How To Make A Shrimp, Avocado, And Chayote Salad
Making a shrimp, avocado, and chayote salad is the perfect way to test your culinary powers. Don’t worry if you haven’t made a salad or cooked with these ingredients before — this salad is excellent for beginners.
Chayote is similar in texture to cucumber and has a mild flavor so that it won’t overpower the other flavors in this salad. The real show stopper here is the avocado and shrimp combination. They both work perfectly together and make you wish all salads were filled with shrimp and avocado.
What’s great about this recipe is that you use sliced chayote as the base of your salad, providing great texture and taste. And let’s not forget about the presentation. This is also a show stopper because it is a unique and original way to serve this shrimp avocado salad. You mostly see salads served over a bed of lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Not this one!
You’re probably wondering what chayote is, and you also might not think shrimp and avocado would make a good salad. Try it yourself or make it as an accompaniment to another meal, a quick lunch, and even dinner. You can purchase chayote at any West Indian, Latino, or Latin-American supermarket, and even your local market may sell. It. So get in the car and buy some now!
The ingredients you will need for this Shrimp, Avocado, and Chayote Salad
- Chayote Mirliton or chayote is a vegetable that is slightly sweet and firm; it’s a good salad base with the addition of watermelon. Mirlition is a vegetable that can be eaten raw and cooked; it resembles a pear because of its shape and is sold in most markets.
- Shrimps or Prawns: Shrimp is an excellent source of protein and has a mild flavor that pairs well with many different kinds of vegetables
- Avocado: The avocado adds healthy fats and texture, while the chayote adds crunchy texture and a hint of sweetness
- Tomatoes: use firm, ripe tomatoes to easily be sliced into cubes.
- Shallots or red onion: you can use either.
- Parsley: fresh parsley for this dish is necessary. The fragrance and aroma will infuse the other ingredients nicely.
- Lime juice: is one of my preferred acidic agents. This ingredient will help you save the flavor and taste of many meals, especially Haitian legumes or stews.
- Champagne Vinegar or Rice Wine Vinegar is an optional ingredient but adds a good flavor to the dish.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: a must for this dish. It will help combine all the ingredients when tossing. Use a good brand of olive oil.
- Seasoning: salt and pepper, garlic powder, paprika, or your favorite Noubess seasoning blend.
How to make the salad
To make the salad, it is best to prepare the shrimp first. You can choose to buy and use store-bought cooked shrimp, but where is the fun of eating non-delicious food? Storebought cooked shrimp lack flavor and are not very healthy. It is best to buy fresh shrimp and cook them in your favorite seasoning blend.
Once the shrimp is cooked, then you can start making the salad.
- Clean the shrimp, deveined and unshelled. Rinse with water and drain well. Pat dry with towel paper and place in a bowl.
- Toss the shrimp with 1/2 of the oil until well-coated.
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp to the skillet in a single layer, searing for a minute or until it becomes pink around the edges. Turn over and cook until the shrimp are cooked through. This should take less than a minute. Sprinkle salt, black pepper, and paprika and toss well. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- When the shrimp is cool enough to the touch, slice in halves or thirds. Set aside and prepare the other ingredients.
- Peel and slice the avocado about the same size as the shrimp. Then do the same for the tomatoes. Chop the parsley and cut the shallot or red onion thinly sliced. Place the ingredients in a bowl.
- Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the lime juice and champagne vinegar. Toss and mix everything—season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Wash and peel the chayote. Remove both ends and cut in half. Slice thinly, slice, and rinse in vinegar or lemon base water. Drink thoroughly and arrange on a plate following a circle pattern and overlapping the slices.
- To arrange the salad, with a spoon, carefully place the salad in the middle of the chayote circle.
- Serve the salad immediately, by itself or with a side of sliced french baguettes.
Notes and Tips for the Shrimp, Avocado, and Chayote Salad
- This simple shrimp, avocado, and chayote salad is so fresh and delicious that you’ll want to make it all the time. It’s a great recipe if you’re looking for something easy and quick to throw together as part of your weekly meal prep routine.
- Use other seasoning blends besides salt and pepper to give this salad a nice kick.
- You can add some extra vegetables like bell peppers or red onion if you’d like!
This Shrimp, Avocado, and Chayote Salad is an excellent starter salad or appetizer, or you can even eat it as a simple meal!
As always, I hope you enjoyed this chayote salad recipe. If you did, please feel free to share on social media, and let’s get the word out there that chayote is an excellent addition to any salad.
How To Make A Shrimp, Avocado, And Chayote Salad
Ingredients
- ½ lbs shrimp unshelled and deveined
- 1 avocado ripe but firm, cut into cubes
- 1 to mato firm, cut into cubes
- 1 shallot or red onion sliced thinly
- juice of 1/2 lime
- 2 tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar or rice wine vinegar
- ¼ – ½ teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 large chayote/mirliton/christophine peeled and thinly sliced
Instructions
- Clean the shrimp, deveined and unshelled. Rinse with water and drain well. Pat dry with towel paper and place in a bowl.
- Toss the shrimp with the oil until well-coated.
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp to the skillet in a single layer, searing for a minute or until it becomes pink around the edges. Turn over and cook until the shrimp are cooked through. This should take less than a minute. Sprinkle salt, black pepper, and paprika and toss well. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- When the shrimp is cool enough to the touch, slice in halves or thirds. Set aside and prepare the other ingredients.
- Peel and slice the avocado about the same size as the shrimp. Then do the same for the tomatoes. Chopped the parsley and cut the shallot or red onion thinly sliced. Place the ingredients in a bowl.
- Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the lime juice and champagne vinegar. Toss and mix everything together. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Wash and peel the chayote. Remove both ends and cut in half. Slice thinly, slice, and rinse in vinegar or lemon base water. Drink thoroughly and arrange on a plate following a circle pattern and overlapping the slices.
- To arrange the salad, with a spoon, carefully place the salad in the middle of the chayote circle.
- Serve the salad immediately, by itself or with a side of sliced french baguettes.
Nutrition
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
Nutrition info is automatically generated and provided as a courtesy and as an estimate only.
