This is one of those moments where I’m going to go full food blog and tell a story. If you’re not here for this, feel free to click that “Jump to Recipe” button, and I promise I won’t be offended.
My name, as you might have surmised, is not Kimberly. Back when I was 18 years old, I lived in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for several months. I ended up working at a small and long since closed cafe called Wild Clover. I owe a lot to that job. I was kind of a messed up kid, and the owner, Kimberly, took me under her wing. I was a bit of a project for her. Eventually, thanks to her guidance, I ended up back in Ohio, and now I have a really good life. So I owe her a lot, and the least I can do is make sure she gets credit for this recipe, because I used to eat way too much of it while I was working there.
That cafe’s gimmick was that all the meals were low-fat, and she did a damned good job of it. She sourced her bread for her sandwiches locally, and it was freaking delicious. She made her own salad dressings, soups, everything. There was also a coffee bar and she sold natural supplements, too. It was very 90s. Obviously, I’m not restrained by having to stick to low-fat. Quite the opposite, in fact. So recreating this shrimp salad wasn’t at all difficult. It’s just a few ingredients, and you can serve it over greens, or do what I did and make a wrap out of it with a NuCo coconut wrap. If you do dirty keto, there are plenty of low-carb wraps available as well, like these tortillas with 5 net carbs per piece, or this pita bread with 4 net carbs per piece. The best part is that this is still pretty low in calories, even with the full-fat mayonnaise, so it’s perfect for the 1200 is plenty crowd.
To start the shrimp salad, get yourself a pound of cooked shrimp, tail off. You don’t need huge shrimp for this. Go cheaper and get the smaller size, because they’re easier to eat. Just don’t get those tiny salad shrimp, because the other ingredients will overwhelm them. Put the shrimp in a bowl. Add a half cup of chopped celery, a half cup of chopped red onion, and ten queen sized or 15 regular sized pimiento stuffed olives, sliced in half lengthwise. Then stir in 4 tablespoons of mayonnaise (I like avocado oil mayonnaise for clean eating purposes) and several grinds of white pepper, and you have Kimberly’s shrimp salad, or at least the best approximation I can make given my 25-year gap in memory.
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While I’ve certainly enjoyed this salad year-round, there’s something to be said for making this on a wonderful spring or summer evening when you can eat it outdoors, especially with garden-fresh zucchinis. This zucchini ribbon salad is incredibly simple–it takes about 10 minutes to put together and 9 of that is peeling the zucchini! It’s one of my husband’s absolute favorite side dishes.
To make a serving for 2 people, start with 2 medium or 3 small zucchinis. Wash them off and cut off the ends. Using a vegetable peeler, peel small strips lengthwise down the zucchini, peeling them directly into a mixing bowl. Stop peeling when you begin to see the seeds and throw away the cores. You should have about 3 loose cups of zucchini ribbons. Toss them with a couple of good pinches of kosher salt. I don’t measure my salt, but this is somewhere around a rounded 1/4 teaspoon. The zucchini should start releasing a bit of liquid and get slightly floppy, for lack of a better way of putting it.
In a small lidded container, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon of dijon mustard. The mustard isn’t necessary, so if you’re like my husband and don’t particularly like it, you can leave it out. It just helps with emulsification. Put the lid on the container, making sure it’s very tight, and shake it for 20 seconds. If you don’t have something like this, you can whisk it, but it might separate a bit.
Pour the finished dressing over the zucchini, tossing to coat. Add 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese and ground white pepper to taste. I served mine with a simple grilled chicken topped with olive tapenade, but it would be great with seafood as well. Enjoy your taste of summertime!
Rinse zucchini and cut off about 1/2 inch from either end. Using a vegetable peeler, peel lengthwise in strips into a bowl. Stop peeling when the seeds become visible and discard the core. Sprinkle with kosher salt and toss to coat.
Add the olive oil, vinegar, and mustard to a small lidded container. Secure the lid and shake for 20 seconds. If you don't have a lidded container, whisk until the dressing is emulsified. Pour over the zucchini.
Add in the parmesan cheese and toss to coat. Top with cracked white pepper to taste.
Per serving: 168 calories, 4 grams net carbs, 4 grams protein, 16 grams fat.
Keyword easy, salad, side dish, zoodles, zucchini
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