Happy Figo Friday lovies! On the FIRST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH, I’m always on our local radio station, 94kx, talking about my latest Figo recipe and/or workout. You can listen for me this morning at 8:15am on your radio if you’re local to the Susquehanna Valley. If you’re listening from afar, download the Sunbury broadcasting app or stream 94.1wqkx on your internet radio app or online!
With that said, this morning, I’ll be talking about this delicious summer salad recipe I came up with a few years ago. Trevor, my amazing camera and production guru, resurrected this video of me from 2015 (pre children and when I used to only drink only 1 cup of coffee to get through the day, HA!). I got the idea to dig up this recipe from my friend Julie because I asked my girlfriends what they wanted to see featured on a Figo Friday and she literally said, SUMMER SALAD! So I wracked my brain, and remembered this gem of a recipe I came up with 5 years ago. The next two months, I decided to not come up with any new content, but to resurrect some of my summer favs from the grill. (I will hint towards the notion that I am saving all NEW ideas and content for a series that will launch on Youtube in the fall. So stay tuned and please please reach out with stuff you want to see!)
So so back to this salad. This recipe so versatile! You essentially throw on any seasonal veggies you like. Bonus points for lots of color! When I was first making this, it was green beans and radishes. Last night I had a red pepper in the fridge and it was exactly what I needed in my life (maybe I was craving Vitamin C!?). I always use feta cheese and silvered almonds. I also chose to toss the arugula in the dressing (which doubles as the shrimp marinade) and then pile each topping in a circle around the salad. Not only is it a gorgeous presentation with the skewers then on top, but it’s fun to eat it this way so you can dig into each topping how and when you like. And omg omg, a thought just came to my mind…I’m thinking this could be a fun potential way to get kids to eat a salad!? They can help prep and add the toppings they like in a colorful rainbow around their own salad bowl. I’d probably be adding noodles and a ton of cheese on top of the veggies for Camilla (sounds kind of like macaroni and cheese on a salad to me) but if I could get her to eat 1 arugula leaf, I’d say that’s a mom win!! Stay Figo. Stay fresh kids!
Summer Shrimp Salad
Serves 3-4
Ingredients:
The Shrimp
-Approx. 20 pieces of medium sized wild shrimp- peeled and deveined
-4-6 skewers- soaked in water 20 before assembling
-2 parts extra virgin olive oil/ 1 part fresh lemon juice (ex: 1 C EVOO/0.5C lemon)
-1 T paprika (preferably smoked!)
-2 T freshly chopped parsley -2 T freshly chopped basil
-Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
The Salad
*Salad should include your favorite summer seasonal veggies! Assemble over your greens or lettuce in small piles.
-Arugula or your favorite bed of lettuce
-Sliced radish
-Raw green beans
-Sliced red or yellow beets
-Sliced avocado
-Sliced cucumber
-chopped red bell pepper
-Crumbled feta cheese
-Silvered almonds
-Lemon wedges
-EVOO
Directions: For the marinade/dressing, combine lemon and all spices and herbs in a medium bowl. Next, continuously whisk while pouring a steady stream of extra virgin olive oil in the bowl to create an emulsification. Set aside half for the dressing. Place cleaned shrimp in the marinade for a minimum of 20 min (or up to a few hours). Cover and keep refrigerated. Toss salad greens in the dressing and season with a bit of salt and fresh cracked pepper (you can also skip this step as I did in the video for a lighter salad and use all of the marinade for the shrimp and then top everything at the end with lemon and EVOO…your call). Lace up the pre-soaked skewers with the marinated shrimp in groups of about 5-6. Cook on a preheated grill treated with a non-stick spray or oil beforehand. Cook 2-3 min/side. Shrimp is done when they’re firm to the touch. Place skewers on top of salad and enjoy topped with a fresh squeeze of lemon juice! Buon appetito!
