When I was traveling in the Grenadines, I picked up some wonderful spices on the island of Grenada. The Grenadines are known as the Spice islands. A lush array of spices is cultivated from the rain forests located in the center of the island. Grenada is famous worldwide for nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, and allspice. One of the spice baskets I bought there contained a bottle labeled saffron. The thing is, Grenada saffron is actually turmeric. Instead of saffron threads, the ingredients in the bottle were ground. I decided to use it in this shrimp salad dressing and it turned out to be delicious.
The red rhizomes in the turmeric plant are often ground up and used as a curry or in curry mixes. Turmeric gives an exotic color and flavor to shellfish, fish and egg dishes. It can easily be substituted for true saffron.
Turmeric has become popular in the wellness community because curcumin, which is the main active constituent of turmeric, helps prevent the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Testing has also shown that curcumin assists in the prevention of prostate cancer and keeps breast cancer cells from spreading into the lungs. Scientists in Japan have proven that it is a broad-spectrum anti-cancer agent.
This shrimp salad with turmeric dressing is a perfect summer dish and is easy to make. Of course, you can always attempt to catch your own shrimp, spend time cleaning, deveining, and cooking them, but I just went to Trader Joe’s and bought a bag of frozen shrimp.
Enjoy!
- ¼ tsp. ground turmeric
- 2 Tbsp. water
- ⅓ cup Mayonnaise Use olive oil base - (Not Miracle Whip)
- 4 Tbsp White Onions grated
- 4 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
- 2 LB large cooked shrimp
- 1 bag mixed salad greens
- 4-6 small Roma tomatoes cut into wedges
- ¼ cup black olives sliced
- salt and pepper to taste
- Combine the mayonnaise, onion, lemon juice, mustard and water together in a small nonmetallic bowl and whisk gently.
- Season the dressing mixture with salt and pepper to taste.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let it chill until you are ready to serve.
- If you are using fresh cooked shrimp, pull off the heads and peel the shell off. Remove and discard the dark vein and discard. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels.
- Arrange the salad greens on a large serving platter or on individual salad plates. Top with the shrimp and top with tomato wedges and olives.
- Serve cold with the turmeric dressing.
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