Asparagus, Shrimp & Mushroom Skillet Salad
Spring is here! Are you feeling it? We're very happy that asparagus is back in season. It's definitely one of my husbands favorite vegetables. I love it too and I love how easy it is to clean and prepare so bring on the asparagus please!
This is an incredibly yummy warm spring salad. It's really a stir-fry that I serve over salad instead of rice. It starts off with lot's of garlic because we all need more garlic. Then I toss in the veggies, the shrimp, some seasonings and some butter, stir-frying them quickly and gently because these are all tender things and it doesn't take much to overcook them.
All of the liquids in the vegetables and the shrimp create a wonderful sauce in the bottom of the skillet. All you need is a squeeze of lemon juice and your salad is dressed.
I love that mushrooms and asparagus need so little prep and cleaning up before I cook. Often the prep part of a recipe can be the most time consuming part so in this case I was developing a recipe that I new I could make without a lot of fuss at the end of a busy day.
I have used store bought cremini in this recipe but Chanterelles, Fried Chicken mushrooms (Lyophyllum decastes), Honey Mushrooms (Armillaria), a variety of milk caps ( Lactarius) or Shrimp Russula (Russula xerampelina) mushrooms would be very tasty in this dish.
Important Note * If using wild mushrooms for this recipe, be sure you have properly identified the mushrooms and thoroughly cleaned and cooked them before adding them to this stir-fry.
I like to use wild mushrooms that I have already prepared, sautéed and frozen, straight from the freezer to a stir-fry.
Start by thawing out the shrimp the night before in the refrigerator. If you buy raw peeled and deveined shrimp there's nothing at all to prep.
I'm very lucky to be able to step into my garden and pick a few handfuls of various greens for the salad but in the winter I buy a nice package of power greens for this. Cleaned and ready to go.
Who knew healthy could be so easy?
Cheers!
~Melisa
Ingredients
1 Bag of large raw shrimp
1 Bunch of medium sized asparagus
10 large brown cremini mushrooms, quartered
2 scallions, chopped
1 Serrano pepper, seeded and diced
4-5 cloves minced garlic
3 Tablespoons of butter
2 Tablespoons olive oil
mixed hearty salad greens
Mixed seasoning:
salt, smoked paprika, ground chipotle pepper, black pepper, cayenne red pepper, thyme, rosemary, turmeric
Method
Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to a very warm skillet then add the garlic and let it sizzle for 30 seconds.
Add in the chopped asparagus and fresh cremini mushrooms or pre-cooked wild mushrooms then stir-fry until the asparagus is just barely tender. Add 1 tablespoon of butter then the shrimp and sprinkle the whole pan with the spice mixture according to your own taste.
Stir-fry about 3 minutes or until the shrimp are nearly done then turn off the heat under the skillet and add the last 2 tablespoons of butter, the chopped scallion and diced Serrano pepper.
Allow the shrimp to finish cooking and the butter melt then serve with lots of lemon wedges on a bed of mixed greens.
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