taste of tuesday: simple shrimp salad

I made this delicious, simple, fresh shrimp salad a few nights ago, and it was wonderful!  It's the perfect thing for the hotter temps that are (hopefully) right around the corner.  Here's how I made it...

Ingredients:

Baby spinach

Romaine lettuce

1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined

1 handful of cherry tomatoes

1/2 of an avocado

1/2 of an apple

Feta cheese

Olive oil 

Salt & pepper

(For the dressing)

2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon whole grain dijon mustard

a good sprinkling of salt & pepper

This is an easy recipe that comes together QUICK, so make sure you have all of your ducks in a row before you start!  Peel and de-vein those shrimp, wash your veggies, roughly chop up the lettuce and spinach and stick it in a bowl, preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and set out all of your ingredients.

Once you're ready to go, cover a baking sheet with foil and lay out the shrimp in a single layer.  Drizzle on a little bit of olive oil, and sprinkle on some salt & pepper.  Toss all of that around, and spread the shrimp back out.

Put this in a 400 degree oven for 6-8 minutes, or until the shrimp are pink and firm.  Here's what they should look like:

While the shrimp are cooking away, cut your cherry tomatoes in half, chop the avocado into cubes, and slice the apple as thin as you can.  I like to arrange all of the "toppings" on a plate so we can grab what we want and leave what we don't.  

To make the dressing, just whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, salt, and pepper.  Easy peasy!

Once all of your toppings are ready freddy, put a big pile of lettuce and spinach on a plate and go crazy with your toppings!  Drizzle on a little dressing, mix it up, and enjoy!

This salad is so easy and SO delicious.  I love the way I feel after I eat this instead of a big greasy hamburger or something.  It's also very versatile!  Don't like shrimp?  Use chicken or even walnuts or garbanzo beans.  Feta's not your thing?  Leave it out or use bleu cheese.  Want to pile on the avocado and skimp on the maters?  Have at it!   

Try this out sometime, guys!  I hope you'll love it as much as Austin and I do.

I'm linking up with Ashley and Jessica today for Taste of Tuesday!!  I can't wait to go and read everyone's posts about one of my favorite topics: food!