Thai Shrimp Salad w/ Mint

Ken's stepmom recently gave me a shellfish cookbook (I love shellfish!) from Williams-Sonoma, and I happen to have most of the ingredients to make this dish. The flavors are bright and light, perfect for a hot summer evening. Once all the prep work is done, this takes a few minutes to assemble and makes it a definite keeper. Since it's just the two of us, I halved the following amounts of the original recipe and used 3 shrimps/person.

• 1 1/2 lb medium shrimp, peeled & deveined
• 4-5 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 tbsp fish sauce (highly recommend using rather than leaving out)
  
• 1 tbsp peanut oil (don't substitute--makes it taste & smell amazing)
  
• 1 tsp sugar (or 1/4 cup honey)
  
• 1 lemongrass stalk (ends trimmed & tough outer leaves removed), minced, OR 1 tsp grated lemon zest
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled & sliced, then quartered
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion (I used shallots)
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, cut into thin shreds
• 1/2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 fresh jalapeno pepper or serrano chili pepper, seeded & minced
  

The recipe called for the shrimped to be cooked in fish stock or clam juice. I was grilling meat so just threw the shrimp on as well. Otherwise, boiling in plain water is just as good.

In a large bowl, whisk together the lime juice, fish sauce, peanut oil, sugar, lemongrass (or lemon zest), chili pepper, garlic and salt & pepper to taste. Add the shrimp, cucumber, onion, mint and cilantro. Toss well and serve over your favorite salad greens. Serves 6.

9/5 - I also made this for Ken's birthday party and it was a hit as well.