My Girl, Paula: Salad

This week's My Girl, Paula! theme is Salads/Healthy Vegetables-- something I thought would be impossible to find in the Butter Queen's arsenal of recipes.  Ms. Deen isn't known for her figure-friendly recipes, but I was able find a recipe for Corn, Avocado, & Tomato Salad online.  It's so good, I've made it twice in the past 4 days.  The second time I made it, I reduced the amount of olive oil (because I was out, but the recipe was just as good with less than half the oil) and added chopped jalapeno peppers for some kick.  Both times I used two avocados instead of one...because I like avocados and they're pretty good for you!

This dish makes an excellent accompaniment for almost anything: chicken, fish, steaks, you name it.  It would especially nice in the summer alongside a grilled burger instead of the usual fries.  Toss some grilled chicken chunks or Krab into the mix for a light main course, or do what I did--serve it up with some:

I found the original recipe here but modified it because it calls for a scary amount of salt-based Cajun/Creole seasoning.  Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning is the most famous and widely available of this genre of seasonings, but there are OODLES more to choose from if you happen to venture down into South Louisiana.  Out of curiosity, I visited my nearest grocery store to see just how many I could find.  I counted 29.  Twenty. Nine. !!!  And that's not including any of Emeril's or Chef Paul Prudhomme's seasoning blends!  These seasoning blends come in little shake-top canisters and sport fun names such as "Slap Ya Mama" or "Magic Swamp Dust".  For this recipe, however, I opted for a salt-free blend (Benoit's Spicy Salt-Free Cajun Seasoning):

 (Image from eCrater)

Find the recipe here.  My adjustments:  Used 1 Tablespoon salt-free cajun seasoning and ½ teaspoon salt in place of 3 Tablespoons Cajun seasoning, and cooked them on my George "Faux"man grill.  Everything else stayed the same. 

One of the advantages of living in coastal Louisiana is the availability of fresh, quality seafood at very reasonable prices.  Check out this beauty:

And the best part?  It was probably caught the same day I bought it, by a shrimper who lives not more than 30 miles from me!  The only downside is they're sold head-on, so if you're at all squeamish about cleaning seafood you'd be in a bind!  You'll quickly get over it though, once you remember you've paid $2.98 a pound.