This quick and easy shrimp salad makes the perfect light meal or a substantial side salad. It is a great tasting combination of shrimp and plenty of health-promoting vegetables.

Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes Ingredients: 1 lb cooked medium sized shrimp (buy still frozen if possible for freshness), remove tails 1 medium-sized tomato, seeded and chopped 3 scallions, chopped 1 large clove garlic, pressed 2 TBS fresh lemon juice 1 TBS balsamic vinegar 1 large firm avocado, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1 TBS chopped cilantro 1 TBS chopped fresh mint 2 TBS chopped pumpkin seeds salt and pepper to taste pinch red pepper flakes extra virgin olive oil to taste 1 head small romaine lettuce, outer leaves removed

Directions:

1. Make sure shrimp is completely unfrozen if you buy it already cooked. Pat it dry with paper towels.
2. Mix all ingredients, except lettuce, in a bowl. For optimum flavor, marinate in refrigerator for 15 minutes or more. It is still very good served right away if you don't have the time. Serve on bed of chopped romaine lettuce.

Serves 4

Serving Suggestion: Serve with

• Zesty Mexican Soup

Buying shrimp that is still frozen will ensure that it will be as fresh as possible. That's because even "fresh shrimp" in stores is likely to have been frozen and so this type often loses their freshness very quickly. This recipe was created to be very quick and easy, so we added already cooked shrimp to the ingredient list. If you have the time, obviously it would have better flavor if the shrimp was raw and you cooked it yourself. It is very important either way to make sure the shrimp is patted dry. Otherwise it will dilute the flavor of your salad. Also, it is important that your avocado is ripe, yet still somewhat firm. If it is mushy, your salad will have an unattractive appearance.

Nutritional Profile

Introduction to Recipe Rating System Chart

In order to better help you identify recipes that feature a high concentration of nutrients for the calories they contain, we created a Recipe Rating System. This system allows us to highlight the recipes that are especially rich in particular nutrients. The following chart shows the nutrients for which 15-Minute Shrimp and Avocado Salad is either an excellent, very good, or good source (below the chart you will find a table that explains these qualifications). If a nutrient is not listed in the chart, it does not necessarily mean that the recipe doesn't contain it. It simply means that the nutrient is not provided in a sufficient amount or concentration to meet our rating criteria. (To view this recipe's in-depth nutritional profile that includes values for dozens of nutrients - not just the ones rated as excellent, very good, or good - please use the link below the chart.) To read this chart accurately, you'll need to glance back up to see the ingredients used in the recipe and the number of serving sizes provided by the recipe. Our nutrient ratings are based on a single serving. For example, if a recipe makes 4 servings, you would be receiving the nutrient amounts listed in the chart by eating 1/4th of the combined ingredients found in the recipe. Now, returning to the chart itself, you can look next to the nutrient name in order to find the nutrient amount it offers, the percent Daily Value (DV%) that this amount represents, the nutrient density that we calculated for this recipe and nutrient, and the rating we established in our rating system. For most of our nutrient ratings, we adopted the government standards for food labeling that are found in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's "Reference Values for Nutrition Labeling." Read more background information and details of our rating system.

In-Depth Nutritional Profile for 15-Minute Shrimp and Avocado Salad