Prawn Mango Avocado Salad with Lemon-Lime Dressing

❤️ Why this recipe works

• This 3-ingredient Prawn Avocado Mango Salad seems to be too simple to be a showstopper. Its simplicity is what makes it so appealing.
• Drizzled with a slightly sweet, slightly zesty Lemon-Lime dressing, the natural flavours of the sweet mango and succulent shrimp shine through.
• Prawns with mango make a perfect flavour combo and they look beautiful paired with creamy avocados! The Ataulfo mangos are at their peak, so today I tossed them together with avocados and prawns and made this appetizing mango prawn salad with a simple lemon-lime dressing.

I'm a little obsessed with both avocados and mangos lately. We had this Quinoa Bowl with Avocado, Feta and Strawberries three times lately and I've been making this Mango Black Bean Salad on repeat.

You'll love this simple prawn salad. It's so easy, so quick and it always gets rave reviews when I serve it.

Note: I use the terms "prawns" and "shrimp" interchangeably. While there are slight anatomical differences between the two, for those of us who are only concerned with cooking and eating them, the differences really don't matter. You can substitute one for the other in most recipes.

🛒 Ingredients

For the Prawn Salad

• raw prawns or large shrimp, fresh or thawed
• 2 medium mangos
• 2 medium avocados
• cilantro leaves, finely chopped

Lemon-Lime Dressing

For this simple (but simply amazing) vinaigrette you'll need extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, lime zest, honey, and a little heat from dried chili pepper flakes and black pepper.

🔪 Instructions

• Make the Lemon Lime Vinaigrette first. Whisk the lime zest, chili pepper flakes, black pepper, lemon juice, honey and olive oil together. Set aside.
• Next, arrange thinly sliced or cubed mango and avocado on serving plates, or on one large platter. 
• Cook the prawns. While I often grill prawns or fry them in a skillet, for this recipe I like to simply boil them. Boil water in a medium saucepan. Add the shelled prawns or shrimp to the boiling water and cook for 2 - 3 minutes once the water returns to the boil. Remove promptly to avoid overcooking and rinse under cool running water.
• Arrange the prawns or shrimp on top of the mango and avocado cubes.
• Drizzle with the Lemon Lime Vinaigrette and garnish with freshly chopped cilantro leaves.

🦐 Helpful Tip: How to Peel Prawns

Check out my complete guide to cooking shrimp or prawns for tips on buying and cooking prawns as well as 20 recipes!

If you have bought prawns with their shells on or with their heads on, the easiest way to remove them is when they are partially frozen. Even when we have freshly caught prawns, I still freeze them first. Trying to remove the shell (or exoskeleton) from a fresh prawn can be awkward and messy. When they're partially thawed, peeling them is a breeze.

Simple pinch the area at the base of the head to remove it. Holding the prawn in your right hand, use your left thumbnail to score the area where the legs begin next to the shell segments. Run your thumb and finger under the top three shell segments, then pinch and tear to remove them. Next, pinch at the base of the remaining three tail segments and gently squeeze. The body will pop out.

While it's easier to eat prawns that have been completely peeled, sometimes you may want to leave the tails on. They can make a dish look very appealing, as in this Vietnamese Prawn (Shrimp) Noodle Bowl, and they also add flavour to dishes like Paella or Cajun Shrimp Fried Rice or Thai Red Curry with Shrimp.

To remove the intestinal tract, you can either gently lift it out with your fingers or with a toothpick.

🥑 How to choose a ripe avocado

Avocados are a fresh fruit full of "good fat." While it can be frustrating to get one just at the peak of ripeness,  I've found a method that works for me. You've probably cut open an avocado that looks perfectly fine on the outside only to find it bruised and brown and spotted inside.

Here's what I do. When selecting one, I look at the stem end and gently flip it open. If it's green, it's good. If it's brown, I steer clear. Once I bring it home, I leave it on my counter at room temperature just until it begins to get the slightest bit squishy when gently squeezed. Then, if I'm not going to eat it right away, I store it in the refrigerator.

Avocados tend to go from great to gross in twenty-four hours or less! I have no guarantees for perfect avocados, but this method seems to work for me most of the time.

🗒More healthy prawn and shrimp recipes

• Avocado Grilled Peach and Chipotle Shrimp Salad with Bacon
• Shrimp Fajita Salad with Honey Lime Vinaigrette
• 10-Minute Grilled Chimichurri Shrimp Skewers
• Nasi Goreng (Quick Indonesian Fried Rice)
• Gin-Gingered Prawns
• Easy Thai Red Curry with Shrimp