A big fork-full of Summer

Jill and I have recently started a pretty disturbing trend: we're shopping at Whole Foods. Proximity to Jill's apartment and the promise of free samples keeps us going, but after the fun summer salad we made ourselves last night, I think I'll be less recalcitrant about visiting in the future.
Looking for something light, we decided upon a salad – but what kind? What kind of lettuce? What kind of protein? What kind of cheese? And most importantly, what kind of wine to accompany our concoction?

We started with the lettuce and decided on a nice bag of mixed spring greens. We then added strawberries, walnuts, Gorgonzola cheese, sauteed shrimp, a strange type of green bean [edit: haricots verts. They're not strange, they're just French.], and some balsamic vinaigrette dressing and it turned out wonderfully.

The strawberries were simply sliced and the walnuts were already chopped into little pieces.

The shrimp were sautéed in a mixture of olive oil, salt, parsley and basil. After the shrimp was cooked, we threw the green beans in the same pan and used the oil from the shrimp.

For our wine we choose a bottle of Gatao, a Portuguese wine that has a slight green hue to it and is lightly bubbly. It was very light with a hint of citrus to it and complimented the meal perfectly, and, at WF, was only $7. [Jill adds: for once, we only drank 1 glass each. It was a struggle.]

Served along side a large loaf of sourdough bread, this light salad was filling without being overwhelming, and provided a tasty way to end a wonderful weekend.

"Strawberry Shrimp Summer Salad"

Serves 2 (or more, if you're not us)

1 – Bag of mixed greens

½ lb – Medium shrimp (deveined and pealed)

1/8 cup – Gorgonzola cheese

¼ cup – sliced strawberries

1/8 cup – chopped walnuts

¼ cup – green beans

Balsamic Vinaigrette to taste