see its use in a salad for texture. Everything else is so up my alley!!!!
Chris says
August 28, 2014 at 5:35 pmIf those Glad containers are really “disposable”, why do I have such a hard time ever throwing one away? Hell, I even save the ones in which lunch meat is packaged! Oh well, at least I don’t keep leftover butter tubs anymore, ha ha.
Lea Ann Brown says
August 31, 2014 at 12:53 pmI agree Chris. My mom taught me to be a container hoarder, but I do draw the line at butter tubs.
Pam says
September 2, 2014 at 5:32 pmMoving is a pain but getting a new home is fun! Good luck.
The salad looks lovely & I think you are right – using it as a soft taco filling is an excellent idea!
Lea Ann Brown says
September 4, 2014 at 6:08 amThanks Pam. We’re over the worst of it now. We’re in the tinker stage. Thank goodness. 🙂