Cook's Illustrated

Shrimp Salad with Avocado and Grapefruit

Published January 1, 1900.

Poached shrimp salad is a spa cuisine staple—but does that mean it has to taste skinny?

The Problem

Poached shrimp salads often consist of tough, tiny shrimp plopped onto lifeless lettuce leaves.

The Goal

We wanted a salad featuring properly cooked shrimp in a bright, flavorful dressing, complemented by fresh fruit and vegetables.

The Solution

We first modified the classic poaching technique to address the delicacy of the shrimp. We brought the poaching liquid to a boil, turned off the heat, and then added the shrimp and covered the pot. This gave the shrimp enough time to pick up flavor from the poaching liquid but, without any direct heat, there was no danger of overcooking. We choose to combine the shrimp with avocado, snow peas, and grapefruit sections, finding that with the fatty avocado, we didn't need to add any extra oil to the vinaigrette. Lime juice gave the dressing brightness, ginger gave it a floral bite, and honey balanced the sharp flavors.

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