Creamy, sweet, tangy, chunky, light
This is how the stars aligned. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo got my friend, Ashley, in the mood for Scandinavian food. I had a couple of bags of frozen shrimp and prawns in the freezer and a hankering for dill. It was the third Friday night of Lent (which I take to mean that God wants me to be creative with seafood). My Swedish sister-in-law has instructed me in the mystical art of extracting relatively authentic Swedish flavor from American ingredients (yes, IKEA plays a critical role). Thus, the following shrimp salad became the basis for a minimalist Swedish tapas night.
We also had brie on pumpernickel toast topped with lingonberry preserves (like I said, IKEA is crucial here) and, since this is being written in real time, there may be some herring and smoked salmon later on, although as there is no more sauvignon blanc to accompany it, maybe not.
This is really quick to make and yet is cool, unhurried and elegant. Maybe one day I will start playing around with the sour cream and mayo proportions and use plain nonfat yogurt, but virtue is not one of my virtues at the moment, so here it is in all its lush glory.
Scandinavian Shrimp Salad
4 Cups peeled, cooked and deveined shrimp (your choice of size*), chopped into small chunks
¾ Cup sour cream
¼ cup mayonnaise
½ cup red onion, minced
½ cup dill, finely chopped
3 Tsp lemon juice
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, leaving lemon juice for last, salt to taste and serve with toasted pumpernickel , crisp crackers or atop a salad.
*My sister-in-law Annika, who is actually Swedish, was the one who found the original recipe that this is based on. For her, the flavor is not authentic unless you use those tiny, coldwater cooked and peeled Greenland Prawns that she gets in frozen 500g bags from IKEA. It is true, they have a distinctive sweet tang that regular bagged supermarket shrimp don’t, but I don’t like their texture thawed. So I use a strainer to dip them in the same water the rest of the shrimp are cooking in for just a minute which tightens them up without losing too much flavor. I use one bag of the tiny prawns and about a pound of other bagged shrimp (works out to half and half), but you can use whatever you have on hand.
Hot, Cheap & Easy 
Looking for dilled shrimp salad recipes, and I have found yours which is pretty simple and plain and will give it a try. One concern is the amount of dill to shrimp. Does it come out “way” dilly (it seems far more dill than other recipes I have found call for. As this salad is for a large buffet I am doing, I want everything “perfect” for the ladies being served so finding the perfect proportion is very important to me). Thanks for your help in advance!
Hi Pat! The dillbis not overwhelming, but you can always reduce the amount and set some aside to add if you want more! Hope your entertaining goes well!!!!
This is something I’d love but wouldn’t think to make… until now. Thanks!
Swedish food is a revelation!!
[laughing] Your sister-in-law would not agree, but being Estonian-born I can attest we do feel we are a Viking nation and Scandinavian!! Thus this salad is kind’of mother’s milk and will certainly grace our Yuletide tables! One of the few times ‘healthy foodie’ me has sour cream in the fridge 🙂 !
Thanks for this very funny comment, Eha! You are clearly a Viking from Down Under!
Reblogged this on Hot, Cheap & Easy and commented:
Note to readers: This reblog comes because I am feeling like it’s time for a Scandinavian Christmas!
Yummy! Sounds dill-icious!!
Thank you, Beba! You should try it!
I was craving a dill type shrimp salad when I found this recipe. Awesome!!!! Thanks for the recipe!
I hope you like it! Let me know how it goes…and especially if you make modifications! I love to learn and improve…
I love food, and I really enjoy reading your blog very much thank you for sharing this post. Feel free to check out our recipes.
Delicious Coffee Rolls
Thanks! You also have a nifty blog!