CINCO DE MAYO SPICY SHRIMP TACOS

Cinco de Mayo is one of my favorite holidays! That's mainly because it's another great excuse to eat tacos more than once a week. I have been doing some experimenting and have come up with an amazing shrimp taco marinade which of course I just had to share with the world. I will warn you that this marinade is spicy (not kick-you-in-the-pants spicy but has-some-bite spicy) so if you're not into spicy stuff you probably wont enjoy this as much as my other recipes. If you can stand a little heat then more to ya my friend!!!!! Enjoy!

Makes 4 Tacos - VIDEO BELOW

INGREDIENTS:

16 Shrimp (de-veined with shells removed)
1-2 TBSP of Olive Oil
1/4 TSP Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 TSP Chili Powder
1/4 TSP Paprika
1/4 TSP Cayenne Powder
3 Cloves of Garlic (minced)
1 Lime Zest and Juices
1.5 Cups of Shredded Cabbage
1 Stock of Green Onion (Chopped)
Salt
Avocado (sliced)
4 Tortillas

Garnish:
1/4 Cup of Cilantro
Sprinkle of Cotija Cheese or Feta Cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Mix shrimp, olive oil, red pepper flakes, chili powder, cayenne powder, minced garlic, pinch of salt and lime zest in a bowl. Allow to marinate for 15 minutes or so.

In another bowl mix together the shredded cabbage, lime juice, chopped green onion and a pinch of salt.

Warm up a skillet on medium heat and add in the marinated shrimps, cook for about 5 minutes or until pink. You can add more oil if you think you need it.

Warm tortillas up under oven broiler for a minute or two.

Plate your tortillas, add your avocado slices, cooked shrimp, cabbage slaw, and garnish with cilantro and cheese.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can!  Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!

SUPER BOWL 50 - HONEY CHIPOTLE CHICKEN TENDERS - SPICY

I originally found this recipe on http://lecremedelacrumb.com a couple months back and thought what a great snack finger food. Its not overly complicated and doesn't take that long to prepare but its not something that mixes well with other cuisines or rich flavored foods. This dish is the center piece. You can add a side of rice but I wouldn't recommend straying from the Asian/Latin influence of this dish - it just doesn't work (believe me I tried). When it comes to Asian food and sauces I also tend to feel like they are made up of unnatural ingredients - if I cant pronounce it I probably don't want it in my food. This is a healthy alternative to that and one that guys will love and be drawn to during their Superbowl party. If you want to try this recipe the ingredients and directions are listed below. I didn't really change anything from the original recipe I found except for using gluten free rice flower and gluten free rice bread crumbs,  so full credit goes to Le creme De la crumb for this one.

Serves 3 people as a main

INGREDIENTS:

2 Large Skinless and Boneless Chicken Breast
1 Cup All purpose Flour (or rice flour substitute to make it gluten free)
2 Cup Panko Bread Crumbs (or rice/gluten free bread crumbs)
3 Eggs (whisked)
1 TSP each of salt and pepper
8 TBSP butter (melted)

Sauce
⅓ Cup Honey
½ Cup Sugar
2 TSP chipotle adobo sauce (the sauce that chipotle peppers are packed in inside the can! These can be found in the Latino section at the market.)
1 TBSP Franks Hot Sauce
½ TSP salt
½ TSP garlic powder
¼ Cup Ketchup
1 TBSP white vinegar
⅓ Cup water (COLD)
2 TBSP Corn Starch
Ranch Dressing, Chives, or Green Onion (all optional garnishes)
 

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Pour the melted butter all over a baking sheet and spread out evenly with a spatula.

Get three bowls. In the first bowl mix the flour and salt and pepper together. In the second bowl put the whisked eggs. In the third bowl put the bread crumbs.

Dip the chicken into the flour bowl coating it completely, next dip it into the egg until it is covered, let excess egg drip off, finally dip the flour and egg covered chicken into the bread crumbs. Mix the chicken well into the bread crumbs till it is completely covered and place on the banking sheet.

Put in the oven for for 8-10 minutes, flip the chicken stripped and bake for another 8-10 minutes until golden.

While the chicken is baking combine all the sauce ingredients except the water and corn starch into a medium sauce pan. Stir and bring to a light boil then reduce the heat. In a separate bowl combine the water and corn starch and mix until there is no lumps. Add into the sauce pan to thicken the sauce. Whisk until it evens out.

When the chicken is done baking dip it into the sauce and garnish with any of the suggested ingredients. You are now ready to serve the honey chipotle chicken tenders.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe. I would love to know your thoughts! If you have and suggestions or question please feel free to leave them in the comments below! Hope your team wins! xx

TRADITIONAL MEXICAN CEVICHE

I love me some ceviche and I found that discarded avocado skins make a great serving device for dinner parties because they are easy to carry, they wont leak and they are of course biodegradable! Ceviche originally came from Peru but has since evolved and been expanded on with other South American cuisines. One of my favorite styles is typically seen in Mexican cuisines where they use whole white fish and habanero peppers to give it a refreshing and spicy flavor. Enjoy.

Makes 15 Avocado Cups (small servings)

INGREDIENTS:

2lbs of White Fish (Sea Bass works)
8-10 Garlic Cloves (chopped finely)
2 TSP of Salt
1 TSP of Black Pepper
1 Habanero (remove seed and chop finely)
4 TSP of Cilantro (chopped)
20 Limes (juiced)
1 Medium Red Onion (chopped finely)

DIRECTIONS:

Mix all ingredients except the onion in a bowl. Make sure all ingredients are covered in lime juice. Cover and place in fridge and allow to marinate for 2-3 hours.

After the two or three hours add the onion into the mix, place in avocado cups and serve.

 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Happy cooking!!!


 

SPICY LOBSTER QUINOA PASTA - GLUTEN FREE

INGREDIENTS:

1 TBSP of Olive Oil
1 Medium Onion (chopped)
5 Cloves of Garlic (minced) - you will need to split 3/5 cloves for the sauce
1 TSP of Chili Flakes
1 TSP of Dried Basil
1 TSP of Dried Oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Bottle of Tomato Pomodoro (strained tomato sauce)
1 TSP of Butter
6 Lobster Tails (thawed 4 chopped up 2 left whole)
1 Pack of Quinoa Pasta

DIRECTIONS:

Add oil to a sauce pan and heat up on medium heat. Add in your onion and 3 cloves of garlic and let them sweat.

Add in chili flakes, basil, oregano and salt and pepper. Stir around and let evenly mix

Once onions are garlic are nicely cooked add in your bottle of pomodoro tomato sauce, reduce heat to low and set aside to simmer.

Start to boil your water for the pasta.

Salt and pepper your chopped lobster bits lightly

In another skillet add in your butter and let melt on medium -low heat. Add in the remaining garlic and allow to season the butter for a second until you add in the chopped lobster bits.

Once the lobster bits are cooked through (apx 4-5minutes) then add cook lobster bits to the tomato sauce. Stir lobster into the tomato sauce and leave to continue to simmer

When the water is boiling add 1 TSP of salt to the water before adding in your quinoa pasta. You need to stir quinoa pasta for the first two minutes so that it doesn't stick together then let it continue to cook for an addition 10 minutes before it is al dente.

In another pan we are going to add in 1 cup of water and steam the remaining two lobster tails for 3-4 minutes. One ready remove lobster tails from water and set aside.

One ready dump pasta water and add pasta to sauce. Mix in and plate hot. Top with full steamed lobster tail and serve. ENJOY

 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Happy cooking!!!
 

CRACK CHICKEN MARINADE

This is one of my favorite marinades my boyfriends dad uses to make chicken thighs. The chicken comes out moist with a crispy outside layer. It smells and taste delicious and is not overly spicy. I really enjoy this chicken recipe and I'm sure if you like dark meat so will you.

INGREDIENTS

12 Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs (rinsed)
1-2 TBSP of Olive Oil
1 TSP of Ginger
1 TSP of Celery Salt
1 TSP of Cayenne Pepper
2 TBSP of Soy Sauce

DIRECTIONS

Add all ingredients to a flat bowl and allow chicken to marinate for at least 30 minutes before cooking. Store in cool place while marinating.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place marinated chicken thighs on a baking tray lined with aluminum foil.

Bake or 30-40 minutes.

If you want them crisp broil them for an additional 10 minutes at the end.

 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Happy cooking!!!