Friday, February 3, 2012

Shrimp with orange vinagrette

I usually serve shrimp at parties because my husband is allergic to them and I don't like eating them alone. You can do a couple variations on this recipe, but here's the one I keep coming back to.

Ingredients
1 bag of extra large or jumbo cooked shrimp, tails off. If frozen, let thaw or soak in cold water until softened. (Good ol' Costco has several sizes that are reasonably priced, and Trader Joes has a nice variety too.)
1 orange pepper, juliened
1 handful of coarsely chopped cilantro
A bit of chopped chives
Salt and pepper to taste

Vinagrette
Juice of an entire navel orange (or a very ripe tangelo or tangerine) including some zest
1 heaping spoon of Hellman's mayo
1 large clove of garlic, minced until a little pasty
Oil olive--enough to emulsify the vinagrette--I'm not sure how I measure it
1 teaspoon of chilli garlic sauce--the same guys that make Sri Ratcha
1 teapsooon of honey

Step 1
Rinse the shrimp, pat dry with paper towels, then lightly salt and pepper. Set aside in a medium bowl.

Step 2
Make the vinagrette.
Combine the juice of the orange with the garlic, then add the olive oil and beat with a whisk until it emulsifies. Next, whisk in the mayo, followed by the garlic sauce, the honey and the orange zest.

The vinagrette should be a little loose--you do not want it to taste heavily of mayo--just lightly so, use your judgement on how much mayo to use. If you're using extra large shrimp, then you'll need the heaping spoon. If you're using a small bag, use a little less mayo.

Step 3
Toss the shrimp with the vinagrette until it's fully coated. Then add the cilantro, the orange pepper, and the chives. Add a bit of pepper. Add more salt if needed.

Step 4
Let the shrimp chill in the serving dish that you plan to serve it in for about an hour. The longer you let it sit, the more the flavors will sink into the shrimp. Serve at room temperature.

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