I took my better half to New Orleans for his milestone birthday this winter, to celebrate and shake off the winter blues. The weather was perfect, and all we did was walk and bike around as much as we could to burn calories in order to stuff our faces. Between the beautiful, above ground cemeteries, the path along the river, the Audubon Museum, and just the general ambiance of the big easy, we worked up quite the appetite.

But we were so serious about walking it all off! One night, we had reservations at a brand new, super popular place way down in the Magazine district, and we decided to walk to it, even though we were, literally, across town. Six miles later, after already a full day of walking, we arrived at this fancy place a bit shabby and not a little wet from the rain that had started about half a mile from our destination. And we were so tired, we weren’t even that hungry. I could have cried, because I wanted to eat more on the menu that I knew I’d be able to. The plates came and we looked at each other, hopelessly, because we knew we just had room for a few bites. All we wanted to do was take a cab back to our room and crash. So let that be a lesson to you exercisers: don’t work out so hard that you have no appetite for food, once you get to the restaurant.

New Orleans is one of my favorite places on earth. I love food, and so that’s a big draw. A traditional bloody Mary comes with delicious green beans instead of celery, which I love. You can eat oysters for breakfast. The architecture is lovely, the antiques are fabulous, and there are flowering sweet olive trees that fill the streets with a beautiful fragrance.

This recipe is my take on a classic Creole dish, shrimp remoulade. I’m using grilled shrimp, but cold poached (in Old Bay) is the traditional method. Simply prepared, the shrimp are tossed in the remoulade and served on cold shredded iceberg lettuce. Cool and summery.

Let the good times roll!

Amy at Flatout