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Salad

Pamilla's Spinach, Shrimp and Fruit Salad

A salad of avocado, spinach, shrimp, mandarin oranges, grapes, and green onions dressed in a citrus vinaigrette.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Spinach and grape match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and 182 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: tree nuts, shellfish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

  • Salad

Directions

Make the dressing

  1. Make the dressing ahead of time and chill.

  2. In a small bowl, combine ¾ cup olive or macadamia nut oil, ¼ cup orange juice, 3 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 Tbsp white vinegar, and 1 ½ tsp grated onions.

  3. Cover and shake vigorously. Refrigerate. Shake again before use.

Assemble the salad

  1. Dice 1 genuine California avocado into a small bowl. Cover with lemon juice and set aside.

  2. In a large bowl, combine 6 oz bag of fresh baby spinach, 11 oz can of drained mandarin oranges, 1 ½ cups seedless red grapes, 1 ½ cups cooked shrimp, and 2 stalks chopped green onions.

  3. Drain the diced avocado and add it to the salad. Toss together.

Chill and serve

  1. Take 2 or 3 paper towels and run them over cold water. Wring them out and place over the top of the salad.

  2. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Spinach + grapetop 11% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together182 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  2. Lemon + mandarin orangetop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together54 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Avocado + olivetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,376 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  4. Avocado + spinachtop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together188 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  5. Avocado + oniontop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,653 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Avocado
Provides creamy texture and rich fat that gives the salad body.
Olive or macadamia nut oil
Supplies fat that carries flavor and gives the dressing a smooth body.
Cooked shrimp
Adds protein-rich bulk and a mild, sweet seafood flavor.
Seedless red grapes
Add natural sweetness and juiciness that balance the tangy dressing.
Mandarin oranges
Contribute sweetness and citrus aroma that complement the dressing.
Baby spinach
Forms the leafy base, adding crisp texture and fresh green flavor.

The step that matters

Shake the dressing well before use. Oil and citrus juices separate on standing, so shaking re-emulsifies them into a uniform dressing that coats the salad evenly.

Flavor stand-ins for the grape

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (avocado, lemon, spinach, mandarin orange, shrimp, onion, olive):

  1. Limebetter flavor fit
  2. Orangebetter flavor fit
  3. Mangobetter flavor fit
  4. Grapethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against avocado, lemon, spinach, mandarin orange, shrimp, onion, olive. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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