In only three simple steps, you can enjoy a salad that is both healthy and incredibly delicious thanks to seasoned shrimp, homemade peanut dressing and fresh Pure Flavor® Mini Cucumbers. Bring a little elegance and a lot of healthy flavors into your home or office with this Cucumber Peanut Salad recipe from Fit Mama Real Food’s Heather Englund.
Easy lunches and dinners aren’t always the most elegant. They’re quick and do the trick – but, all too often, they also leave a lot to be desired in the flavor department. Once in a while, the perfect recipe comes along that’s flavorful, healthy, and incredibly simple to prepare.
This Cucumber Peanut Salad from Heather Englund at Fit Mama Real Food is everything you need on a busy day to indulge yourself while enjoying a healthy, invigorating meal. It’s the kind of salad you might find in the restaurant at a luxurious spa retreat, except you can enjoy it every day!
It’s pretty incredible how just a few simple ingredients can combine so perfectly in a dish that tastes this exquisite and looks this chic!
The delicate flavor of Mini Cucumbers, combined with creamy avocado and fresh herbs, will help you feel completely refreshed whether you’re on your lunch break or enjoying dinner after a long day. Add to that the smooth homemade peanut dressing and seasoned jumbo shrimp and you’re ready to sit back and enjoy a truly elegant salad.
Most importantly, you can achieve that elegance in only three steps!
To make this Cucumber Peanut Salad, start by preheating your oven to 400°F. Coat one pound of peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp with a tablespoon of avocado oil and season with garlic powder, sea salt and pepper. Bake these for 10 minutes or until the shrimp has turned completely opaque. Then, set aside the shrimp to cool.
If you don’t have any shrimp at home and want to make this recipe tonight, or if you’re just not much of a fan of shrimp, baked or grilled chicken breast is a lean and protein-rich alternative that can be really flavorful too.
For Heather’s peanut dressing, all you have to do is combine peanut butter, rice vinegar, coconut aminos, maple syrup, sriracha, garlic powder and ground ginger in a bowl. Whisk everything together until the dressing is combined well. Chill in the fridge until the salad is ready.
When it’s time to put together the salad, make sure you have Pure Flavor® Mini Cucumbers. They give this salad a wonderful boost of hydration because they’re over 95% water!
Pure Flavor offers four different sizes of cucumbers, all the way from itty bitty Uno Bites™ Nano Cucumbers, to Poco Bites® Cocktail Cucumbers, to Mini Cucumbers, and to Long English Cucumbers (seedless). The wide spectrum of Pure Flavor’s cucumber offering gives you the choice of the perfect ingredient for every occasion and every recipe.
Uno Bites™ are the smallest cucumbers and kids love to snack on them by the handful. They’re an ultra-portable snacking sensation you can take on errands or enjoy on a walk.
Poco Bites® are slightly bigger cocktail cucumbers. If you enjoy veggie platters with dips, these are your go-to choice. Each one is crisp, refreshing, and perfectly dippable.
Mini Cucumbers are found right in the middle – the perfect balance of size and crunchiness this recipe requires.
Finally, there are Long English Cucumbers – a popular seedless cucumber that you can slice into round circles or even spiralize into long ribbons in a salad.
One of the greatest benefits of these Mini Cucumbers is that they make a fantastic snack while cooking, working at your desk or helping with homework. A popular way to enjoy them is to slice them lengthwise into spears and dip them in hummus, tzatziki sauce, ranch or the peanut dressing you just put in the fridge. You did make extra, right?
To complete Heather’s delicious Cucumber Peanut Salad, chop up Mini Cucumbers into bite-sized chunks by slicing them lengthwise twice and then cutting into small triangles.
Mix the cucumber pieces with diced avocado and then add shrimp. Cover with half the peanut dressing and toss together before adding more dressing. When you’re ready to serve, garnish with fresh basil and chopped peanuts.
In only three simple steps, you can enjoy an incredibly flavorful salad that helps you feel refreshed and healthy.
To make this Cucumber Peanut Salad yourself, click here for the full recipe.
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