A simple, yet flavorful Summer salad. Blackened grilled shrimp salad is tossed with a light and fresh tasting cilantro lime dressing because when it’s hot, who feels like cooking inside?
The weather has been unseasonably weird for Los Angeles. We have had rain, yes rain. This weather is not unusual for most parts of the world but for here, we haven’t had Summer rain in all the years I’ve lived here. It is very much needed and we need more of it because we do have a serious drought problem. So now we’re left with muggy humid overcast days and weather like this makes me not want to heat up my kitchen, so I take the cooking outside.
Blackened seasonings can vary. My favorite is a mix of smoked paprika (which goes perfectly with the shrimp), oregano, thyme, coriander and a touch of cayenne. What I love most about grilling shrimp is how quickly they cook-up and you’ve got a hearty delicious salad on the table in minutes. Even the dressing takes just minutes to mix up in the food processor. Another easy Summer dinner.
- For the dressing:
- Juice of 4 large limes
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 large bunch of cilantro 1 handful
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar or honey
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup light olive oil
- For the salad:
- 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 pound jumbo shrimp peeled 21-25 count, deveined and tails removed, rinsed and dried well
- For the dressing:
- Add the lime juice, red wine vinegar, cilantro, agave nectar, salt and pepper to a blender, blend until the cilantro is finely chopped.
- With the blender running, drizzle in the olive oil. Taste for seasoning, add to a dressing jar and set aside.
- For the salad:
- Preheat grill.
- To a small bowl add the smoked paprika, salt, onion powder, black pepper, oregano, thyme, cayenne and coriander, mix well.
- Brush the shrimp with vegetable oil and sprinkle with the seasoning on both sides.
- Thread the shrimp onto skewers. *see note
- Grill on both sides for 3 minutes each.
- Remove and allow to cool.
- When cool enough to handle, remove the shrimp from the skewers.
- Serve the shrimp with your favorite salad greens, vegetables and the salad dressing.
Hey Janette. Your Blackened Shrimp salad looks so delicious. My husband isn’t crazy about shrimp, but I’m giving your recipe a try and KNOW he (we) will love it. Great post and beautiful photos!
This grilled shrimp salad looks delicious and healthy. I used smoked paprika for tofu recipes and agree that it is a great spice for blackened seasonings.
This looks so vibrant and colorful perfect summer dish!
You are so right that I have no desire to heat up the kitchen during these hot humid days! I think our a/c has been on non-stop lately! But, these shrimp look and sound divine! I need to buy some shrimp at the store, and then, I’m gonna make these. Pinned for hopefully next week!
Looks perfect! Will be making it for lunch tomorrow! Pinning!
I am the only one who will eat shrimp in this house so I think pretty soon we’ll have a night where they are ordering pizza so I can be eating this. Looks great and I love the sound of the dressing too!
What a beautiful and delicious looking shrimp dish!
The kids and I just LOVE shrimp. What a wonderful warm weather recipe!!
I am loving all of the spices and how vibrant and colorful this dish is.
Simply gorgeous Janette!
Wow! What a gorgeous salad! I think I may have told you this already, but I eat at least one salad every day. I just love them! But when you eat them that much, you need to mix it up – this recipe is PERFECT for new spin on my salad repertoire!
What a gorgeous healthy salad Janette! Pinned and shared!
What a perfect summer salad! I love the dressing.
Janette!! This salad looks so beautiful! I’ve been thinking of making recipes with shrimp but haven’t really decided what to make and now I think I’m making this soon! Thanks so much for the inspiration!
Thank you so much Felicia 🙂
This looks delicious Janette. The flavor of grilled shrimp is amazing. Thank you for sharing this with us during last week’s Let’s Get Real link party. You can my featured blogger this week. Congrats!