Royal Shrimp Green Salad

If you’re tired of the commonly available Nicoise salad, you can try other salad recipes from Nice such as this shrimp and mesclun salad by French Chef Arthur Dorshner. For this recipe, French Dorshner makes use of Royal red shrimp. Unlike regular shrimp which is pale when raw, royal shrimp is already pinkish in color even if uncooked. It has a flavor and texture similar to lobster and cook faster than normal shrimp.

Mesclun is a term used for a mixture of young salad greens. It includes different kinds of lettuce such as Romaine, Chicory, Escarole, Arugula, Iceberg, and Lola Rosa. Other leafy vegetables can also be added in the mix as long as they can be eaten raw, such as mustard, watercress, and spinach. Others even add edible flowers. In this recipe, Chef Dorshner mixes arugula, chervil, and endive, which are abundantly grown in Nice. Besides salad greens, you can also add herbs to the mix to make the salad more dynamic. Different textures and shapes can be quite appealing to the eyes and will make the dish all the more appetizing. Tons of easy cooking videos are made available within the link, so feel free to drop by.

Basically, this cooking recipe can be broken down into three parts: making the mesclun by mixing the greens together, making the dressing, and cooking the shrimps. You can start with peeling and gutting the shrimps and making the dressing. Mix the greens while the shrimps are being cooked. The contrast of the warm shrimp and the cool salad produces an appealing experience in the mouth.

Ingredients

28 oz. of royal shrimp
10 12 oz. of mesclun (young chervil, arugula, leafy lettuce, and endive leaves)
1 oz. royal caviar (optional)
2 green onions
minced
herbs (basil, chervil, dill)
aromatic vinaigrette (1 1/2 oz. vinegar balsamic, 1 ½ oz. cl extra virgin olive oil, 1 ½ oz. hazelnut oil, ½ oz. white wine, a spoonful of mustard, salt, freshly ground pepper, truffle juice)

1. Remove the shells of the shrimps by first pulling out the heads and the legs and then peeling off the remaining shell. With a small paring knife, gut the shrimps by cutting a quarter of an inch deep along the edge of the back of the shrimps and remove the dark vein just under the surface. You can leave the shrimp tails intact for a better presentation.

2. Sautee the shrimps in a pan with a little olive oil and chopped onions until they turn a nice rosy color. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with some fresh thyme. In a salad bowl, mix all the salad greens together.

3. To make the dressing, whip together the rest of the ingredients: olive oil, hazelnut oil, balsamic vinegar, white wine, mustard, truffle juice, minced herbs of basil, chervil, and dill, and season with salt and pepper.

4. Arrange the bed of mesclun on the center of the plate and place the shrimps around the greens. Put some caviar (optional) on the side, decorate with thyme, drizzle with some dressing, and serve.