Shrimp Salad Rolls

My mom is retired and has the luxury of spending a month out of each summer traveling around to cooler climates. She's so lucky! This summer she spent a week at her time share at a lake in eastern Washington, then some time in Seattle visiting my brother, then a week on the Oregon coast and finally finishing up her trip with a few days in Portland before she drove home. Sounds nice, doesn't it? Especially when it means she's escaping the 100+ degree temperatures we have in Phoenix. Oh, I can't wait until I can do the same!! Anyway, while she was in Oregon she got a smokin' deal on fresh Oregon bay shrimp and she was nice enough to bring some home to me. Woo hoo!! I had so many ideas what I could do with it that I got overwhelmed and stuck it all in the freezer. Then I was looking through the most recent issue of Cooking Light and saw a recipe for shrimp salad rolls. I knew that would be a use for one of my pounds of shrimp!

Shrimp Salad Rolls
Source: Adapted from Cooking Light, August 2012

1 pound Oregon bay shrimp, cooked
1/4 cup canola mayonnaise
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
1-2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 hot dog buns
4 romaine lettuce leaves

Combine chopped shrimp, mayonnaise, and next 6 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl.

Open buns without completely splitting; arrange, cut sides up, on a baking sheet. Broil 1 minute or until toasted. Place 2 lettuce leaves in each bun; top each serving with 1/2 cup shrimp mixture.

*****

If you look at the original recipe you'll see I made a few modifications. It called for larger, raw shrimp and then to chop it. Since the shrimp I had were little already, I skipped that. It also called for fresh tarragon, which I didn't have, so I used some Old Bay instead. I might have thrown a little Tony Chachere's in there, too, for good measure. Rarely can you go wrong with adding a little Tony's to something. And the original said this made four sandwiches, but I love me some shrimp, so I only made two. My kids aren't big seafood fans, and I wasn't about to waste these yummy shrimps on them, so the husband and I had them for a date night dinner one night after the kiddos were in bed.

These were fantastic. I've only ever had lobster rolls once, when we were back east for my cousin's wedding a few years ago, but these sandwiches really reminded me of those. These were a great, light, easy summer dinner. I'll definitely make them again, even without the delicious Oregon shrimp!