This recipe combines so many things I love to eat. Shrimp, avocados, yummy black beans, and it helps me eat a giant pile of field greens..and like it. Growing up in southeast Texas on the gulf coast taught me two things.

The first is a love of fresh gulf shrimp. It is my favorite protein to keep on hand, and I have instilled that love in my daughter. At only two, if I mention we’re having shrimp for dinner, she will keep reminding me all day. Girl can eat her weight in shrimp. Thankfully, for those of you that didn’t grow up with fresh caught shrimp readily available, there are many frozen, wild caught options available these days.

The second was a palate inspired by both Louisiana and Texas. I grew up eating both seafood gumbo and tamales on Christmas Eve, and for this, I am thankful. This recipe is a little bit of both worlds. Fresh seafood is a Louisiana staple, and the cumin lime vinaigrette is all Texas. I could eat this salad every day, and it frequently appears on our menu once every few weeks during the summer when the corn and tomatoes are juicy and sweet. If corn is out of season where you are, you can always sub canned or frozen, but I would recommend just leaving tomatoes out if fresh are not incredible when you make this.

The key to this fresh summer salad is the dressing. It is light and citrusy, with a kick of flavor from the cumin and garlic. I usually make a double batch to store in the fridge and use on whatever comes up that needs a flavor punch during the week. Marinade chicken, revitalize leftover rice, and even pour over roasted veggies for a quick, delicious meal.  Pro tip, if you make it in a small mason jar, you can shake it up throughout the week when it starts to separate. No whisk needed.

Another flavor heavy hitter is the smoky roasted red bell pepper. I learned this technique working with chefs while teaching healthy cooking classes in and around New Orleans with Second Harvest Food Bank. This salad was adapted from my time there. To roast the bell pepper, simply place the whole, washed and dried pepper directly on the flames of your gas stove.

Allow pepper to become charred, as shown, until the entire skin is blackened.

Place bell pepper in a bowl and cover with aluminum foil to allow the pepper to steam on the inside and become soft.

Tex-Mex Summer Shrimp Salad

Ingredients

Dressing

Juice from 1 lime

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp honey

1 clove garlic, minced

1/8 tsp cayenne

Salad

1 roasted red bell pepper

1 cup canned black beans

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup corn, fresh or canned

2 avocados, chopped

1 cucumber, halved and sliced

4 cups field greens

1 lb shrimp

Instructions

1. Mix together all ingredients for dressing in a small mason jar. Shake until mixed.
2. To roast red bell pepper, place directly on burner of stove as shown in picture above. Allow entire pepper to blacken, rotating with tongs. Once entire skin is black, place into large bowl and cover with aluminum foil for at least 15 minutes to allow pepper to steam and soften.
3. When bell pepper has steamed, remove from bowl. To remove skin, use gently pressure to simply push the skin off until you are left with a red exterior. Dice roasted red bell pepper.
4. If using fresh corn, remove husk and silk. Hold corn cob upright with base resting on the cutting board. Slice down to remove kernels from cob. If using canned, rinse.
5. Cook shrimp on medium heat with olive oil, salt and pepper to your taste. Most of the seasoning will come from the dressing.
6. Add all ingredients to large bowl and toss.

Note:

• If you want to speed up this recipe for a weeknight meal, use canned corn, jarred roasted red bell pepper and skip the shrimp and add shredded Monterrey Jack cheese. This will boost the protein and allow for a quick, easy dinner time.