Grapefruit Avocado Shrimp Salad

Serves 4

12 extra-large (12-18 a pound) shrimp

1 head Bibb or Butter lettuce

4 Tbs lime juice

1 large red grapefruit

2 avocados

1 cup half-n-half dressing (see recipe below)

Half-n-Half Dressing

Serves 4

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup ketchup

1 Tbs shallot, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 Tbs Worcester sauce

1 tsp salt

Salad

Peel shrimp and remove tail. In a small pot of salted boiling water, add shrimp and poach for two minutes. Remove from pot to a bowl of ice water to chill immediately. Wash lettuce and divide whole leaves from head. As you progress to the center, the leaves will become smaller. Tear leaves from base and try to keep whole.

Make grapefruit supremes (whole sections with the membrane removed) Reserve sections in juice.

Slice each avocado lengthwise into 12 pieces.

Prepare the salad by layering four lettuce leaves one atop the other using progressively smaller leaves. Put three shrimp in the center leaf, then surround that with 6 avocado slices on the next larger leaf. Arrange 3 grapefruit supremes to tuck under avocado. Sprinkle lime juice over avocado and shrimp and add freshly ground pepper if desired. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the dressing over salad. Serve immediately.

Dressing

Combine all ingredients in a jar and shake vigorously until combined and creamy. The dressing can also be mixed in a blender. Allow to rest for an hour for the flavors to combine. Mixing the dressing in a squeeze bottle makes it easy to drizzle onto the salad, although you might need to cut the tip a bit larger.

YOU MIGHT NEVER GUESS THAT SHRIMP and grapefruit go so well together, but this salad is a perfect combination of sweet, tangy and creamy. A quick poaching in salt water barely cooks the shrimp, and immersion in ice water stops the cooking right away, It’s best to make the shrimp right before serving to keep them plump and moist.

ONCE YOU LEARN THIS EASY way to make grapefruit supremes, you might not serve them any other way. Cut off the top of the fruit and then, working in a spiral the way some people might peel an apple, cut off the skin, through the pith and the outer membranes. If you are serving the sections as a fruit cup, the cut peels have plenty of juice in them. (It’s too good to just toss, so squeeze them anyway and enjoy the fresh juice.) The peeled grapefruit will expose each section so all that is needed is to slice down against the membranes and pop out the fruit. It’s easy to remove any seeds while you are doing this.

The dressing is a cross between a Catalina and a Thousand Island dressing. It’s easy to remember how to make it if you use the rule of quarters—each major ingredient is a quarter cup.

Delicious

by Design