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avocado seafood salad
Victoria Haneveer

Avocado Seafood Salad Recipe with Prawns

I love this avocado seafood salad recipe. I'm a huge avocado fan and shrimp (or prawns) are a favorite as well. Prawns and shrimp are two names for the same creature, although shrimp are always known as prawns in the UK. The main different between them is that prawns tend to be a lot bigger than shrimp. You can cook prawns in various ways including steaming, pan-frying, deep-frying and boiling. In the following seafood salad recipe the prawns are dropped into boiling salted water and cooked within a couple of minutes. A prawn is cooked when it is translucent and the flesh shrinks slightly back away from the shell. This seafood salad recipe combines avocado with the prawns and these ingredients are wonderful together. Avocado is soft, creamy and slightly nutty and you know how succulent and juicy prawns are, so you can probably imagine the harmony in this dish. Add some baby salad leaves, a few beansprouts, some crisp iceberg lettuce and a splash of balsamic vinegar and you have a gourmet seafood salad recipe. The lemon dressing finishes this salad off in style and ties all the contrasting flavors together. If you are looking for a tasty seafood salad, you might enjoy this one.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 4 minutes
Total Time 19 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Salad
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
 

  • 1½ lbs (680g) large raw prawns (in their shells and heads on)
  • 3 pints (1½ liters) water
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 4 small ripe avocados
  • ½ diced red bell pepper
  • Small handful beansprouts
  • 3 oz (85g) baby salad leaves
  • 2 oz (55g) shredded iceberg lettuce
  • Balsamic vinegar, as needed
For the Lemon Dressing:
  • 2 tablespoons white sugar
  • 1½ tablespoons lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 egg yolk

Method
 

  1. Bring the water to a boil, then add the salt.
  2. Add the prawns and cook for 3 or 4 minutes, or until they turn pink and float to the top.
  3. Put the prawns in ice water to cool them.
  4. Peel and chop all but 4 of them.
  5. Whisk the sugar and lemon juice together until most of the sugar has dissolved.
  6. Add the egg yolk and whisk until the sugar has dissolved completely.
  7. Add the oil a tablespoon at a time, whisking all the time until the dressing is creamy and thick.
  8. Cut each avocado in half.
  9. Divide the baby salad leaves between 4 chilled serving plates and drizzle some balsamic vinegar over them.
  10. Top each plate of leaves with a pair of avocado halves.
  11. Divide the beansprouts, diced bell pepper and shredded iceberg lettuce between the plates, then add the chopped prawns.
  12. Drizzle the lemon dressing over the top and garnish each salad with a whole, unpeeled prawn.

Notes

  • This seafood salad recipe shows you how to combine prawns, avocados and a few other ingredients to make a lavish appetizer or flavorful lunch.
  • If you can't serve this immediately, squeeze some lemon or lime juice over the avocado, else it will go brown at the edges.
  • You can serve all the prawns whole with their shells on or peel and chop most, saving the best-looking for your garnish.
  • Also, feel free to alter the ingredients, swapping the red bell pepper for pineapple chunks or the baby leaves for spinach or making any other substitutions you want.