Flavored with pungent fresh ginger, soy sauce and dark sesame oil, Asian Shrimp and Brown Rice Salad is bursting with delicious flavors!
One night, I decided to get a little creative when preparing dinner for Robert, and this Asian Shrimp and Brown Rice Salad was born. It was a busy day, so I was preparing dinner from what we had on hand in the refrigerator/freezer and pantry.
I started with cooked shrimp and brown rice. I don’t always have cabbage on hand, but this day I had some leftover from preparing our Cilantro Peanut Coleslaw (in my cookbook A Well-Seasoned Kitchen®), so I threw some in. Next I added water chestnuts, almonds, green onions and cilantro.
Deciding on an Asian-inspired dressing, I mixed fresh chopped ginger, soy sauce, dark sesame oil and rice vinegar into mayo and sour cream. Well, the resulting dressing is. . . AMAZING. It totally takes this salad from very good to fabulous. And, any leftover dressing is delicious on sandwiches and turkey burgers!
Asian Shrimp and Brown Rice Salad
Ingredients
See gluten-free adaptations in the Notes section at the bottom of the recipe.
Soy-sesame-ginger dressing
- 1 3/4 cups mayonnaise
- 6 tablespoons sour cream
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil, dark or toasted
- 1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger
- Cayenne pepper, to taste
- Kosher salt, to taste
Salad
- 1 pound medium to large (20-25 count) cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined , can chop if desired
- 1 1/2 cups brown rice, cooked and cooled completely
- 3/4 cup shredded cabbage
- 3/4 cup chopped water chestnuts, 8-ounce can drained
- 3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, optional
- 6 tablespoons coarsely chopped or slivered almonds, toasted
- 6 large chopped green onions, (white, light green and some dark green part)
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Soy-sesame-ginger dressing
- In medium mixing bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, ginger and cayenne pepper. Season to taste with kosher salt (may not need any).
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.
Salad
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together shrimp, rice, cabbage, water chestnuts, cilantro, almonds and green onions.
- Stir in spoonfuls of the dressing until desired consistency is reached (you may not need to use all the dressing).
- Season with kosher salt and ground pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
