Tropical Salad and A Wonderful Vacation – Food, Gluten Free, Recipes, Photos Gluten Free Spinner

Tropical Shrimp Salad

Light, fresh, crisp, and tropical

Upon returning from the Caribbean in beautiful Punta Cana, I’m craving many of the dishes we enjoyed during our stay. This was the first dish I wanted to re-create as I enjoyed it for lunch every day. But would it taste the same? As we all know, everything tastes better on vacation, especially in the tropics as it’s fresh, different, and beautifully presented.

I have so much to share with you about eating gluten free during my stay, its the best experience I’ve ever had. So much so, the resort, Iberostar Grand Bavaro, should add a clarifier to their website saying, “gluten-free friendly”.

To start, the concierge gave me a letter to give to each restaurant as I arrived explaining what celiac disease/gluten allergy was. Here’s what the letter said;

“This Memo is to inform all departments involved that Sra. has

Allergy to:

Malt

Barley

Wheat

Rye

This information will be given to the lady, for the presentation in restaurants where they have the reservation or when she has to make use of it in order to be helped effectively. The lady will be hosted on our hotel until….”

I put the letter in my camera case and carried it with me always.

The entire staff was amazing, especially one very special chef I’d like to mention,

Chef Altagarcia.

She went out of her way to point out the items I could enjoy and the ones to avoid. One of the evenings they were celebrating Japanese night and Chef Altagarcia took me over to the grill station (everything was cooked to order) and told me she was going to have an “especial” plate of fried rice prepared for me. She informed the chef behind the grill of my allergy. From there she took him step-by-step in the process of cleaning his grill, washing his utensils, and starting with fresh ingredients to prepare fried rice for me. Goodness, I was taken back at the level of professionalism and concern to ensure I didn’t get sick.

But the best part of the dining experience at the Grand is I didn’t need the special treatment with every meal; I really didn’t want all the fuss. The choices were plentiful with cooked to order fresh grilled fish (salmon, ocean perch, mahi-mahi, swordfish) and seafood (lobster, king crab legs, jumbo shrimp, calamari, scallops) mussels, clams, oysters, whew!! And yes, chicken, steak, pork, lamb, turkey, sausage, and even burgers. Every meal also had a wide variety of steamed, sauteed, or grilled veggies prepared without sauce. Simply fantastic.

One of the lunch options was grilled lobster! YUM! It was grilled to order and served in the open air restaurant. Fernando, was another very helpful chef.

Did I mention how special this place is?

I could go on and on about this beautiful place, Iberostar Grand Bavaro, Punta Cana…

But I would recommend checking it out for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

* * * So, lets talk about that Tropical Shrimp Salad! * * *

With each bite I memorized the flavors and textures, trying to determine each ingredient… and I think I did it! The bell peppers are sliced very thin adding a crisp sweet crunch, the red onions add the right amount of zing, and the occasional zip of fresh jalapenos give a wonderful bite to the entire salad. Fresh pineapple is diced very small…almost unnoticeable, just enough to add tropical flavor.

While trying to decide what the dressing was, I had to experiment quite a few times. It wasn’t really a ‘dressing’, but more of a flavorful compliment to pull the entire salad together which seemed void of any oil, leaving the salad bright and crisp. My third and final attempt at the dressing was simply fresh pineapple juice, fresh squeezed lime juice, and chopped jalapeno’s. That’s it, and it tasted exactly the same as the salad I enjoyed everyday. The simplicity of the dressing makes total sense as the flavors and foods were bright and uncomplicated, allowing each ingredient to shine.

Here’s my re-creation of Tropical Shrimp Salad

Ingredients:

Salad:

1/2 of each – Red, Green, Yellow (or orange) bell peppers cut into thin strips then cut in half
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped – some reserved for dressing
1/4 cup fresh pineapple, finely diced (be sure to use fresh)
1/3 cup finely sliced red onion
10-12 medium sized cooked shrimp, tails removed and cut in half lengthwise

Dressing:

1/2 lime juiced (if really small, use whole)
1/4 cup fresh pineapple juice
Diced jalapeno to taste
Honey if your pineapple isn’t sweet enough-add as needed but not too much or you’ll lose the fresh zip!
Chopped cilantro is optional

Directions:
Toss the salad ingredients together in a medium glass bowl. Whisk the dressing ingredients together and pour over all. Toss and serve immediately. If you make this ahead, don’t dress the salad until just before serving. Adjust ingredients to taste, adding more pineapple juice or lime juice. Serve over a bed of mixed greens and enjoy!

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