Shrimp Salad Sandwiches with Tarragon and Pumpernickel

This summer is anything but lazy, there has been no summertime slow down. At least as far as my energy levels are concerned. I’m feeling the lack of a long weekend over the July 4th holiday, and I’ll have to hold on a few more weeks until our vacation in August.

Until then, there’s the option of slowing things down and really relishing what’s going on with food and at meals. So, here’s this shrimp salad sandwich, cool and pleasant on hot summer days.

I originally developed this recipe years ago when I was an intern at the hospital and put together a summer-themed menu for the foodservice operation. It was really my fist exposure to menu planning on a larger scale, where feedback actually came back in the form of how much each recipe sold. Happily, this did well, a hit among hospital staff and visitors who routinely line up for chicken tenders and fries but were willing to venture out and try a new recipe.

There’s a decent amount of crunch from the celery, a pleasant herbiness and spiciness from the tarragon and arugula, and the pop of rye flavor from pumpernickel. I recommend substituting rye or marbled bread if you can’t find any pumpernickel. Chop the shrimp up into bite-sized pieces before you combine it with the rest of the ingredients, which means you’re not wrangling with a bite of full-sized shrimp and having fall out of your sandwich halfway through the meal.

This is also a great recipe idea for people trying to increase their seafood consumption because it can toggle between a lunch or dinner menu option. Double the recipe and bring in leftovers to work the next day and suddenly getting seafood in 2-3 times during the week happens without even trying. I’ve been much more conscious of when and how much seafood I’m eating since I started the second trimester of my pregnancy, and the option of shrimp salad or even tuna salad for lunch is appetizing because the idea of a pan-seared fillet can feel fatiguing after awhile.