Vegan Blue Corn-Dusted Shrimp, Morel, Ramp + Arugula Salad with Fiddlehead Remoulade

My life has me so busy lately that I completely missed my two year blogaversary! Happy belated 2nd blogaversary to me. I can't believe I've been posting here nearly every week for two years and I've yet to run out of silly things to talk about. 

If you've been reading for a while, you know I usually go for laughs, and I suppose my daily life is pretty funny. This week, the humor in my world is more about sheer situational irony. Last Friday, I'm sitting at my desk sipping my morning coffee when my phone rings: it's my agent's office. "You have an audition, and it's today", the say. "Great!", I think to myself. I love getting auditions. "What's it for?", I ask. "Jimmy Dean Sausage." 

That's when my heart stops. I'm speechless for an "Oh Shit" second while a million thoughts start racing through my mind. "Jenn, are you there?", my agent asks. I take a deep breath, and ask the inevitable, "Do I have to eat the sausage?" *insert your "That's what she said" here.  "I don't think so, but I'll find out for you", she says reassuringly. 

After I get off the phone, my head continues to race. Should I even go on the audition? Can I really endorse a product I don't actually stand behind nor want to further the world consuming? The immediate gut answer is to not go, but hear me out on the practicalties: commercials pay a bank load of money. I've been strapped for cash for months, and booking a commercial would be one answer to my problems. As long as I don't eat it, what's the harm? 

Maybe 3 minutes have elapsed since I hung up the call, and my Gemini brain presses on: 

Well, the harm is that I could end up: 

A) Responsible for increasing the death of animals by endorsing a product with my "Sell It" smile. 

B) Actually increase the number of people who want to consume such products by endorsing it and making something gross look appetizing. 

C) I could be contributing to expediting the end of the world.

So what did I do? I went to the audition. I got a call-back. I went to the call back. I'm now waiting to find out if I actually booked the damn gig. What I'll actually do if actually hired is another story, and the thoughts have been plaguing my mind all week. Like I said, my life is funny that way. The vegan in a sausage commercial. Go fucking figure. 

Anyway, let's talk about something vegan and delicious. This week, I'm posting a very seasonal, Farmers Market driven SALAD! Yes, the "S" word. I actually posted something light and (almost) healthy. My little sister made the trek up from the OC to LA so that she could find herself some green garlic at the Santa Monica Farmers Market. I took the opportunity to score a shit-load of great produce. Then, I set to work creating this artful dish. I highly recommend you at least try making the dressing. It's yummy and refreshing. Have a great week!

Vegan Blue Corn-Dusted Shrimp, Morel, Ramp + Arugula Salad with Fiddlehead Remoulade

For the Remoulade (Dressing-ish)...

• 1/4 cup Vegan Heavy Cream mixed with 2 TBSP Egg Mix (or Vegan Liquid Eggs)
• 1 cup raw Fiddlehead Ferns
• The juice of 1 Lemon
• 1/4 cup chopped Green Onions
• 1/4 cup chopped Celery
• 1 TBSP Horseradish
• 3 TBSP Whole-Grain Mustard
• 3 TBSP Yellow Mustard
• 3 TBSP Vegan Ketchup
• 3 TBSP Chopped Parsley
• Salt, to taste
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper, to taste
• Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
• 1 cup Olive Oil

For the Salad...

• 1/2 lb Morel Mushrooms, cleaned
• 2 cups Sprouting Broccoli
• 5 TBSP Vegan Butter
• Salt and Pepper, to taste
• 5 cups Ramps, roughly chopped and stems discarded
• 5 cups Baby Arugula
• 2 packages of Frozen Vegan Shrimp, thawed
• 2 cups Hot Sauce
• 2 cups Unbleached White Flour
• 2 cups Blue Cornmeal
• Vegetable Oil, enough for frying
• Creole Seasoning (Cajun Blast or Tony Cachere's), to taste
• 1 large Sweet Onion, sliced into thin rings
• 3 TBSP Chopped Italian Flat Leaf Parsley

Combine all of the dressing ingredients except oil, salt, pepper and cayenne in a food processor, and blend until smooth. Season with the salt, pepper and cayenne to taste. Turn the machine back on, and slowly pour in the olive oil while the machine is still running until thick. Add more salt, pepper and cayenne if needed. 

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the vegan butter. Add the morels and sprouting broccoli, then toss well to combine. Season with salt and pepper, then saute for about 5-6 minutes until the morels and broccoli are softened and browning. Remove from heat and set aside. 

Take the thawed Vegan Shrimp, pat them dry and toss with the hot sauce in a mixing bowl. 

In a separate mixing bowl, combine the flour, blue cornmeal and as much Creole Seasoning as you desire. 

In batches, toss the Vegan Shrimp in the cornmeal/flour/seasoning mix, making sure they're coated completely. 

Shake off any excess corn/flourmix. 

Heat 5-6 inches of Vegetable Oil in a very deep pot until it reaches 350 F*. Fry the Vegan Shrimp in batches for about 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. 

*Please feel free to use an air fryer or convection oven to cook them, too. Either lightly coat the shrimp with oil or cooking spray, and bake at 350 for 10 minutes, flipping them over after the first 4 minutes have elapsed.

For the salad, using a large mixing bowl, toss the ramps and arugula with half of the dressing and a pinch of salt & pepper. 

Place a mound of greens in the center of each plate, then lay a few onion slices over the greens. 

Place a few shrimp atop the greens, then lay the morels and sprouting broccoli around the mound of greens. Garnish with the freshly chopped parsley.