summer green salad with chili-lime prawns, corn, and tomatoes

This week we are celebrating my daughter Adeline’s second birthday, and as birthday tradition dictates, on that day she will get to eat all her favorite foods, starting with ice cream. Some mornings, after Adeline wakes up, she’ll be laying quietly in her crib and will suddenly exclaim “iiiiice cweeeam”. But don’t you dare offer her anything other than strawberry ice cream, in her mind there is only strawberry and all other flavors aren’t actually ice cream. Joining ice cream on the list of her favorite foods are macaroni and cheese, waffles, and shrimp. Yes, shrimp. Or “shrimpies” as we refer to them in conversation with her. However, she prefers baby shrimp, and though I tried, I could not entice her to eat any prawns from this salad (which is just as well, Patrick and I were practically licking our plates, so more for us). This is an easy summer salad, and since corn and tomatoes are the queens of late summer, it’s the perfect time to enjoy this dish. Bon appetit!

---

SUMMER GREEN SALAD WITH CHILI-LIME PRAWNS, CORN, AND TOMATOES
serves 4

Ingredients:
extra virgin olive oil
4 ears of corn, kernels cut off (roughly 3 cups of corn)
4 cloves of garlic, divided and minced
sea salt and black pepper, to taste
1.5 cups cherry tomatoes
24 fresh prawns, shelled and de-veined
zest of one large lime
a few pinches red chili flakes
6oz mixed salad greens
1 cup chopped basil
8-10oz mini mozzarella balls*
1 large ripe avocado, sliced (or 2 small avocados)

shallot-lime dressing:
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 cup shallot, minced
1 tablespoon sugar or honey
salt to taste
a pinch of black pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare the corn and tomatoes: Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add enough olive oil to lightly cover the surface of the pan, then add the corn, 2 minced cloves of garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5-7 min, until the corn has softened but still has a little crunch. Add the baby tomatoes to the corn and cook for another 2 minutes, then remove from heat and spoon into a medium bowl. Set the bowl aside to cool to room temperature. Save the pan for use in a couple steps.

2. Make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the shallot-lime dressing. Set aside.

3. Cook the chili-lime prawns: Heat the same pan you used to cook the corn over medium-high heat. Have the shrimp ready next to your hot pan. Add enough olive oil to lightly cover the surface of the pan, then add the remaining 2 minced cloves of garlic, lime zest, chili flakes, and season with salt and pepper. Stir the garlic mixture for a few seconds then add all the prawns, laying them flat side down in the pan. Let the prawns cook for 2 minutes without touching them, then flip the prawns over and cook for another 2 minutes on the remaining side. After the prawns have cooked, give them a few stirs to make sure they are well coated in the garlic, lime zest, and chili flakes. Remove them from pan (so they don’t continue to cook) and place on a small plate.

4. Assemble the salads: Set out 4 dinner plates and divide the greens evenly between the plates. Add the chopped basil to the corn and tomato mixture, give it a couple tosses, then divide the corn between the 4 plates. Next, top each salad equally with the prawns, mozzarella, and avocado. Dress to taste.

*I used ciliegine and cut them in half, but whole mozzarella pearls would work well too