Fast Shrimp Salad

When people tell me that they don't have time to cook I am incredulous. (See I'm a college graduate. I know big words.) I understand that everyone is tired after a long day but that isn't an excuse not to cook dinner. Dinner doesn't have to be a production. Here's an example of how fast a healthy and delicious dinner can be.

I'll post one of the fastest meals I've made in ages. It literally took from the moment we walked into my front door to the moment we sat down at the table 10 minutes.

A while back my friend and I were out super late. When we walked through my front door we were both starving. It was too late to cook anything big so I pulled some raw shrimp out of the refrigerator. I had planned to cook them earlier but things came up. Cleaned them quickly and then fried them up with a tiny bit of butter.

In the mean time my friend cut up some strawberry and avocado and a little red onion. We pulled some salad in the bag  out of it's bag and onto our plates. We smeared some leftover from the night before goat cheese onto some leftover bread. A little olive oil, a little balsamic vinegar and we had an elegant dinner. It took approximately 10 minutes from the time we walked into the kitchen to the time we ate.

I'm loathe to post this recipe but I will anyway. Somebody somewhere is going to think they need to run out and get all of these ingredients. They will have entirely missed the point. The point is to use what you have in the house to make something quickly. This is just to provide ideas. Every Friday I feel like I made "Don't let my leftovers go bad" for dinner.

Healthy Strawberry Shrimp Salad

Ingredients:
1 bag mixed greens
1 to 2 strawberries per person.
1 to 2 slices avocado per person
1 ring of red onion
6 or 7 shrimp per person

A slice of yummy crusty bread per person
enough goat cheese to spread on each slice of bread

oil and vinegar to taste, or salad dressing, or whatever you want to put on top of your salad. (Watch out for the extra unnecessary calories that it can add and use sparingly.)

While your friend, spouse, domestic partner or whoever is assembling salad, clean some shrimp. Add a little oil or butter to your nonstick pan. (I used a teaspoon of butter for 14 shrimp) Saute the shrimp for a few minutes over medium high heat. Keep your eyes on them!!!!! Overcooked shrimp taste pretty rotten. As soon as you feel they are done, toss them onto your freshly assembled salad. Pour some wine and enjoy.

See how easy that was?