Shrimp Salad

So, I made the mistake one day last week of looking at Instagram photos of lobster rolls. They are one of my absolute favorite things on this beautiful, green Earth. The first time I ever experienced one was in Newburyport, Massachusetts. I think I was about 10 years old. The obsession started at first bite. Anyway, lobster is super expensive around here, and I usually only get one around my birthday as a gift from my sweet Gram. ❤️ She knows me so well. Since I remembered that I had some in the freezer, I decided to try the same concept with shrimp to satisfy my craving. Let me first say that there is nothing like lobster. Nothing. But, this is a nice alternative when you don’t have the funds or resources to get lobster (AKA the King of Seafood). 😉

Ingredients:

1 pound peeled, deveined, cooked, and cooled shrimp
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp parsley flakes
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp paprika

Preparation:

Make sure your shrimp are nice and dry. You don’t want the salad to be watery.
Toss all ingredients together, and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes to set.
For full “lobster roll effect” serve on a buttered and toasted split top hot dog roll.

I didn’t have the famous split top hot dog rolls on the day I made this salad, so I used a regular corn dusted hamburger-type bun. The taste was still great, but it was a mess. The shrimp fell out all over the place, and it was just inconvenient. I highly recommend getting the split top hot dog rolls. They act as a nifty little pocket, they’ll sit flat on a plate, and the shrimp will stay in place. You can use a little lettuce on the bottom of the roll if you’d like. It adds a nice crunch.

You can chop the shrimp if you like, but I like to leave mine whole. I love the texture of the whole shrimp, and the flavor isn’t lost in the other ingredients. You can also eat this plain or use lettuce as wraps if you are looking for a low-carb dish. If you want something lower in fat, trying using a mixture of mayo and yogurt. My sweet cousin even suggested that this recipe would work well with crab, and I agree. I’m going to have to try that one day. (Thank you for the idea, K!)