Shrimp and Sausage Salad

I love cooking, but I must admit that I enjoy the opportunity to have my meals served to me on occasion. A nice, relaxed atmosphere, where I do not have to worry about anything but picking what to have someone else prepare can be a welcome change of routine. It is even better when it is on someone else's dime! So when work sent me to a trade show earlier this week I embraced the experience of eating out. Plus eating in a whole-foods fashion can be a fun endeavor amidst the conventional American diet found on most menu's today. However, that being said, it also enforces my desire to teach as many people as possible about the faults and pitfalls surrounding that diet.

Many American's are now coming around to having good intentions about their diet. Unfortunately, many of the "conventional wisdoms" that they believe are incorrect. Or at least wrongly understood. Take this for example:

Well, at least they got the salmon part right. Last I checked, however, corn-fed beef doesn't exactly all under the "finest ingredients" category. Also, what's with the "Add a side... salad"?? As far as I am concerned, a salad ought to be included with every entrée. Make them pay for the baked potato, fries, rice pilaf, beans, or whatever other unhealthy side they should not be eating anyways. And how about lowering the price of those salad entrées? You get half as much meat as the rest of the dishes, half a bag of generally less nutritious, cheaper lettuce mixes with a few sliced vegetables, and it costs you darn near as much! 

Enough ranting... what we need to do is take baby steps. Ask your waiter to skip the pre-meal bread/rolls. Always order meat and vegetables (demand creates a change in supply; if we increase demand for whole-foods meals, more will be supplied. If we decrease demand for grain-based meals (pastas, sandwiches, rice dishes, etc) then less will be supplied). Baby steps, people. It might be a long and slow process, but until we get the American government on board with sounder nutrition advice, it's up to us.

Shrimp and Sausage Salad

The Food

- 1 3oz sausage link- I used sweet apple chicken- deliciously savory!!

- 4-8 shrimp, depending on size (about 2oz total)

- 2 cups lettuce, any mix

- Salad topping of your choice: onion (red and/or white), cucumber, tomato, mushroom, pepper... etc.

- 1/4 Avocado

- Salad dressing, if desired

The Prep

Cut sausage into medallions

Devein and peel shrimp, if needed

Slice or dice avocado

The Method

Cook sausage link and shrimp according to directions

- You can either cool sausage and shrimp or serve warm

Top lettuce with salad topping, sausage, shrimp, avocado, and dressing

Enjoy :)