Tuesday, August 6, 2013

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
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!}

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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.

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

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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…

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

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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. 

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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!!!

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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. 

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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! 

17 comments:

  1. these look heavenly! I'll have to try them!

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  2. These look DELICIOUS! I also had never really mixed Mexican and shrimp until I tried this recipe from Cooking Light: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/black-bean-corn-shrimp-salad-10000001072198/

    Now, we eat it almost every other week. In taco shells, by itself, on pita or tortilla chips. And it's even better the 2nd day once the flavors have had a chance to settle and mix. Try it sometime. It's SO easy!

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  3. yum this looks delicious!

    xx
    Staci

    www.leatherandleops.com

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  4. This looks so yummy! How in the world do you look so darn good and still make all of this yummy food?

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  5. OMG - this looks amazing! Ironically we are having tostadas tonight but now my chicken ones look totally boring next to this --- tomorrow night we'll do these!

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  6. These look sooo good! I love shrimp!

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  7. These look delicious! Will definitely be trying them!

    www.ridhi.com

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  8. You had me at Shrimp!! Will have to trying these immediately.

    ❤ -Stephanie
    Falling Into First

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  9. i drooled...will give it a whirl

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  10. I'm obsessed with shrimp too. Definitely gonna try this recipe!

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  11. I have a couple of serious shrimp lovers in my house so I am DEFINITELY going to have to make this!!!

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  12. I'm always surprised when people say that they don't link Mexican food and seafood. Mexico has 6000 miles of coastline, split between Atlantic and Pacific. Some of the best seafood I've ever had has been in Mexico. Check out Rick Bayless' recipes for some more authentic Mexican seafood recipes!

    http://www.rickbayless.com/recipes/

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  13. I just made these tonight (found your recipe on pinterest a little bit ago) and.....Oh My GOODNESS, it is SOOOOO GOOD! I'm literally in a blissful food coma right now. My fiance said this is the best meal I've made him (and I've made lots that he's loved). Thanks so much for this absolutely delicious recipe!

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  14. Drool! I adore shrimp! Can't wait to try these!

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  15. Oh my!! This meal was soooo yummy!!

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