Healthy Chef Challenge Home Edition - Winning Professional Recipe

Published on June 28, 2021

Health-Pho Summer Shrimp Salad with Light Mandarin Dressing.  By Angie Montroy of Angie's Pantry Inc. 

Angie's Pantry Health Pho Salad

Serves: 4

Ingredients:


Salad:

  • 1 head romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
  • 1 cucumber, seeded and cut into slices
  • 1 red pepper, seeded and cut into strips
  • 1 cup shredded carrot
  • ½ cup fresh cilantro leaves, stems removed, washed and spun
  • ½ cup green onion, washed and thinly sliced
  • 5 large collard leaves, thoroughly washed and chiffonade
  • 2 oz. rice noodles, hydrate according to package directions & drain well
  • 1 cup cooked brown rice
  • Protein: 20 peeled and deveined raw shrimp
  • 2 t. canola oil
  • 1 t. red Thai chili paste

Salad dressing:

  • ¼ cup cooked great northern beans
  • ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
  • ½ cup canned mandarin oranges, drained
  • 1 T. fresh lime juice
  • 3 T. sweet Thai chili sauce
  • 2 T. canola oil 

Garnish

Sprinkle salads with toasted sesame seeds & extra fresh cilantro. Optional.

1) Prep salad ingredients through green onion.  Refrigerate until you're ready to assemble.

2)    Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil and add a pinch of salt and 2 t. cider vinegar.  Blanch collard greens for 2 minutes & drain.   Plunge into an ice bath to quickly cool the greens and retain the bright green color.  Drain well and spin in salad spinner to remove extra water.  Gently mix with the hydrated rice noodles.  Cover and refrigerate until you're ready to assemble.

3)    Heat a non-stick skillet and add 2 teaspoons of canola oil.  Cook the shrimp in the hot skillet for 3-4 minutes, until the shrimp has turned totally pink.  Remove from heat and add the red chili paste to the shrimp, stir to coat.  Cool completely.

4)    Add all salad dressing ingredients to a blender.  Blend until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5)    Assemble your salad.  Divide the romaine among 4 salad plates.  Divide the rest of the salad ingredients among the 4 plates.  Top each salad with 5 shrimp and serve the dressing on the side.

6)    Enjoy!