On Mother’s Day, I served this elegant prawn salad with avocado citrus vinaigrette and it was a big hit. My 90 year old mother-in-law, Rose, loved it so much, she said she would want it for her dying meal. As she has recently passed away, I dedicate this blog to her memory.
The ingredients are simple and taste delicious together. I used prawns with a mix of colorful bitter lettuces, sweet blood oranges, English cucumber, avocado, shallots and chives from my garden. A touch of cayenne infused olive oil gave the prawns just the right amount of zing. The creamy emulsified dressing was a delicious citrus champagne avocado vinaigrette. This main course salad works beautifully for a spring or summer special occasion.
For a main course salad, I suggest serving 8-10 large prawns per person. Buy as many as you need depending on how many people you are serving and the size of the prawns. And if you’d like to read about the many health benefits of avocado click here.
Prep ahead:
In a small container mix 2 Tbsp. olive oil with ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper and ½ tsp. sea salt and let it sit for 1 day. Wash, shell and devein the raw prawns, unless you buy them cleaned and peeled.
Salad Ingredients for 6
- Raw Wild Alaskan or US Farmed Prawns, shelled and deveined
- 1-2 Butter lettuces
- 1 small Radicchio
- 1-2 Escarole bunches
- ½ English cucumber, cut into ½ rounds
- 1 shallot, diced small
- 1 bunch chives, chopped
- 2 large blood oranges, peeled and segmented
- 4 avocados
- 4 lemons, juiced
- 3/4 cup Extra virgin olive oil
- 2-3 Tbsp. grass fed butter
- Sea salt
- 1 Tbsp. champagne vinegar
- Cayenne pepper
To make the dressing:
Mix together ½ of a mashed avocado, ½ of the chopped chives, chopped shallots, 1/3 cup lemon juice,1 Tbsp. champagne vinegar, ½ tsp. sea salt and a juice from the remaining blood orange once the segments have been removed. Whisk in ½ cup olive oil until the mix is emulsified and is light and green in color. Set aside.
To make the salad:
Wash and dry all the lettuces. Rip lettuces into bite size pieces and toss with ½ of the chopped chives. Arrange on individual large plates. Place cucumber slices and blood orange segments on each plate. Slice avocados in half, remove pits and drizzle lemon juice on them to keep fresh. Score across the length and scoop, using a spoon. Place slices from ½ an avocado on each plate. 
To make the prawns:
When you are ready to cook the prawns place them in a skillet with 2-3 Tbsp. of grass fed butter and the remaining lemon juice. Season with sea salt. Cook until the prawns turn pink and are no longer raw. Do not overcook as they will get tough. Move cooked prawns into a bowl and toss with the olive oil cayenne pepper mix.
To assemble:
Drizzle dressing over salad, place prawns on top of salad and serve.
