My Love Affair With Shrimp

I have a longstanding love affair with shrimp.  Sauteed, grilled, roasted, baked…or my personal favorite…in a cocktail ;)  I’m kinda like Bubba from Forest Gump when it comes to these little crustaceans.  So it only stands to reason that I was totally intrigued when I found this recipe.  I’m not really sure I’ve ever tried mixing seafood & Mexican.  When I frequent my favorite Mexican restaurants, I’m usually a beef tacos al carbon kinda girl…very predictable and not too adventurous.  But when I’m at home, I like to mix things up in the kitchen and make it exciting ;).  And I’m SO glad I tried this!!!  I know I say this about a lot of things I try, but this is definitely one of my most favorite dishes!{shocker} 

SHRIMP & GUACAMOLE TOSTADAS

via Bev Cooks

Corn tortillas

cooking spray

2 cups shredded cheddar/monterrey jack cheese

2 TBSP. olive oil

1 lb. shrimp, peeled & deveined

1 TBSP. ground cumin

2 TBSP. chili powder

1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp. garlic salt

1 red bell pepper, cut into small chunks/slices

A couple of limes

GUACAMOLE

2 ripe avocados

1 pkg. McCormick’s guacamole seasoning mix {or use any guacamole recipe you have!}

Once you get started, it will all go pretty quickly, so don’t let this set up scare you too much!  Let’s start first with the shrimp.  Toss them in the cumin, chili powder, crushed red pepper flakes, and the garlic salt and set ‘em aside.

 

Now take the tortillas and lightly coat both sides of each with cooking spray.  Bake at 350 for about 4 minutes on each side. 

Now turn on your broiler and top each tortilla with a generous amount of shredded cheese.  Broil for about 2 minutes or until the cheese is hot & bubbly. 

 

Set these aside and take out a skillet.  Heat the olive oil on medium high heat and add the shrimp.  Sear on one side for a couple of minutes…

…and then flip ‘em all over and sear ‘em for another minute or so.  Remove the shrimp from the pan and set them aside.

Now don’t clean out your skillet.  Just add your red bell pepper to the pan and start sauteeing.  You’ll wanna make sure you scrape the pan as the bell peppers sautee so that all the yummy browned residue from the shrimp starts to coat them. 

Now go ahead and whip up your guacamole.  I pressed the EASY button for this one and just used a couple of avocados and a packet of McCormick’s guacamole seasoning mix.  It’s my favorite.  If you have a great recipe for guac…use that. If you have the premade stuff, you can use that, too…but I personally think fresh is best!!!

Now let’s get back to the tostada, shall we?!  Top the cheesy tortilla with a dollop…or five…of guacamole.  You’ll wanna make sure you’re being generous here because this only adds to the the  flavor of this dish.  Then top the guacamole with the shrimp and then add the seasoned peppers to the top.  Then ever so gently shqueeze a lime over the top. 

Try to resist before you get it on your plate….I DARE YOU!!!!  I snapped this pic after I ate my first two.  I seriously couldn’t handle the wait!  I can’t begin to tell you how amazingly delicious this dish really is.  My love affair with shrimp only intensified after taking my first bite.  Just make sure you have a few napkins on hand and throw your table manners out the window because you’ll undoubtedly dig in with no restraint!