Arugula Salad with Shrimp, Avocado and Raspberry Vinaigrette

Another Arugula Salad? Yes, how can you not love Arugula, its one of my favorite salads/lettuce and combined with Avocado, Shrimp, Almonds and Raspberries it makes for a gourmet salad that is really easy to prepare.

Ingredients for 2:

4 cups of Arugula salad
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves
20 Shrimp (marinate in 4 tablespoons of Olive oil, 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, some salt/pepper and 2 garlic cloves – pressed through a garlic press)
1 Avocado
10 cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 lb. fresh raspberries
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons raspberry or red-wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
6 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

BBQ the Shrimp:

Wash and devein the shrimp and dry on a paper towel.
Make a marinade out of lemon juice, oil, salt, pepper and garlic. Let the shrimp marinade for 30 minutes.
Make 4 skewers with 5 shrimp each (or 2 big skewers with 10 shrimp) and put on a hot BBQ (400 degrees)
BBQ 6-8 minutes from each side.

Make the Vinaigrette:

In a small pot combine 2/3 of the raspberries (leave some to put on the salad), sugar, salt and water. Heat over medium heat until the raspberries begin to soften and release their juices. Use an immersion blender to mash the raspberries into a paste (you could also use a blender or food processor).
Strain the raspberry mixture through a fine mesh sieve, add the lemon juice and vinegar and allow to cool. In a slow but steady stream, whisk in olive oil into raspberry mixture until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper, if you like it sweeter add some sugar. Vinaigrette can be made 1 day in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Assemble Salad:

Wash the Arugula salad and pinch off the big stems. Place on a plate and add cut up avocado, cherry tomatoes (cut in half), raspberries, shrimp (5 for an appetizer size salad, 10 for a full meal salad), almonds and vinaigrette (2-3 tablespoons per salad, more if needed)

Guten Appetit!