“Taste Africa In Style” Shrimp, Arugula Salad, Avocado Mash
Grilled Shrimp, Avocado Mash, and
Arugula Salad With Lime Vinaigrette Dressing
Hello everybody! I hope your weekend was fantastic and beautiful! So, traditionally in Ghana, we eat a lot of green leaves in soups and sauces but in salad not so much. In fact the Ga natives from Accra, Ghana have a saying, “I am not a goat to eat grass.”
It’s a joke but, you get my point. In the olden days in Ghana, the majority of the people mostly eat salad with rice, bread with their dish, never a salad by itself. I am happy to say that now things have changed in Ghana and more people are eating salad, watching what they eat and paying more attention to their health. Yeah to that!
As for me in being in Los Angeles, the weather has been fantastic and I thought why not have a delicious arugula, shrimp, and avocado salad, invite some friends over, and eat on my patio this evening. And it made the perfect fun meal and the evening was great!
YIELD: 4 servings
- 5 cups of arugula
- 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon of lime juice
- 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- 1/2 onion, finely minced
- About 20 shrimps or prawns
- 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
- 2 tablespoons of diced cilantro
- 1 minced garlic clove
- 1 tablespoon of minced scallion
- 1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced
- 1/2 lime, thinly sliced
- 1 jalapeño pepper, finely minced
- 3 avocados
- 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice.
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS
Avocado Mash:
NOTE: Don’t forget to take the pepper seeds out of the jalapeño before mixing if the heat is not your cup of tea.
- Peel and dice or mash the avocados in a bowl. Add the lemon juice, jalapeño pepper, garlic, cilantro, scallion and salt and black pepper to taste. Mix everything together very well and set aside.
Shrimp:
Note: You can also marinate the shrimp for about an hour if you have time.
- Mix the cumin, cayenne pepper, and 1 tablespoon of extra virgin oil in a bowl. Toss the shrimp in and add salt and black pepper to taste. Grill the shrimp on each side for about 4 to 5 minutes.
Arugula Salad with Vinaigrette Dressing:
- Combine the onion, the rest of the oil, lime juice, and some freshly ground black pepper. Put the arugula in a bowl and toss with vinaigrette, then salt to your taste.
- Garnish and serve. Enjoy and stay healthy!
- Add more oil to the salad if you think you need it.
About Afia Annebasua
I was born on a Friday in Accra Ghana. Tradition says, if you are born on Friday, your first name will be Afia. Growing up with my mother, older brother Dela, and two older sisters Belinda and Evelyn we cooked everything from scratch. Since the age of seven I found myself in the kitchen much of the time helping cook traditional meals with the family.
After receiving a degree in fashion, I moved to the United States. Still craving the foods I grew up with, it was difficult to find all of the ingredients to prepare traditional meals. I remember calling my brother Dela in Ghana complaining about missing our favorite foods such as African yams. His answer was “Eat Potatoes”. That was unacceptable to me!
Also somewhere along the way I became health conscious and wanted to prepare healthier dishes. So, what is an African girl out of Africa to do? I took big brother’s advice and developed my own way of preparing African cuisine a with fresh, healthy, delicious, and flavorful exotic style. I had to improvise with some traditional ingredients while sticking with the traditional recipes and adding a modern twist.
