Croutons provide a crunchy counterpoint to this tangy shrimp salad.
Seafood and shrimp salads can make a refreshing and no-fuss meal on a spring or summer day, when you don't want to slave over the stove. To take the salad to another level, one version adds the unexpected dimension of homemade croutons, interspersed throughout the vinegary salad. Feel free to add different ingredients to compose your dish, which can be hearty enough to be a light meal. Use Maui or red onions instead of Vidalias, or add leftovers from a fish dish from the previous night, or sprinkle spices that go well with fish, such as marjoram.
Instructions
1. Preheat the grill to high. Mix the red wine vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil and reserved red pepper oil in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add minced garlic to the vinaigrette, if desired, or use the garlic for cooking your shrimp.
2. Brush additional extra virgin olive oil on the slices of ciabatta and grill them, until charred on the edges, for about one minute. Cut into 1 inch cubes. These will be your croutons.
3. Combine the cooked shrimp, cooked crabmeat, cooked green peas, celery, cucumber, sliced onions, roasted red peppers, chives and croutons in a salad bowl. Toss well and add the vinaigrette you made earlier.
4. Add a few lettuce leaves to each serving plate and divide the salad mixture between them. You should have four servings. Serve immediately.
Tags: extra virgin, , virgin olive