We have a special guest post by my teen brother/sous chef! He did a great job and wanted me to post his creation asap. I'm proud to say the writing, recipe, and artistic plating idea was done by him *such a proud big sister* 
Hi everyone, it’s Hans, Chef Uy’s younger brother, with another guest post! I was thinking, there aren’t a lot of recipes I can truly call my own (check out my Honey Mint Tea), so the few I do have are very close to my heart. I’m a sucker for juicy steaks and sweet desserts, but believe it or not, a salad somehow made its way onto that *elite* list.
How did I stumble upon this recipe? No, it wasn’t a Eureka moment where all my culinary genius came together to create a gastronomic masterpiece. It was more like Mom swooping in out of the blue with a salad recipe from her enormous “to-cook” list of recipes, telling me I had to make it for dinner that night (or else). I thought, “Ha! Piece of cake! Salads are just chopped up vegetables mixed with dressing.” But I soon realized that this wasn’t going to be just any old salad; this salad was going to be exquisite, gourmet, challenging, something worthy of Iron Chef, and I wanted it to come out just right.
After what felt like hours of chopping vegetables, marinating shrimp, and sending all my limes and cilantro to their demise in Mom’s blender ...  my salad was finally complete. I think food tastes better when you cook it yourself, because when Chef Uy came home this Christmas and finally got the chance to try it, I told her that my salad had been “executed to perfection.” As you can see, my modesty knows no bounds :D
Before college, I never appreciated well-cooked vegetables because Mom always had an endless supply. But after just one semester of cafeteria food at the business school at UT Austin (no med school for me!), I was more than happy to make my Cilantro Lime Shrimp salad again, as well as feast on Mom’s home cooked Chinese vegetables. Rather than going back to eating dining hall vegetables this coming semester, I’m tempted to fill my dorm fridge with recipes from home and eat that instead!

Nordstrom's Cilantro Lime Shrimp Salad

Ingredients
SHRIMP
24 shrimp
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced green onions
1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
1 teaspoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon chopped thyme
salt and pepper to taste

CILANTRO LIME DRESSING
1/3 cup lime juice
3 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon chipotle puree (chipotle paste works too)
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1 bunch chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon each salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, and cumin

SALAD AND TOPPINGS
Tortilla chips
1/2 cup corn kernels
4 cups chopped Romaine lettuce
4 cups mixed baby greens
3 Roma tomatoes, quartered
8 ounces Monterrey Jack cheese

Directions
Mix all the shrimp ingredients together in a bowl to let the shrimp marinate. Cover and put in the fridge.

Blend all the cilantro lime dressing ingredients in a blender and set aside.

Toss the corn kernels with olive oil and roast for about 15-20 mins, or until golden. I use a toaster oven, but a regular oven at about 350°F works. Remove and set aside.

Cook the marinated shrimp on the stovetop, about 7 mins (make sure you don’t overcook them or they’ll come out rubbery.)

To assemble the salad, toss the Romaine lettuce, baby greens, Roma tomatoes, and corn kernels together with half the dressing. Arrange the shrimp around the salad and top with the Monterrey Jack cheese and tortilla strips. Serve family style with the rest of the dressing on the side.