Ragin’ Cagin’ Jambalaya Shrimp
Mardi Gras. What’s that? Fat Tuesday? Not around here.
In one of my first posts I shared my low-calorie shrimp jambalaya with egg noodles recipe with you all, but I thought I would push myself to make it EVEN healthier. And what can be healthier than salad? I assure you this salad is still full of zesty flavor, filling and super quick to prepare (I made this in less than 30 minutes). A triple threat. In fact, I nearly lifted my shirt it was so good, but then I decided to just keep it on. I have enough of those stinkin’ beads already (yes, that was a bad Mardi Gras joke).
As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t really measure ingredients, but rely on my good ol’ fashioned taste buds. I encourage you to do the same with this recipe as you really can’t mess it up. No, really, you can’t.
This jambalaya requires four simple to prepare parts, made in the following order – homemade Cajun salad dressing (I’ll admit this is quite close to tasting like a Greek dressing, but it uses a basic Cajun seasoning mix – so, it’s Cajun!), seasoned croutons, jambalaya flavored shrimp and salad fixin’s. I added a few croutons on the salad because I had some day old bread to use up, but if you want to lighten this up even more than just omit these or substitute with some pepitas for some added crunch and nuttiness. In the future I might switch out the croutons for some quinoa for some added protein.
Yum. Yum. Now let’s get started.
Homemade Cajun Salad Dressing
Make the dressing first and set aside. If time allows, make a day ahead to let flavors meld together.
Red wine vinegar – start with a 1:2 ratio of vinegar to oil and add more to taste depending on how vinegar-y you like your dressing
Extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. red chili flakes
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried onion powder
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Mix all ingredients in a shaker bottle or mason jar. Taste and add more seasoning if needed. Set aside while you prep the rest of the salad ingredients. Keep leftovers in refrigerator.
Seasoned Croutons
Day old bread, cut into cubes – I used rosemary bread
Extra virgin olive oil
Dried onion powder
Salt
1. Preheat oven to 375°. Line baking pan with foil. Place bread cubes in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Add seasonings and toss to coat. Spread out in a single layer on foil lined pan and place in oven. Bake until golden brown with crunchy texture – approximately 5 minutes. Keep an eye on these babies so they don’t burn 🙂 Take out of oven and set aside to cool.
Jambalaya flavored shrimp
1 lb shrimp – deveined and shelled
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. cumin
Couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce
Dash of Cayenne Pepper (add more if you like it spicy!)
1 Tb. butter (or your favorite meltable fat)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1-2 Tb. finely diced celery
1/4 chopped tomatoes
1 jalapeño seeded and chopped
salt to taste
1. Place shrimp in a bowl and toss with dried herbs and a couple of dashes of Worcestershire sauce.
2. Heat up a skillet to medium heat and melt butter. Add in garlic, celery, tomatoes and jalapeño and cook for a few minutes until tomatoes start to get mushy.
3. Add shrimp into cooked vegetables, turn down heat and mix to coat. Add salt to taste. Cook shrimp JUST until they turn pink and then remove from heat. Do not overcook.
Salad Fixin’s
Feel free to use up whatever veggies you have in the fridge as that is exactly what I did 🙂
Chopped lettuce or salad greens
Thinly sliced red and orange bell pepper
Grape or cherry tomatoes
Sliced cucumber
Sliced avocado
Sliced red onion
Sliced green onion
After you have prepared the Cajun salad dressing, jambalaya flavored shrimp and the croutons (unless omitting). Put the salad fixings in the bowl and layer on the shrimp and croutons and drizzle with yummy Cajun dressing. Stand back and admire. Take a picture or two. Post to Instagram and taunt your friends with the delicious healthy meal you just made. Oh, and then eat the damn thing!
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