Grilled Shrimp and Asparagus Salad

I normally try to avoid eating shrimp as it is one of the most wasteful fishing industries. Did you know for every pound of shrimp caught five pounds of bycatch are killed? Bycatch is the fish that end up stuck in the nets that were not intended to be caught. These were farm raised shrimp, so they were a tad better for the environment. 

1 handful red leaf lettuce

1 handful green leaf lettuce 

1 handful kale 

1 stalk heart of Palm 

5 or 6 black olives 

7 asparagus stalks 

1 tablespoon roasted garlic purée (see  recipe)

Olive oil

Salt and pepper 

Rough chop kale, green leaf, and red leaf lettuces. Toss with olives and sliced heart of Palm. Set aside. Rub olive oil on shrimp. Sprinkle a touch of salt and some pepper on them. Shrimp are already salty - so try not to add too much. Rub the garlic paste in, trying to evenly coat the shrimp. Take your asparagus and toss in a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Grill the asparagus and shrimp, putting the asparagus on a few minutes before the shrimp. 

Be careful when grilling the asparagus not to let them all fall through the cracks! Shrimp are tricky to grill because they cook so darn fast. Cook them for maybe 2-3 minutes on one side. They should appear to be changing from clear to opaque about halfway up the shrimp. Turn them over to finish grilling them. 

All in all the shrimp should only take about 5 minutes to cook. You may not even have time to develop a pretty grill mark on it. You can eat this salad while everything is still warm (as I did) or you can chill everything. Chilled shrimp salad is delicious, and I plan on having that tomorrow for my lunch (with my left over shrimp) 

Enjoy!