Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Green Bean and Seared Shrimp Salad with Spicy Curry Vinaigrette

There are several perfectly fine, simple things to do with green beans like just steaming them and maybe topping them with sliced almonds or boiling them and tossing them with roasted potatoes. However, when some green beans appeared in my CSA box a couple of weeks ago, I really wanted to give them some zippy flavor. I wanted to use them in a Thai-style curry or maybe in some kind of interesting salad. I found exactly what I had in mind in, of all places, an Italian cookbook. Stir, by Barbara Lynch, had become a favorite source of mine for interesting pasta, pizzas, soups, and salads, and that’s where I found this green bean and shrimp salad. The big flavor I was looking for is in the vinaigrette which is made with shallots, white wine vinegar, Thai red curry paste, and creme fraiche. The salad itself is composed of blanched, crisp-tender green beans, big, seared shrimp, thin slices of radishes, and toasted hazelnuts. With so many textures and flavors coming together, this salad was exactly the kind of thing I imagined for those green beans.

The vinaigrette can be made in advance, and I should have made extra to use on a lettuce salad the next day. In a small bowl, finely chopped shallots, white wine vinegar, and Thai red curry paste were combined. Grapeseed oil, creme fraiche, and lemon juice were whisked into that mixture. It was seasoned to taste with salt, and of course, more curry paste can be added to make it spicier. Radishes were thinly sliced, and I used a benriner to make very thin slices. I also placed the radish slices in a bowl of ice water while prepping everything else to make them extra crisp. Next, hazelnuts were toasted in the oven and then rubbed in a towel to mostly remove the skins. The green beans were blanched to preserve their color, and the shrimp were seared in a saute pan until just cooked for about a couple of minutes per side. The green beans, shrimp, radishes, and hazelnuts were combined in a large bowl and tossed with the vinaigrette. I garnished the salad with Thai basil leaves, but cilantro was suggested in the recipe.

Of course, this salad could easily be adapted to include more of one thing and less of another. In the headnote, Lynch writes that she sometimes leaves out the shrimp when taking the salad to a picnic or serving it as a side dish. However the salad is composed, the vinaigrette is the one thing that shouldn’t change. The creamy texture and bright, lively flavors made this salad what it was.



24 comments:

  1. A fabulous recipe! A delightful combination.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. While I love how this salad looks just the thought of that vinaigrette alone made me salivate. it sounds soooo delicious! Definitely gonna try it out!

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  3. I find seared seafood hard to beat. Add a little curry and I'm starting to levitate :)

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  4. Hazelnuts do not appear in salads as often as they should, which is too bad. They have such a great toasty crunch and rich flavor. Gorgeous combination.

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  5. Oho, I love that book, and I don't cook out of it nearly often enough. Barbara Lynch is wonderful.

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  6. We've been making garlic prawns in the test kitchen this morning. Fresh from the seafood market. Yours look delish!

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  7. This is certainly a fabulous way to serve green beans above and beyond the same old boring steamed way (which is what I usually do). And I agree with Simone, that vinaigrette sounds dynamite! Yum! Love everything about this dish.

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  8. hey! i have most of these ingredients! perhaps dinner tonight? :)

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  9. Shrimp and green beans are two of my favorite things. This sounds so fresh

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  10. oh, this looks so, so good. I'm so hungry now even though I was kind of verging on feeling sick from half a packet of potato chips I just ate (yuck). I love, love shrimp and the nuts and the green beans, yum.

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  11. This looks so good....
    Fresh and healthy recipe.

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  12. Great choice to use the beans! I sometimes get like that-if I get some produce that is too beautiful not to do something special with :)

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  13. Great salad idea, Lisa. I eat green beans raw I like them so much! Have some in the fridge right now for snacking. I don't know about that cookbook...will look into it. You must have the most wonderful cookbook collection. Where do you put them all?

    I made the Pebbly Beach Fruit Squares yesterday. They were wonderful...I ended up taking them all to the hairdressers so I wouldn't eat them all! :)

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  14. I have that cookbook too, but haven't tried this recipe yet. It looks delicious! Have you tried the chestnut soup yet?

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  15. Barbara: Funny you should ask about my cookbooks. We're currently working on a way to add more shelves!

    Newlywed: I haven't tried the chestnut soup yet, but I'd love to!

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  16. I adore the idea of adding hazelnuts in this warm salad. Beautiful colour and flavours.

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  17. I love the gorgeous colorful combination of veggies! I would have never thought to add radishes to this dish- sounds terrific.

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  18. I also love the idea of adding hazelnuts in this salad. Must try this soon.

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  19. I love this type of salad Lisa! look nice! gloria

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  20. Your salad looks delicious. I usually eat my green beans quite plain, but you're inspiring me to try something different!

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  21. I love eating shrimp and most of the time I land up either grilling it or making a indian curry out of it. This would a great way to enjoy it next time.

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  22. The curry vinaigrette sounds very interesting and seductive. I bet that adds depth to the overall dish.

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  23. That's a really nice plate. We would love it.

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