Spiced Shrimp with Mango Salad and Orange Poppy Seed Dressing

I love fruit in salad! These days the weather has been so warm and dry that I've been making a lot of salads as the main dish. I don't generally think of adding fruit until Summer when locally grown fruits are available and tempting me from the market.

With company visiting, I knew I wanted to serve something healthy and easy to make. Looking for inspiration while I was shopping, I walked by that mango. Just once. The truth is, I couldn't resist bending the regional food rule. At least it's organic...

The Orange Poppy Seed Dressing is about as easy as it gets, and the subtle tang of the orange juice really adds a lot to the flavor. It's great on a spinach salad as well.

I served it with with seasoned shrimp but you may opt to make this a vegetarian dish and add black beans directly to the salad.

My friends brought a bottle of Sweet Cheeks Pinot Gris and it was perfect for lunch on a sunny day.


Yield: Serves 4
Level: Easy
Time: 30-40 minutes



Ingredients:

Mango Salad
3 cups arugula, washed
1 small head of Romain lettuce, washed and chopped
1 Mango, cut up
1 Red pepper, washed and cut up
1 Yellow or orange pepper, washed and cut up

Orange Poppy Seed Dressing
1/3 cup Orange juice
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp poppy seeds

Spiced Shrimp
1 lb frozen shrimp (peeled and deveined)
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
1 tsp Cajun spice (or 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper and salt to taste)
1 tbsp chili lime seasoning (I use Cholula)
Juice of 1/2 lime
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup dry white wine
Drizzle of olive oil


Directions:

Salad: In a large salad bowl add all salad ingredients except mango. Toss to mix. Add mango to the top and toss gently just once more. The flesh of the mango is delicate and it can get mushy if you toss it too much


Dressing: In a small glass jar, add orange juice, mayonnaise and poppy seeds. Shake well to combine. If it's too thick for your taste add more juice, too thin, add more mayonnaise.

Spiced Shrimp: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Drizzle olive oil on the bottom of a glass baking dish that's  large enough to accommodate the shrimp without overcrowding. Sprinkle spices and red pepper flakes evenly over the shrimp. Squeeze the lemon and lime juice over that. With a large spoon, gently toss the ingredients to distribute the seasonings. Add white wine and bake 20 minutes. If the shrimp is not frozen, cook them half the time and check for doneness. The shrimp should be almost opaque, they continue to cook after they've been removed from the oven. Remove to a serving dish, garnish with lemon, or parsley and serve immediately.