Everything Shrimp Salad

I call this next recipe, the "Everything Shrimp Salad" because it included absolutely every vegetable that I could find in my refrigerator Wednesday night. It is not unusual that I have a plethora of veggies on hand and luckily I had a few frozen shrimp as well. This salad could also be called the "Clean Sweep Salad" or the "Make Room for New Groceries" or the ever-classic "Everything but the Kitchen Sink" salad.

Maybe I should make some cookies along this same theme for dessert. 

They would have coconut, oats, peanut butter, pecans, butterscotch chips, and some leftover Halloween candy corn.

Okay, those don't sound bad at all. I'm making them. And I can because I had a salad for dinner.

I started by making a simple marinade for my shrimp. This is optional, and also included random ingredients I was almost out of that sounded good together as a marinade.

Marinade

1 teaspoon olive oil (now on my grocery list)

1/2 teaspoon agave nectar or honey (now on my grocery list)

Juice from 1/2 of a lime

Small squeeze dijon mustard

Mix together and pour on defrosted shrimp on a baking sheet.

Cook for 8 minutes in a 350 degree oven. 

Next, gather all vegetables that you can find. I chose cherry tomatoes, red, yellow, and orange peppers, onion, and mushrooms. I also threw some black beans to really make this a gourmet salad.

Cook on a low to medium stove with 2 teaspoons of olive oil for the time that your shrimp is in the oven.

When your shrimp come out of the oven, mix with the vegetables on a bed of the lettuce of your choice (I had a spring mix and spinach on hand, so that's what I used!)

I didn't find that I needed a dressing since the shrimp marinade covered most of the leaves, but a simple dressing would be okay to add if you wanted.

Get creative!