Recipe Blackened Shrimp, Asparagus and Avocado Salad with Lemon Pepper Yogurt Dressing

SatNavSaysStraightOn

SatNavSaysStraightOn

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It kind of goes without saying that I have no idea whether this salad will work or not, nor what it would taste like, being both vegetarian and allergic to dairy, but I stumbled across it whilst looking for salad ideas and thought that it might be interesting for the current ingredient recipes challenge.

It comes from here, http://cafedelites.com/2015/05/14/blackened-shrimp-asparagus-and-avocado-salad/ a recipe site that allows copying with links back, but the photography copyright is slightly different, so I'll not copy that over, sorry. I'll try a site link but I'm not expecting it to work for the image.

Blackened-Shrimp-and-Asparagus-12.jpg

Well it's working for the moment!

Blackened Shrimp, Asparagus and Avocado Salad with Lemon Pepper Yogurt Dressing

INGREDIENTS
Blackened Shrimp:
  • 500g raw peeled large shrimp (King Prawns), tails removed
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon ground basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
  • 2 teaspoons sweet paprika (or smokey for a different flavour option)
  • 2 bunches of Asparagus, halved
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
Salad:
  • 4 cups Cos lettuce leaves (or lettuce of choice), washed and ready to use
  • 1 Avocado, cubed
  • ¼ red onion, sliced
  • 1 handful fresh basil leaves
Dressing:
  • ⅓ cup greek yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional for extra flavour)
  • 2 tablespoons water (or olive oil)
  • Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. In a shallow bowl, combine shrimp (prawns) with all of the spice ingredients, and rub into the shrimp until evenly coated. Heat a large pan/skillet on medium heat and add the olive oil. Saute the shrimp/prawns and the Asparagus while turning occasionally until the shrimp/prawns and asparagus have started to change colour and are just cooked (about 5 minutes).
  2. Combine the lettuce leaves, avocado, onion slices and basil leaves in a salad bowl. Add the shrimp/prawns and avocado over the top. Drizzle with the dressing.
For the dressing:
  1. Combine the yogurt in a bowl with the lemon pepper, lemon juice (if using), water and salt. Mix well to combine.
 
Seems pretty straightforward and I can't see why it wouldn't work. Quite why its called 'blackened' shrimp, I don't know as they aren't blackened but 'just cooked'. And neither do the asparagus spears appear blackened! Could be that the author thought it sounded alluring...
 
morning glory said:
Seems pretty straightforward and I can't see why it wouldn't work. Quite why its called 'blackened' shrimp, I don't know as they aren't blackened but 'just cooked'. And neither do the asparagus spears appear blackened! Could be that the author thought it sounded alluring...
Click to expand...
Blackening isn't a cooking technique but a seasoning blend.
A quick Google says that the spices used are the blackening.
Here you go.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/174668/blackened-seasoning-mix/
 
Oh gosh! Well you know, I don't think anyone in the UK would know that! Even if I knew Blackening was a seasoning mix, I would assume that the food cooked therein would look, well, blackened!

The plot thickens though, because according to Wiki, the result should be black (not that Wiki is the Bible or anything):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackening_(cooking)

Here is the image used on the wiki page of blackend fish:

The_Food_at_Davids_Kitchen_090.jpg
 
It is supposed to be black. They didn't use enough spice on that shrimp. Nor did they cook it properly.
Though the recipe does sound good.
 
Cinisajoy said:
Most blackened foods are seasoned and then grilled.
Click to expand...
Yes, of course. I do it myself. I was going to enter something to the Challenge using that technique. Its just that here we don't know it as blackening seasoning - it would normally be known as Cajun seasoning.
 
In a quick glance, it appears the original Cajun chef (Justin Wilson) used mostly cayenne, salt and black pepper, whereas Emeril and Paul Prudhomme both have their own Cajun seasonings.
Have we discovered that even cooking in the same region is almost impossible.
 
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