Shrimp salad with cherry tomatoes

Story: It's summer!!!!!! if you live in a place that's cold 6-9 months out of the year.. you'd understand the exclamation marks.. Coming from a city close to Mumbai, as a visitor I did not understand the obsession with summer in New England. But once I moved here it took just one winter for me to realize why a Bostonian stops just to say to a complete stranger, "What a gorgeous sunny day!!"

Summer here means outdoor activities, BBQs, short clothes, beaches and loads of tasty seafood.. Today's shrimp salad is just perfect for a summer BBQ. The other day we had this salad with grilled salmon, garlic bread and an orange juice cocktail. The whole thing was fabulicious!

I almost forgot to take a picture.. so I put the leftover salad on garlic bread just for the picture :-)

Source: Inspired from an episode of 'The ultimate recipe showdown'
Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients: Enough for two

• 12-15 cherry tomatoes
  
• 4-6 raw shrimps
• 3-4 fresh basil leaves
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tsp of dried Oregano leaves
  
• Salt and Pepper
  

Recipe:

Cut the cherry tomatoes in halves. Arrange these pieces in a baking tray. Drizzle about a tbsp of olive oil over the tomatoes followed by a sprinkle of salt, pepper and oregano leaves. Broil with medium/high flame in the oven. For 5-10 minutes or till you see a char on the tomatoes.

While the tomatoes are broiling, peel the shrimps. Rub a little bit of salt and pepper on the shrimps and keep aside.

Once the tomatoes are done, transfer them to a serving bowl.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a non-stick pan and add the shrimps to it. It is very easy to overcook shrimps.. I usually cook them for 15 ish seconds on each side and they are cooked within half a minute! At the end add the Basil leaves and mix well.

Cut the Shrimps unevenly into half-inch pieces. and add to the serving bowl. Toss them with the tomatoes and add salt and pepper to taste.