Having friends over on a Friday night for dinner can be tricky. I work until 6pm and usually need to run around frantically cleaning the house before guests arrive, so a labor intensive meal isn’t always in the cards. We had cocktails and a cheese plate to occupy everyone while the meal was put together, and no one got grouchy or hovered wondering when things would be ready. I try to have my shrimp deveined and peeled before the guest arrive because there is nothing social about standing over the sink with your head down and hands covered in shellfish. The rest of this meal can be prepared while you snack, sip and chat.  Unfortunately I have no photos. We were well into cocktail hour(s) when dinner was served and I didn’t want the guests looking at me funny while photographing their salads.

This spinach salad was inspired by a salad I had at Metro Fresh. It was tasty and seemed ridiculously easy so I made note of the ingredients and gave it a try.

*I don’t enjoy skewering shrimp after shrimp so I use this handy grill grate picked up at Crate and Barrel.