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Passionfruit Chipotle Shrimp: quickie dinner with style and flair

My friend, Ashley was visiting and I had promised dinner, but I hadn’t really planned. Towards the end of a busy semester, I find myself playing it by ear a lot; I just don’t have the wherewithal to do something that requires a lot of prep or advanced thought. I deal with things as they come up, and look forward to the upcoming break when I won’t feel so much like I am flying by the seat of my pants (what an odd idiom that is)!

I love the color of this…it almost looks like a curry…which makes me want to experiment with coconut and curry flavors…

I knew I had a bag of shrimp in the freezer that had been waiting for me to come up with something and then I remembered a quickie solution I quite like: tangy, smoky shrimp with finger-licking good sauce that soaks nicely into rice, but can also be eaten on its own if you are looking to reduce carbohydrate intake.

This was done in under ten minutes and made us very happy. One thing I like about this light treatment of shrimp is that you can eat a lot of it without the uncomfortably full feeling you can get from pork or beef). For a grilled version, click here.

very, very yummy!

Passionfruit Chipotle Shrimp (serves four)

1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, minced (about a half cup)

2 tsp minced garlic

3 Tbs passionfruit pulp or juice

1-2 Tbs chipotle in adobo, chopped (remove seeds for less heat, but this amount is not super-spicy)

Juice of one orange or Clementine

Sprinkling of Adobo powder

1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and de-veined (tail-on is okay)

1/4 Cup cilantro, chopped

In a skillet, heat olive oil until fragrant then add onions, stir to coat and lower heat to medium. Saute for five minutes or until onions are quite soft. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add passionfruit, chipotle and juice and stir to combine. While it cooks for a minute or two, sprinkle shrimp with Adobo (go easy if you don’t like much salt). Raise heat to high, add shrimp and cilantro to skillet, stir to coat and cook for 3-4 minutes, depending on the size of the shrimp, until they lose their translucency and begin to curl.

Serve over rice. Good cold too!

Shrimp in Seconds (tapas, party snack, salad topper or killer wrap/tortilla filler)

13 Sep

A bag of frozen shrimp in the fridge is worth its weight in gold when you have surprise guests, a hankering for seafood or you just want a tasty, quick, low-fat protein that you can eat with your fingers. It thaws in no time, cooks in less than no time, and is a virtually guaranteed crowd-pleaser. I also use any leftovers for lunch the next day!

This recipe is so basic it almost doesn’t seem like a recipe to me, but it gets the job done when you just want to eat without fussing and be able to sit down with your guests and actually eat and relax.

Casual Sauteed Shrimp (Appetizer or Salad Topper or Wrap Ingredient)

15-20 medium frozen shrimp (31-40 is fine and usually reasonably priced; pre-peeled is nice….).

1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning

1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

Do a Quick Thaw McGraw on the shrimp in a bowl of room-temperature water, turning occasionally changing water if things are moving too slowly. Ten minutes is all you really need. Peel shrimp if necessary, leaving tails on.

Drain shrimp and pat dry with a paper towel and place in a bowl. Add Old Bay Seasoning and stir to coat.

Heat oil at medium high in a skillet. When oil is loose and fragrant, add shrimp and cook for about two minutes, stirring frequently until they are pink-white (not translucent) and curled up. You don’t want to overcook, so pull them out as soon as they begin to stiffen. You can cut through one experimentally to check that all translucence is gone.

Remove from heat and serve as finger food with plenty of napkins and cocktail sauce, lemon wedges or anything else you like to dip shrimp into. Garlic mayo (aioli) comes to mind https://hotcheapeasy.wordpress.com/2010/12/17/tapas-1-make-your-own-mayo/ Or use to top a salad. I have used them in wraps, cold out of the fridge and sliced in half lengthwise, along with fresh or roasted vegetables, white cheese or feta and a smear of hummus. You can also stir into pasta, adding a bit more oil and lemon.

Tags: buffet, cooking, finger food, food, party food, quick seafood dishes, recipes, seafood, shrimp, tapas

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Categories Food, Recipes, salad, Sandwich, Seafood, Side Dishes, Tapas, Uncategorized

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