Hot House? Chill Out With Cool Shrimp Tacos

I know it's been too hot for too long when I open a cupboard door and a blast of hot air rolls out and hits me in the face. At our house it seems to take about three days of temperatures in the high 90s to achieve this effect, so the last thing I want to do it exacerbate the problem by turning on the stove. Normally that means grilling outside, but Dave's been out of commission this week with cataract surgery, leaving dinners a last-minute "what are we gonna do" problem.

Fortunately there are good friends who have our back, who know that the last thing a person wants to do on a hot evening after a day of shuttling back and forth from doctor appointments is figure out what to have for dinner. My friend Ann offered to bring over her family's favorite hot weather, no-cook dinner on one of those nights, arriving in the late afternoon with a chilled container of shrimp salad she'd adapted from a recipe clipped out of a newspaper years before.

Made with local pink shrimp—which have passed a rigorous certification process and been declared a sustainable fishery by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)—and in-season avocados, this is a godsend in hot weather, but it's also a terrific quick solution to a weeknight dinner. Plus I can see it topping a salad of chopped greens or piled into a pita or tossed with hot or cold pasta or topping some crostini for a refreshing appetizer. Seriously, it's that flexible.

So while it's kinda hard to clip a recipe out of the computer screen, it'd be worth your while to bookmark it, save it or pin it someplace for future reference. Which is exactly the reason I'm writing this post—so I can find it the next time I need it!

Shrimp and Avocado Tacos

1 lb. pink shrimp

2 medium slightly firm avocadoes, diced

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced

2 green onions, thinly sliced crosswise

1/2 c. chopped cilantro (leaves only)

Juice of 1 lime

Salt to taste

Corn or flour tortillas, at room temperature or warmed in the microwave

Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl. Serve with tortillas.

While this is great all by itself, I chopped some cabbage to serve alongside, and you could also included sour cream, salsa or hot sauces as desired.

Southern Style: Succulent Shrimp and Grits

My friend Kathryn is a Southern gal through and through. The lilt of the Kentucky hills is still there in her voice, despite growing up moving all over the world as an Army brat, then living in Saudi Arabia as a young woman and finally settling on the West Coast. Her mom still lives not too far from the family's place on Spencer Ridge, playing a mean guitar, manicuring her lawn with a hatchet and making what are rumored to be some of the finest biscuits on the planet.

Kathryn often returns from her trips there with souvenirs like a several-pound whole Southern ham or bags of White Lily flour stashed in her luggage, which must make the drug-sniffing dogs think twice about their careers and the TSA agents scratch their heads. Booty from a recent trip home included bags of Weisenberger Mills stone-ground white grits, "milled from NON gmo White Grits grown in Hardin Co. Ky at the Rogers Farm," one precious bag of which she graciously brought as a hostess gift when they came for a catch-up dinner at our house. Lucky me!

And lucky again because it gave me an excuse to ask Kathryn for the recipe for the shrimp and grits we'd had at her home on a previous occasion. It's not written down, of course, one of those family recipes that's "a bit of this, a handful of that," but she patiently walked me through the process, putting up with my "how much?" questions.

After two attempts I'm still working on perfecting the grits—apparently Sean Brock of season two of the excellent The Mind of a Chef series says to soak them overnight before cooking—but the shrimp in its roasted tomato sauce more than makes up for any of my indiscretions on the grits end of things.

Shrimp and Grits
Adapted from Kathryn Madison

3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped fine
2-3 tsp. red pepper flakes, depending on your fondness for heat
6 green onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 qt. roasted tomatoes
1/2 c. white wine
1/2 lb. (or more) large fresh shrimp, shelled with tails on
1/2 c. parsley, chopped fine
Salt to taste

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in deep-sided skillet. When it shimmers, add yellow onion and red pepper flakes to skillet and sauté until the onion becomes translucent. Add green onions and garlic and sauté until green onions wilt. Add roasted tomatoes and white wine, reduce heat and simmer for one hour.

Make grits according to package directions. Just before serving, add shrimp and parsley to tomato sauce and simmer until shrimp is cooked, about 5 minutes or so. Add salt to taste. Serve over grits.

Quick Dinner? Grab the Peanut Butter!

When I was young I loved to read my mother's "ladies'" (not women's, no sir!) magazines. The Ladies Home Journal and Good Housekeeping featured women scurrying around the house making everything perfect for their lovely children and wonderful husband, makeup impeccably applied and hair freshly coiffed for the moment when their man walked in the door from his hard day at the office.

A recurring feature over the years, no doubt endlessly entertaining to the wives at their bridge parties, was a wacky idea called "breakfast for dinner" where the family would dress in pajamas and have pancakes and sausages instead of steak and potatoes. ("Imagine the squeals of delight from the young ones!")

I've never been a big fan of American breakfasts in general, so the idea of making it for dinner doesn't really appeal, either. So when I need a quick dinner solution, I grab the peanut butter from the fridge and some frozen shrimp or chicken from the freezer and make an Asian-inspired pasta dish that can include whatever green and crunchy things (peas, green onions, etc.) are in your veggie drawer. Pajamas, while appropriate any time of day around here, are obviously optional.

Pasta with Peanut Sauce, Snap Peas and Shrimp
Sauce adapted from All Around the World Cookbook by Sheila Lukins

For the peanut sauce:
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. rice vinegar
1/2 c. light coconut milk
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. peeled fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic
6 Tbsp. peanut butter
3 Tbsp. peanut oil or vegetable oil
3 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp. chili oil or 1/2 tsp. red chile flakes
1/2-1 tsp. Thai fish sauce (nam pla)

For the pasta:
1 lb. pasta or 9 oz. buckwheat soba
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 c. sliced snap peas (or other crunchy green things)
1/2 lb. frozen shrimp
Cilantro leaves for garnish

Bring large pot of water to boil. While it heats, put all sauce ingredients into bowl of food processor and process until it makes a smooth sauce. When pot of water boils, add pasta and cook till al dente. While pasta cooks, heat vegetable oil in skillet and sauté peas briefly, then add shrimp. When shrimp turn pink, remove from heat. Drain pasta and put in serving bowl. Add peas and shrimp and half of sauce (the remainder is terrific as a dipping sauce with salad rolls or raw veggies). Toss and garnish with cilantro leaves.

Curry in a Hurry

I'd been working on a story for FoodDay all day and hadn't looked up from my keyboard for several hours.

I saw what time it was and realized that Dave would be home from work in just a few minutes. I had no idea what we were having for dinner, but remembered seeing a recipe on my brother's blog that he said took as long to make as it took to cook the rice that went with it. Perfect!

(And it got rave reviews from my none-the-wiser family who thought I'd slaved over it for hours. Ha!)

Thai Green Curry Shrimp
Adapted from Epicurious

1 Tbsp. peanut oil or vegetable oil
1 c. thinly sliced onion
1 c. chopped green onions
1-2 tablespoons Thai green curry paste (start with the lesser amount and add more to taste)
1 14-oz. can unsweetened coconut milk (I used Trader Joe's light version)
1 c. chicken broth
3 Tbsp. Thai fish sauce (I use a Thai brand called Phu Quoc that is amazing)
2 tsp. sugar
1 c. diced tomatoes
2 lbs. uncooked large shrimp, peeled, deveined
Salt, to taste
Chopped fresh cilantro
Lime wedges

Heat peanut oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced onion; stir-fry until soft and beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Add green onions and curry paste; stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add coconut milk, chicken broth, fish sauce, and sugar; bring to boil. Add tomatoes and boil 2 minutes. Add shrimp and cook just until opaque in center, stirring often, about 3 to 5 minutes depending on size of shrimp. Add salt to taste. Transfer curry to large shallow bowl. Garnish with cilantro. Serve, passing lime wedges separately.

Quick, a Holiday Appetizer!

You'd think I'd have learned by now, but once again I had painted myself into a corner. I'd scheduled a walk with a friend and our dogs for first thing in the morning and shortly thereafter needed to leave for a holiday brunch at my friend Madeline's home. And this was one of those ladies' gatherings, where a bowl of dip and crackers from Trader Joe's wasn't going to cut it.

The plan was to make something the day before, or at least get ingredients that could be thrown together quickly the next morning, but the day had gotten out of hand and I didn't make it to the store. Panic was starting to set in when I remembered my mother's recipe for these simple skewered shrimp.

The next morning I ran to the store first thing, bought whole shrimp for $7.99 a pound rather than $12.99 for the peeled and deveined ones, and came home and peeled them. Stirring the marinade together took no time and they were happily marinating in the fridge when Michel showed up for our walk.

All I had to do was skewer the shrimp when I got back, broil them for a couple of minutes in the oven and throw them...um...I mean "arrange them artfully"...on a plate and head off to the brunch with a lovely platter of hors d'oeuvres. Whew!

Tarragon Mustard Shrimp Skewers

1/3 c. Dijon mustard
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 green onion, chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh tarragon or 2 tsp. dried
2 lbs. shrimp, peeled with tail on
12-15 9" bamboo skewers

In medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk mustard and olive oil together. Add green onion and tarragon and stir to combine. Add shrimp and toss to cover. Place in refrigerator to marinate for at least 1/2 hour (or longer if you have the time). Submerge skewers in water to soak so they won't burn when broiling.

Skewer shrimp on soaked skewers, grouping them with three shrimp on the upper half and three on the lower half, leaving about 1" gap in the middle of the skewer. Place skewers on broiler pan and broil in the oven 2 minutes per side or until cooked through. Take out of oven and, with garden shears, clip skewers in half. They're also terrific when grilled on a charcoal grill.