Saturday Nght Specials

A few days this week the weather was beautiful we were able to eat outside, what a delight. This salad had so much flavor and very colorful it would be lovely to serve any time of year. The recipe referred to it as a quick dish. I can't say I agree with the quick part. If you have a set of rubber gloves I would put them on, when you peel the onions. I didn't and my nails were black for a couple of days. I have never been able to find red pearl onions before until now. The salad wouldn't be the same without the onions. Every bit was crunchy and flavorful.

Grilled Shrimp Salad with Corn and Avocado

Dressing
6 tablespoons orange juice
31/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
11/2 teaspoons finely grated orange peel
1/4 cup olive oil

Salad
1 10 oz bag red pearl onions
metal skewers
2 pounds uncooked large shrimp, peeled, deveined
3 large ears of corn husked
2 teaspoons hot smoked paprika
12 cups mache or any lettuce
2 avocados halved, pitted, peeled, cut into 3/4 inch cubes

For Dressing: Whisk first 4 ingredients in small bowl to blend. Whisk in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

For Salad: Bring small sauce pan of water to boil. Add pearl onions and boil 3 minutes. Drain; cool onions slightly. Peel onions, leaving root ends intact. Prepare barbecue (medium heat). Thread onion on skewers: thread shrimp on separate skewers. Place onion skewers, shrimp skewers, and corn cobs. Brush onion, shrimp and corn with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sprinkle shrimp on both sides with smoked paprika. Grill onions and corn until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side; grill until browned; and grill shrimp until cooked through, about 2 1/2 minutes per side.
Transfer vegetables and shrimp to work surface. Cut corn kernels off cobs; place corn kernels in very large bowl. Remove shrimp and onions from skewers and add to bowl. Add mache and avocados to bowl. Toss salad with enough dressing to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper