This is the perfect hot weather lunch, dinner or first course.  It’s pretty.  It’s served cold.  It taste deliciously sweet and tangy.  You’ll almost want the heat of summer to consume you, just so you can make shrimp cocktail, the Brazilian way.  This isn’t so much the way the Brazilians make shrimp cocktail, because by and large they don’t make shrimp cocktail.  But, if they did, this probably how they might do it.  Hearts of palm are served everywhere in Brazil.  They add a nice texture, and are rather bland so they won’t over-powdering the delicate shrimp and other flavors.  Then there’s the orange and lime zest.  Brazilian use both fruits with abandon…no wonder I loved living there so much!  You can see the mango chunks under the hearts of palm and though not Brazilian at all, I added blueberries for both color and flavor and because I had some in the fridge!

The vinaigrette is simplicity itself.  I didn’t want to use oil because I didn’t think it was necessary for this.  Sometimes even a wonderfully flavored olive oil can mask or dull delicate flavors.  I wanted both the sweetness and tang from the ketchup and orange juice concentrate.  The honey is a dark, deep flavored honey that is almost more savory than sweet.  The nectar comes from Japanese knotweed and is from apiarists in Tolland, CT.  You can purchase the dark honey, which isn’t particularly easy to find, at The Spice Mill.  The recipe is for about 1 1/2 cups of dressing.  You’ll only need 2-3 tablespoons for the recipe, but it’s a good dressing for a salad, to drizzle over steamed veggies or to use as a marinade.

Given the season, I used garlic scapes in this.  At other times of the year, I use a combination of minced chives, and chopped scallions, with about 2 finely shredded mint leaves thrown in.  You can use basil, lemon verbena, or no herbs at all for this mixture, and it will still be outstanding.  The Goddess had an after thought…ginger.  Maybe about 1/2 teaspoon of very finely julienned fresh ginger might be nice with this.  What do you think?  If you choose to use fresh pineapple chunks, the ginger could be very nice.  But, only use the fresh pineapple, if the entire salad will be eaten the same day, or the shrimp may get mushy.  Pineapple contains the enzyme bromelain, which break down the protein fibers in the shrimp (or any protein, for that matter).

Do use the arugula, if possible.  The peppery-ness works so well with this, but you can use baby spinach or a field green mixture, as well.  I served this for lunch with half a grilled bleu cheese sandwich with some of the Caramelized Onion and Dried Fruit Jam.  It was pretty yummy!