• 1 medium red onion, cut into thin rounds
• 4 cups ice water
• About 8 cups of salad greens, the more varied the better (like Bibb, oak leaf, mâche, mizuna, watercress, romaine, leaf lettuce, baby chard, kale, mustard, any of the escaroles, frisée, or endive)
• 1/4 to 1/2 small cantaloupe, casaba, golden honeydew, or canary melon, cut into 1 to 1-1/2-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup salted sunflower or pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup lightly packed fresh herbs (basil, mint, parsley or coriander, or a blend of any or all)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 to 3 tablespoons good-tasting extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 to 3 tablespoons good-tasting wine or cider vinegar

Summer Greens and Melon Salad

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Photo ©Brennan Photography Inc. for American Public Media

• 3/4 cup top-quality mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard
• 6 green onions, diced
• 1 cup finely diced red and green peppers
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• hot sauce to taste
• 2 pounds boiled peeled shrimp
• 6 medium tomatoes
• lettuce leaves, parsley, for garnish

Creamy Shrimp Salad

Photo M.Studio

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Chopped Salad

• 8 cups romaine lettuce
• ½ cup roughly chopped shaved carrot (we used a vegetable peeler)
• ¼ cup minced green onion
• ½ cup diced orange bell pepper
• ½ cup sliced grape tomatoes
• ½ cup diced cucumber
• ½ cup fresh sweet corn cut from the cob
• ¼ cup diced purple onion
• Pickled Green Tomato Vinaigrette (recipe follows)
• Fried Fish Croutons (recipe follows)

Pickled Green Tomato Vinaigrette

• 1 cup drained pickled green tomato relish, reserve liquid
• ½ cup reserved liquid from pickled green tomato relish
• 3 tablespoons cane vinegar
• ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Fried Fish Croutons

• 1 pound firm white-fleshed fish fillets
• cornmeal-based fish fry (we used Louisiana Fish Fry)
• cooking oil for frying

Chopped Salad with Fried Fish Croutons

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• ½ pound fusilli, rotelle (wagon wheel) or other medium pasta shape
• 1 pound large shrimp (26 to 30 count), peeled and deveined
• 1¼ cup frozen shelled edamame or frozen peas
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons light mayonnaise
• 1 lemon, Zest of
• 2½ tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 clove finely chopped garlic
• ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 3 cups baby spinach leaves
• ⅔ cup chopped fresh dill

Dilled Shrimp Pasta Salad

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Per Serving:

• 1 medium Creole tomato
• 2 ounces Louisiana jumbo lump crabmeat
• 1 tablespoon Ravigote sauce (recipe follows)
• 1 tablespoon Lemon Confit (recipe follows)
• salt and pepper
• onion, thinly sliced (optional)
• radishes, thinly sliced (optional

Ravigote Sauce:

• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1½ whole lemons, juiced
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh tarragon, minced
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
• 1 hard-boiled egg, minced
• 1 teaspoon Louisiana hot sauce, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained
• ¼ cup red bell pepper, diced small
• 1 tablespoons finely diced poblano pepper

Lemon Confit:

• 6 whole lemons, washed, trimmed at both ends, and cut into 6 wedges
• 6 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• olive oil, to cover

Louisiana Jumbo Lump Crab with Creole Tomatoes

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• 1 gallon vegetable or peanut oil
• 2 cups piquillo peppers, canned or packed in oil
• 2 cups mayonnaise
• 1 cup rice flour, plus extra for dredging shrimp
• 1½ cups soda water
• 1 egg
• 2 dozen large Louisiana shrimp, cleaned, tail on
• fresh hergs or greens for garnisn (such as basil, mint, cilantro, mizuna, and/or arugula)
• white wine vinegar, for dressing
• Tabasco
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

John Besh's Crunchy Shrimp Salad

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• 2 lbs (1¼-inch thick) boneless beef top loin (strip) steak
• Creole seasoning
• 25-ounce packages mixed baby kale (or other salad greens)

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Pepper Jelly Vinaigrette

• 6 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 4 tablespoons Dijon or Creole mustard
• 3 tablespoons store-bought pepper jelly
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Creole-Spiced Steak Salad

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• 4 slices of bacon
• 2 cups fresh or frozen whole corn kernals
• 1 cup frozen baby lima beans*
• 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 smalll fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon lime peel, finely shredded
• 1 tablespoon lime juice, freshly squeezed
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon chii powder

*Note: We substituted baby limas for sweet soybeans in the original recipe

Skillet Corn Bacon and Lima Beans Salad

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• 3 pounds fresh headless Louisiana shrimp 
• 3 lemons
• salt, black pepper and crab boil
• 3 cups cane vinegar
• ¾  cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley
• ¼ cup fresh chopped basil
• 4 teaspoons ground celery seed
• 2 cups olive oil
• 1 red onion, sliced 
• 3 bell peppers, large dice (red, yellow &/or green)
• 4 jalapeño peppers, sliced 
• 2 small cucumbers, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 10 pickled pearl onions, in juice
• 2 tablespoons capers
• 10 allspice berries
• 4 fresh bay leaves

Scott Varnedoe's Pickled Shrimp

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• 1 rotisserie chicken, cooled, skinned, deboned and chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 4 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 jalapeño pepper, fined chopped (or to taste)
• 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup raisins, Craisins, or dried cranberries 
• 1 cup grapes, sliced, to taste 
• 1/2 cup mild cheddar cheese, finely shredded
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise, or more as needed
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• pepper
• 1 pound pasta, cooked according to package directions and cooled (optional)

Debbie's Crunchy Chicken Salad

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