Prawns & Spinach Salad

Prawns and spinach salad is the salad you bring out when you want dinner to feel like an event without spending much time on it. Grilled shrimp, crisp baby spinach, sweet oranges, and strips of red pepper all come together in an Asian-inflected dressing of dry sherry, rice vinegar, sesame oil, fresh ginger, soy, and orange zest.

Butterflying the prawns is the technique detail. Cut down the back almost but not completely through, and the shrimp opens up flat when grilled, cooking in about three minutes total over hot coals. They curl into dramatic little crescents and catch the char marks much more prettily than whole prawns do.

The dressing does double duty. Two tablespoons go into the shrimp as a quick 30-minute marinade; the rest becomes the salad dressing. That overlap of flavors between protein and greens is what makes the dish cohesive instead of feeling like shrimp-parked-on-salad.

Oranges segmented and cut crosswise contribute more than sweetness. Their juice runs out as you mix and becomes part of the dressing, adding a bright, fresh citrus pop that balances the smoky grilled prawns.

Use tender baby spinach, not mature leaves. Baby spinach wilts just enough under the warm shrimp to feel dressed, rather than staying stiff and salad-bar-crunchy.

Chef Tips

• Peel and segment the oranges the real way, cutting off the peel and pith, then cutting between membranes to release clean segments. No bitter pith means cleaner flavor.
• Don’t skip the sherry. It adds a nutty, slightly sweet depth that nothing else substitutes for. In a pinch, use dry Marsala or a splash of mirin.
• Get the grill searingly hot. A weak fire steams the shrimp instead of giving them char lines.
• Assemble the salad right before the prawns come off the grill. Warm shrimp wilts the spinach perfectly; cooled shrimp just sits on top.

Variations

• Swap orange for mandarin segments or blood orange for color and sharper flavor.
• Add a handful of toasted sesame seeds for crunch and visual appeal.
• Fold in sliced avocado at the end for richness and that Californian tilt.