- There is no doubt about it,
this is a shrimp salad recipe
that you guys are gonna wanna eat all summer long.
Chilled shrimp are tossed with crisp celery and red onion
encoded in a creamy, bright, and herby dressing
that will have everyone coming back for seconds, trust me.
It's a classic salad recipe
with, of course, a Downshiftology spin
that is ultra refreshing and deliciously creamy
and perfect for those sunny summer days
spent outside with friends and family.
So, let me show you how to make it.
My favorite salad recipes are ones that are easy to make,
light and fresh, and packed with flavor,
and this shrimp salad recipe certainly fits that bill.
To get started, thinly slice a rib of celery
about four times
by sliding your knife down the length of the rib.
If your celery is extra wide at the bottom,
feel free to slice it another one or two times
because the goal here is really small bits of celery,
not big chunks.
Then just slice across for that perfectly small dice.
You can use a variety of onions in this recipe.
I'm opting for red onion today
as I love the contrasting pop of red with the green celery,
but you could also use green onion
or even shallot in this recipe.
You'll need about two to three tablespoons
of small-diced onion,
but as usual I'm just dicing up the whole onion for the week
to use in other recipes.
And once that's done I'll just set that aside for now.
In terms of herbs, I love using fresh dill,
but, again, this is one of those recipes
that's really flexible.
So if you prefer another tender herb,
like tarragon or parsley,
feel free to use what you fancy.
But either way you'll need about two tablespoons worth.
Next up you'll need to zest and juice one lemon,
and for an average-sized lemon,
not a gigantic one like I always seem to have,
that should have about one tablespoon of zest
and three tablespoons of juice.
And while I know it's convenient
to use jarred lemon juice in recipes
and I'll even do it from time to time,
when you've got a recipe as simple as this
you really want each individual flavor to shine,
so I definitely think fresh lemon is the way to go.
All right, all of the prep work is done,
so you can go ahead and make the herby dressing
which consists of one cup of mayonnaise,
three tablespoons of lemon juice,
and I'm actually gonna measure out today
as I know my lemon was extra large
and I don't want a watery dressing,
the zest from the lemon,
two tablespoons of finely-chopped dill
or your herb of choice,
one tablespoon of Dijon mustard
which is always a favorite for adding depth of flavor,
one minced garlic clove
that you can mince straight into the bowl,
1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt,
and a pinch or a quick twist of freshly-ground black pepper.
Give that a stir to mix everything together
so it's nice and creamy,
and then I like to place it in the fridge
while I continue with the rest of the recipe
so it stays nice and cold.
To cook the shrimp bring a large pot of water to a boil
and grab two pounds of peeled and deveined shrimp.
And would you look at that,
it's my new cookbook just hanging out in the background
for a not-so-subliminal hint hint
if you haven't pre-ordered it yet.
But back to the shrimp.
I'm using large shrimp today
which is great for serving this recipe up
as a side dish or in bowls.
But if you wanna serve it up in lettuce sleeves,
as I'll show you at the end,
it's actually easier to do that with much smaller shrimp,
so just keep that in mind.
Once the water is boiling add the shrimp,
and I should have grabbed a larger pot
because it's definitely a tight fit with the shrimp.
But the good news is that they only need
about two to three minutes to fully cook
once they're immersed in the boiling water.
So while the shrimp are cooking prepare an ice water bath
by filling a bowl with chunks of ice and cold water.
And because I'm two for two
with pots and bowls too small today,
I should have grabbed a bigger bowl
for the ice water bath as well,
but you'll see that for yourself in just a second.
When the shrimp are done
they should be cooked through and bright pink
and I just like to use a skimmer
to remove them to the ice water bath.
And because I clearly don't have a big enough bowl
I'm just gonna top it off with more ice and water.
But you can just let the shrimp
hang out in the ice water bath
for about three to four minutes
or until they're cold
then drain them in a colander
and then let them drip dry for a few seconds.
Add the shrimp to a large mixing bowl,
and finally I grabbed a bowl that was big enough today,
then add the finely-diced celery,
two tablespoons of finely-diced red onion,
though feel free to add a bit more
if you are an onion lover,
and then pour in the herby mayonnaise dressing.
(gentle music)
Give that a stir to make sure each little shrimp
is fully coated
and then transfer the shrimp salad to a serving bowl.
And pro tip to make your salads present beautifully,
always save a little bit of the celery, red onion, and dill
to sprinkle on top.
Even though it will taste delicious either way,
we eat with our eyes first
and it's much better to feast our eyes
on a bright and colorful salad
than one that's just a muted white mayonnaise color.
If you're serving this shrimp salad up into lettuce sleeves
you can use butter lettuce, romaine, or green leaf lettuce,
they all work.
Just remember to wash the leaves
once you remove them from the bunch.
Then scoop a few spoonfuls of the shrimp salad
on top of each lettuce sleeve.
And now you can see why I recommended smaller shrimp
if you wanna add them to the lettuce sleeves
as they'll be more bite-sized than this.
But once you're done wrap it up like a taco,
do your darndest to not drip the dressing down your front,
and then enjoy.
You could also do a little happy dance
because it tastes so darn good.
I hope you guys enjoyed today's video,
and if you did, make sure to give it a thumbs up,
as that tells the YouTube algorithm
oh hey I like her recipes.
Share it with your family and friends
if you think they'd love this recipe as well.
And I will see you again in the next video
after I go back for seconds.
(gentle music)