Over the past month we have had a house guest stay with us: Nic's sister Liz. And although a month is a long time to have another body in our small, one bedroom apartment, we are all still, happily, the best of friends.
Now cooking for three is hardly more challenging than cooking for two. However, Liz has developed some dietry sensitivities from a spending a year traveling throughout South America. Cooking for someone on a strict diet can certainly test your creativity.
Following her South American sojourn, Liz arrived in Vancouver rather weary. Her adventures had taken their toll and she was in dire need of some healthy and simple food. After consulting a naturopath and much self-diagnosis, Liz began a strict diet to cut out yeast, wheat, sugar and most dairy products. In some respects, we began the diet too as it was just easier to cook the same meal for all three of us.
And so began the challenge of coming up with exciting meals to make the diet less of a bore. All I can say is: thank god for mashed pumpkin (potatos were out), and lemons, garlic and olive oil (which, it turns out, make a sauce and dressing for almost anything).
Liz left us today to start the next leg of her exciting journey in New York and although her departure leaves a hole in my heart. I must admit I am very excited about the prospect filling the hole in my stomach with a big plate of spaghetti bolognese with huge lashings of parmigiano reggiano, followed by a massive bowl of dark chocolate and orange gelato! Sorry, Liz.
Ok, now for the featured recipe; a Moroccan Shrimp Salad that I adapted from a recipe on cuisine.com.au. The salad consisted of a delicious blend of leaves, coriander, mint, Italian parsley, baked onions and fennel and shrimps. I marinated the shrimps in a fragrant mixture of olive oil, paprika, harissa and sumac, the last two I bought from South China Trading Seas in Vancouver.
Harissa is a paste used in North Africa and the Middle East made of chilis, coriander, garlic, olive oil, cumin and sometimes dried mint. Sumac, pictured below, is a deep red, coarsely ground powder, made from the petals and berries of a shrub that originated in Turkey. It has a sour and slightly bitter flavour that is often mixed with water and used in place of lemon juice.
I topped the salad with a Pyrenees sheep's milk feta (which, thankfully, Liz could eat). This lush cheese has a very mild, creamy taste that we have become addicted to over the past few weeks and was one treat that Liz relished when she could. Instead of giving Liz anything with balsamic vinegar on it, I instead used either just lemon juice or in this case, a dressing of olive oil and grapefruit juice and black pepper.
I am submitting this post to Weekend Herb Blogging being hosted this week by Rinku from Cooking in Westchester.
Moroccan Shrimp Salad Recipe
(Serves 3)
Salad
20-25 small fresh shrimp, shelled & deveined
4 tbs of extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp of Hungarian paprika
1 tsp of harissa
1 tsp of sumac
1/2 tsp of sea salt
A pinch of all-spice & freshly ground black pepper
3 red onions, peeled & quartered
1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
2 tbs of balsamic vinegar
2 cups of chopped red cabbage
2 witlof
1 cup of flat leaf parsley leaves
1/2 cup of mint
1/2 cup of coriander
100 gm of sheep's milk feta
Dressing
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar (or for Liz freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice)
Pepper
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180C. Place the onion quarters and fennel slices in a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes or until they turn golden brown.
- Meanwhile, mix together 2 tbs of olive oil, paprika, harissa, sumac, salt, pepper and a pinch of all-spice into a medium bowl. Add the shrimp and coat well. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
- In a large bowl add the cabbage, witlof and fresh herbs. Mix well and set aside.
- In a non-stick fry pan, heat a little olive oil over a medium heat and cook the shrimp for about a minute or two. Set aside.
- Remove the fennel and onion from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.
- Add the balsamic vinegar and olive oil to the salad and then toss the leaves. Top with onion quarters, fennel slices and shrimp and then crumble on the feta.
Enjoy!
Syrie, that is a beautiful (and delicious-looking!) salad! I'm so looking forward for the winter to be finished so I can kick off my salads season!
Posted by: Suzana | 19 January 2008 at 03:20 AM
Thanks for the kind words on the self portrait, Syrie.
I love Moroccan spices, and I love the way Shrimp look, but my God, I hate them so much, lol.
Great post though.
Posted by: Graeme | 19 January 2008 at 12:08 PM
Thank you Susana! I look forward to hearing about your salads.
Posted by: Syrie | 19 January 2008 at 12:08 PM
Graeme! You hate prawns?! How could you? Bad experience? Thanks for stopping by anyhow!
Posted by: Syrie | 20 January 2008 at 05:37 AM
Look at those shrimp...so yummy! I love shrimp so much I can eat them 24x7!
Posted by: Rasa Malaysia | 21 January 2008 at 03:20 PM
This looks so incredibly good, and is a fascinating combination of flavors. I love sumac in just about anything, and caramelized onions add fabulous flavor. Great recipe! On the harissa, did you use harissa paste or harissa powder?
Posted by: Laurie Constantino | 21 January 2008 at 10:29 PM
What a great photo of the salad. I love the way the white plate looks against the dark background. And the salad looks just delicious. I like sumac and this has such an interesting blend of ingredients.
Posted by: Kalyn | 22 January 2008 at 02:19 AM
The salad looks great, thanks for sharing the recipe...
Posted by: Ulrike aka ostwestwind | 22 January 2008 at 02:30 AM
First time visitor here and the site looks great!
The harissa and sumac gave the shrimp a brilliant red colour and...heat of course!
Posted by: Peter | 22 January 2008 at 02:53 AM
Hi Peter, thanks for stopping by. It was my first time using Sumac. It is a wonderful spice. Just checked out your Gambas al Pil Pil recipe - looks fantastic!
Posted by: Syrie | 22 January 2008 at 11:20 AM
Bea & ulrike, thanks so much for stopping by!
Posted by: Syrie | 22 January 2008 at 02:30 PM
Laurie & Kalyn, it was actually my first time using sumac as I said to Peter. It is such an interesting spice so i want to use it again. I just have to find some new recipes for it!
Posted by: Syrie | 22 January 2008 at 02:35 PM