Almost every time my sister in law Jamie comes to visit, she brings a cooler of fresh seafood from the Gulf.

You see, she lives up in the Panhandle of Florida, and has access to some of the best, freshest fish and seafood that I have ever tasted. You would think that living anywhere in Florida would give you the same access, but unfortunately in the Central Florida area where I live, good seafood is hard to come by.

Jamie get’s her seafood from a shop in Pensacola called Joe Patti’s and I’m not kidding you when I say it’s right on the water, with boats coming in and out of the dock adjacent to it packed with fish and shrimp from just miles off shore. The prices are great, and it is always such a treat to walk in there and see what they have freshly caught in their cases.

Yes, I have major Joe Patti envy.

SHRIMP SALAD RECIPE

Jamie has been making the best shrimp salad for as long as I can remember. I get excited when she mentions she’s going to make it on her visits because it’s honestly one of my favorite ways to eat shrimp. She dresses it very simply, with just a bit of mayo, fresh lemon juice, celery and of course Old Bay seasoning. Using Old Bay while cooking up the shrimp is key to this recipe.

What’s in shrimp salad?

Shrimp salad ingredients are simple! You steam fresh shrimp first in a mixture of water, vinegar and Old Bay seasoning. Once the shrimp is cooled down you toss it with:

• mayo
• coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
• celery
• lemon
• Old Bay seasoning

How do you make shrimp salad?

1. Steam shrimp in large pot with water, vinegar and old bay for 2 -3 minutes or until shrimp are pink. Drain and set aside to chill. (You can do all of this ahead of time and put in refrigerator). Peel and devein shrimp, then chop. Add shrimp to a large mixing bowl.
2. To chopped shrimp add mayo (start with 1/4 cup, add more if needed), celery, salt and lemon. Gently combine and sprinkle a bit of Old Bay to shrimp mixture and taste. Add more salt or Old Bay if needed.
3. Enjoy on rolls, rye bread or on it’s own over a bed of greens.

How do you make a good shrimp sandwich?

Shrimp salad makes great sandwiches. We love serving shrimp salad on fresh bakery rolls. Once the shrimp salad is prepared, scoop it into a fresh roll and top with lettuce and tomato if you like. Such a great lunch on a hot summer day!

My favorite way to eat Jamie’s Shrimp Salad – open faced on fresh rye bread with sliced summer tomatoes and of course, potato chips.

FAMILY

We always have fun when Jamie’s family comes to visit. Her girls are teenagers now and my kids just love being with them playing board games, swimming, painting nails, putting together puzzles or watching movies…and even partaking in a little karaoke. Some of our favorite memories are with Jamie and her family.

Gotta love a good time with the cousins. And yes, that big kid in the picture is my husband performing Earth, Wind & Fire’s September with little help from the kids.

Do yourself a favor. Find yourself some good fresh shrimp and make this salad for dinner. It screams summer and you will love it.

Enjoy … and Happy Summer!

If you love shrimp like I do, try these shrimp recipes:

Mango Salsa Shrimp Tacos with Avocado 

Cajun Shrimp and Cauliflower Rice Stir Fry

Skinnytaste Zoodles with Shrimp and Feta.

If you try this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment, rate it (after you’ve tried it) and take picture and tag it #aggieskitchen on Instagram. I’d love to see it what you’re cooking!

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews

Jamie’s Shrimp Salad Recipe

• Author: Aggies Kitchen
• Yield: 6-8 servings

Print

Pin

---

Ingredients

• 3 lbs fresh shrimp (with shell)
• 3–4 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup white vinegar

For the salad:

• 1/4–1/3 cup light mayo
• good pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 – 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• Old Bay, to taste

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

1. Steam shrimp in large pot with water, vinegar and old bay for 2 -3 minutes or until shrimp are pink. Drain and set aside to chill. (You can do all of this ahead of time and put in refrigerator). Peel and devein shrimp, then chop and place in large mixing bowl.
2. To chopped shrimp add mayo (start with 1/4 cup, add more if needed), celery, salt and lemon. Gently combine and sprinkle a bit of Old Bay to shrimp mixture and taste. Add more salt or Old Bay if needed.
3. Enjoy on rolls, rye bread or on it’s own over a bed of greens.

The post Jamie’s Shrimp Salad Recipe appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

Click here to pin this Mango Salsa Shrimp Tacos recipe.

Every time I go to Costco, I come home with their big container of mango peach salsa. You know the one, right? It’s so good. My friend Sandy uses it a lot in her recipes like this Smoked Turkey Mango Chili recipe and this Crock Pot Salsa Chicken on Brown Rice and always inspires me to use it more in my cooking. Salsa is a staple in my kitchen and I go through so much of it weekly between using it as dressing for my taco salad or when I make something like our favorite Salsa Chicken and Bean Tostadas.

If you don’t shop at Costco, no worries, Newman’s Own makes a mango salsa and a peach salsa, and I’ve seen some at Target as well.

(more…)

The post Mango Salsa Shrimp Tacos with Avocado appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

Since February, I’ve been working hard at the gym to transform my body. Sounds extreme, I know, but really I’m just focused on building muscle and losing fat so honestly it’s not just about weight loss but more about inches and how my clothes are feeling. I experienced my first “success” last weekend that caught me off guard when I begrudgingly put on a pair of jeans (I hate wearing jeans, they make me cranky) and they surprisingly fit very well. It was a bit of a shock to me because although I have lost 8 pounds on the scale since the beginning of the year (it goes up and down after each weekend, weekends are tough for me), I haven’t really noticed since I typically wear workout clothes or leggings most days. Wearing jeans comfortably has always been a goal of mine and I call this major progress!

One of the most important things I’m working on right now in addition to my gym workouts is nutrition. I’m dedicated to using My Fitness Pal every day to track what I’m eating. I’ve been doing this 50 days now and I have to say, it really has trained me to stop before mindlessly eating or making a food choice I know I’ll regret later. Do I still eat pizza with my family on Saturday night? Yes, but less. I also drink a beer and eat tacos with my husband at lunch on Sunday, but just one beer (and too many tacos) and I try to walk extra later so my Fitbit can tell me how many exercise calories I burned to make me feel a little better. Or I just lay around on the couch and work extra hard at the gym the next day. I’m living a good, balanced life right now and seeing changes in my body and myself when it comes to food and I do think it has to do with being so much more mindful than I was before. It is not extreme weight loss and body transformation, it’s slow and steady and habit forming and that’s encouraging.

(more…)

The post Cajun Shrimp and Cauliflower Rice Stir Fry {15 Minute Meal For One} appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

I’ve officially been logging my food into My Fitness Pal for 36 days. That’s a huge accomplishment for me! The first week I started, it felt cumbersome and time consuming but by my 5th week it’s become a breeze. Most of the food I eat regularly is already there and I’m finding I try to eat a lot of the same or at least similar meals (I’ve read that eating similar “predictable” meals each day is a habit of fit people – I agree!). I’m down about 5lbs and feeling really good.

One meal I have in rotation this past month are these Sriracha Shrimp and Hummus Lettuce Wraps. They are pretty basic and easy to put together, and quick! You can use frozen cooked shrimp that you’ve defrosted (that is what I’ve been doing) or roast up a bunch of shrimp and eat in salad or wraps like this over a couple of days. I’ve been loving lettuce wraps like this lately as a change up from my usual salad.

(more…)

The post Sriracha Shrimp and Hummus Lettuce Wraps appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

Click here to Pin this recipe!

For the past month I’ve been on a ‘quest‘ to lose some weight that I put on during the second half of last year. My quest (which can be appropriately defined as a journey towards a goal) is not only to lose weight, but to lose body fat, gain muscle and basically become the fittest version of myself that I’ve ever been. I like being active, and I want to feel fit and strong (and good) while being active. Especially with my family. I have 3 incredible kids to keep up with and I want to feel good while keeping up with them.

I’ve never had a problem getting motivated to workout, but I found myself in a bit of a rut so I signed up with a personal trainer I know from my previous gym, Jeff Higuera, last month. I started training with personal trainers 2 years ago and it’s been the best investment I have made for myself. Working out is just part of the equation and since I’ve made a goal to get in 5 workouts at the gym (sometimes I only make it to 4 and I’m okay with that) and hit 10k steps daily my activity level is covered. What I’ve been struggling with (ironically) is nutrition. Obviously I enjoy healthy food, my biggest problem is I enjoy too much of it. I also enjoy pizza but that’s another story. Two weeks ago Jeff challenged me to track my meals in My Fitness Pal for 31 days. That’s all I needed to hear so here I am 15 days in and down about 5lbs. The first week of tracking was the hardest, but now that I’ve got most of my everyday foods logged in and I know what to stock my fridge with each week I’m in a good groove. I’ve read and agree that a big part of weight loss is eating the same type of foods every day. It doesn’t mean it has to be boring, but sticking to the same types of structured meals has helped me stay on track.

(more…)

The post Garden Salad with Shrimp and Bacon appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

Click here to pin this Shrimp and Avocado Pasta recipe!

If you haven’t noticed, I’m pretty obsessed with avocado. So much that I have a board on Pinterest solely dedicated to all things avocado. There are so many ways to enjoy avocado from the infamous avocado toast to using it as a substitute for mayonnaise in tuna salad or this chickpea salad. Of course, taco night would not be complete without avocado, but we already knew that.

My love affair with avocado continues and has evolved with this light and fresh, but hearty Shrimp and Avocado Pasta dish.

(more…)

The post Shrimp and Avocado Pasta appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

Click here to Pin this recipe!

I find it hard to believe that this is the first zoodle recipe I’m posting here on the blog considering I’ve been enjoying spiralized zucchini (along with the rest of the internet) for quite a while now. If you ever want to really clean up your eating and bulk up on vegetables, start experimenting with your spiralizer – there are a ton of ways to enjoy veggies this way, the ideas are seriously endless.

Today’s recipe is from my friend Gina’s new cookbook, Skinnytaste Fast and Slow. You may already be familiar with her blog, Skinnytaste, and first cookbook The Skinnytaste Cookbook. We are big fans of Gina’s recipes in my house – my kids are constantly asking me to make this Loaded Baked Potato Soup and my husband absolutely loves this Slow Cooker Turkey Picadillo. Her recipes really are exactly how I like to cook – simple, flavorful and filled with real ingredients.

PURCHASE: Skinnytaste Fast and Slow

(more…)

The post Skinnytaste Zoodles with Shrimp and Feta appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

I don’t know about you, but lately, it has been way too hot to cook by the time dinnertime rolls around. I’m craving cold food – food that is light, crunchy and COLD (aka SALAD). Ironically, I’ve been in a bit of a salad rut so when that happens I usually seek out a boost of inspiration from whatever fruit and veggies are looking good at the markets as well as recipes I find online or in cookbooks…and of course salads I’ve made and loved in my own kitchen.

Today I’m sharing with you a few of my favorite healthy dinner salads from the archives. I dug back to find a couple I haven’t made in a while but I’ve eaten plenty of (I’m looking at you Blackened Fish Taco Salad). For the most part, these salad are no fuss and have minimal cooking involved. Beans, rotisserie chicken, leftover grilled steak or chicken are ideal to making any dinner salad complete in an instant, but if you have to quickly sear a piece of fish or some shrimp in a skillet it’s worth the effort and won’t heat up your kitchen too much.

I hope you find a little healthy dinner salad inspiration here to day! Have a great weekend!

(more…)

The post 5 Healthy Dinner Salads for Summer appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

Has anyone else’s home been taken over by Rainbow Loom? My daughter has been “looming” since Christmas with her buddies in the neighborhood and my son has finally caught on to the craze this week (after realizing that most of the boys in his class are loomers too). I think it’s hysterical…especially when I woke up to my kids looming peacefully with each other this morning before school (at 5:45am people!!).

Loomers, looming and LoomLove … all part of our daily vocabulary these days. (I love it.)

I also love this pasta. My whole family did (win!). Well, except the kids don’t like shrimp – partial win? More for the grown ups. 😉

I originally wanted to make this shrimp pasta from Damn Delicious (next time!), however I decided that I needed to clear a few lonely veggies out of the fridge. Apparently I had some feta and wine to get rid of too, thankfully. That’s the best part of skillet shrimp pasta dishes like this…almost anything goes!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

(more…)

The post Skillet Shrimp and Vegetable Pasta with Feta appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

I’m all about quick and easy right now when it comes to dinner time (I don’t have to mention healthy right?). This salad, inspired by this recipe from my friends at Bush’s Beans, fit into our dinner plan perfectly this week.

(more…)

The post Bush’s Mediterranean Caesar Salad with Lemon Pepper Shrimp and Garbanzo Beans appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.