I cannot think of a better dish to share today than this Honey Garlic Shrimp with a Fresh Quinoa Salad. It’s a light and flavoursome dish that can help bring a little bit of that sunshine into your kitchen.
I know everyone is sharing Easter recipes right about now and I am nil for nil on that front. Was hoping to get some Easter cooking done this week, but life got in the way. Darn life.
Although this dish doesn’t say a whole lot about Easter, it does speak volumes for spring. And you just can’t argue with that. Fresh flavours, wholesome and even pretty easy to make. Not bad.
Dishes like this one and my Shrimp Linguine in a White Wine Sauce are what spring is all about.
What’s This Dish Like
- Difficulty – A pretty straightforward dish to make. It does have two different components and a long ingredient list though. Overall time is about 35-40 minutes.
- Taste – A wonderful fresh flavour with a Lemon Vinaigrette quinoa dish and sauteed shrimp with honey and garlic.
- Serving – This dish serves 4 people as a main course.
How to Make This Shrimp & Quinoa Salad
This is one of those multi task dishes, that if done efficiently, you can have it on the table in no time at all.
Here’s the order in which I did this dish.
- First, I first peeled and cleaned the shrimp and then set them aside.ย Note, I do this pretty quickly.ย So, if you are new to preparing shrimp, you may want to add a bit of extra time to get them done.ย You can use already prepared shrimp, but I find they don’t hold the same flavour.ย If you are new to cleaning shrimp, it’s easy and can be done quite quickly if you don’t fuss around too much.ย Here’s a little video from Epicurious with a little how to if you are unsure.ย Once the shrimp are prepared, set them aside.
- Next, get your quinoa cooking.ย Chop vegetables for the quinoa salad.ย Make the dressing and set aside.ย Cook the shrimp.ย Put it all together as seen in the recipe below and you are good to go.ย Simple, uncomplicated, but delicious food.
Here’s Some More Fresh Recipes You’ll Like To Try
Honey Garlic Shrimp with a Fresh Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
For the Quinoa
- 1 Cup quinoa
- 1 1/2 Cups vegetable stock
- 1 Cucumber peeled and diced
- 1 Cup cherry tomatoes quartered
- Small bunch of fresh arugula
- Small bunch of fresh cilantro
- 1/2 Cup Feta crumbled
For the shrimp:
- 1 lb shrimp peeled, cleaned and de veined (tails in tact)
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- 2 cloves Garlic crushed
- Juice of one lime
- Sea salt
For the vinaigrette:
- 1/4 Cup olive oil
- Juice of one lemon
- Zest of one lemon
- 1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 2 Garlic cloves crushed
- 1 Tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 Teaspoon salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
Garnish (optional):
- Extra arugula for dressing the plates
- Lime wedges
- Chopped cilantro
Instructions
- In a small jar or bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the vinaigrette. Shake or whisk well and set aside.
- In a medium skillet set over medium heat, dry fry the quinoa for about one to two minutes until it becomes fragrant. Give the pan a shake a few times. Pour over all the stock, cover and reduce heat to low. Leave to cook for about 15 minutes or until tender and all the stock has absorbed. Remove from heat. Gently fluff with a fork and transfer to a large salad bowl.
- Add the chopped cucumber, tomatoes, arugula and fresh cilantro to the quinoa. Pour over the lemon vinaigrette and stir well. Top with crumbled feta and set aside.
- In a large skillet set over medium to high heat, add the butter and garlic until sizzling. Add the honey and stir to combine really well. Toss the shrimp in the pan and toss around until they are pink and cooked completely, 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat, squeeze over lime juice and season with sea salt.
- Serve quinoa with shrimp and garnish as you like. This dish can be served at room temperature or even cold.
*A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.