Sur le pouce – Salade de haricots verts mimosa et tartines de crevettes au beurre d’herbes

Sur le pouce, is literally translated by “on the thumb”, je mange sur le pouce, or I eat on the thumb, which means eating fast. It originated in the XIX century when workers didn’t have time to eat, they cut a piece of bread with a knife, and eating it using their thumbs.

Today two things made me happy and brightened up my day, this quick lunch sur le pouce (even though I used a fork!) and my new lamp (created by Shmulik Krampf, an extremely talented Israeli Artist who blows glass they way they do it in Murano, Italy). What do my lamp and this meal have in common? well they’re both colorful, vibrant and make me feel alive.

Sometimes when I come back from the gym, I don’t have time to cook for myself, so I eat snacks…and today I decided to not eat snacks and indulge myself…but still having a limited time, I had to make something quick. It all took me 20 minutes, which I think it’s almost like fast food.

Why do we call this mimosa? Mimosa refers to devil eggs, we call them “oeufs mimosa“, so here since we have boiled eggs, we can call them mimosa. I am not sure if “we” can, but I do.

Asparagus can be used if you don’t have green beans, it’s as delicious, and you can use scallops instead of the shrimps. Garlic, herb, butter those ingredients are a perfect match with seafood.

Ingredients for 2

For the green beans

  • 250 g fine green beans
  • 2 eggs, hard boiled and grated
  • 2 tbs capers, rinced and chopped
  • 1 scallion, chopped
  • 1/2 tomato, seeds removed, and diced
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • salt and pepper

For the shrimps tartine (3 toasts each)

  • 18 shrimps, peeled and deveined
  • 1/4 ts paprika
  • 1 garlic clove, sliced
  • 1 tsp dill, chopped
  • 1 tsp parsley, chopped
  • 1 tsp butter
  • 6 slices baguettes, or country bread, toasted
  • salt and pepper

Preparation

For the green beans

Bring a large pot to a boil with water. Cook grean beans for about 5-7 minutes until tender but still a little crunchy. Drain, and place in a container filled with iced water. Set aside.

Prepare the vinaigrette, mixing the capers, scallion, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.

Drain green beans, place on a plate. Add grated eggs, tomatoes, then pour vinaigrette on top.

For the shrimps tartines

Add paprika to the shrimps, and coat well. Add salt and pepper.

Mix butter, garlic and herbs with a fork and form an homogenous paste. In a pan melt butter/herbs slowly, then add shrimps. Cook at medium temperature until the shrimps are cooked but still juicy.

Toast bread slices. Place three shrimps on top of each tartine, and pour some butter/garlic mixture on top.

Serve with green bean salad on the side.