Shrimp salad tacos

You know what is the very best on a hot summer day (besides the beach)?

Shrimp salad. It's so easy and great served cold any which way you so choose.

I like a good, spicy, Mexican/Spanish-style shrimp salad wrapped in a tortilla with some shredded cabbage. So summery and easy to eat when the heat makes you want to convert to a liquid diet. And! Great with Coronas.

Here's what you need:

1/2 pound shrimp

one avocado

about 1/2 red onion

1 red bell pepper

1 lime

a handful of summer herbs -- I chose cilantro, basil and marjoram from my garden. You want to stick to the sweeter herbs (ie: no sage or rosemary, please!)

ear of corn

sour cream (a dollop)

wedge of red cabbage

tortillas (I prefer flour taco-sized tortillas)

jalapenos

hot sauce -- I am partial to Sriracha

First, start roasting your corn. I like to broil mine, lightly oiled, in the toaster oven. Grilled corn works well, too.

Then, peel and de-vein your shrimp, reserving the shells for later use. Ziplock them and freeze -- it'll make great stock (which I'll be showing you how to make another day)

Get a small pot of salted water boiling, and a small pot of ice water waiting to shock your blanched shrimp. Once the water boils, throw your shrimp in and cook until right when they turn pink -- you want them cooked through, but don't overdo it. Overcooked shrimp are mushy. Yuck. Drain the shrimp then throw into the ice water to cool.

Meanwhile, mince your onion, peppers and herbs. Toss them in a mixing bowl. Chop the shrimp small and toss that in, too.

Halve your avocado, remove the pit, then slice it right in the shell with a butter knife, first lengthwise then back across your original cuts. Add that as well.

When the corn is done roasting, slice it off the cob, and toss that in your bowl, too.

Put a dollop of sour cream in the bowl and a generous squirt of hot sauce. Squeeze your lime in here as well. Mix gently. Salt and pepper to taste. I like to add about two teaspoons of smoked paprika at this point. As it's kind of hard to find, I didn't include it in the ingredients list.

Serve with tortillas and lime wedges. Garnish with shredded cabbage. Don't forget the beer!

Low or no-heat cooking.

It's not even summer yet, and it's freaking hot. The last thing that I feel like doing is slaving over a stove. So, I like to dream up ways to have well-rounded meals that involve minimal or no heat. Salt and acids are your best friend when it comes no-heat "cooking." Both help veggies -- like kale for example -- break down to something a bit more edible. Munching on a raw kale leaf just doesn't sound great, but massage it with some salt, sesame oil and rice vinegar, and you have a great, refreshing summer salad or side. Here is a picture of some lovely kale that came from Green Hill Urban Farm, as well as some radishes which will form a great salad.

The radishes are optional for this dish. They came in my Green Hill CSA box with the kale, so I thought I'd just throw it all in there. (want to learn more about Green Hill and how to get enrolled in their CSA program? Visit this link: http://greenhillurbanfarm.com/page.cfm?pg=204)

So, to make marinated kale ribbons, here's what you need:

1 bunch kale, stems stripped away

2 T tamari/soy sauce

1/4 cup seasoned (sweet) rice wine vinegar

salt

2 T toasted sesame oil

Now, here's where I tell you that you need to go out and buy yourself a cool toy. You deserve it. Head out to your local kitchen supply and grab yourself a mandolin slicer, pictured below with a radish that it perfectly julienned in seconds flat. Watch your fingers, please.



Stack your kale leaves on top of each other and roll into a cigar like so:



Then slice into ribbons like so:



Put your kale ribbons and julienned radishes into the bowl. Next, add all of your liquids.



Throw in a pinch or two of salt, get your hands down in that bowl and massage away. The salt will pull a lot of liquid out of your veggies. Let it all marinate for a while, at least 10-15 minutes, then pull the kale out of the dressing and serve. This dish keeps for a couple of days in the fridge. In my opinion, it's best the next day. As always, if you feel like you want more vinegar or tamari, add away.



Optional additions to your ribbons include fresh ginger and/or garlic, toasted sesame seeds, sliced red onion...you get the idea.

Eat your ribbons alone as a refreshing salad or with other items as a side dish. Here is my own low-cook dinner that I had on this hot hot evening:


Flash-seared Copper River salmon with kale ribbons. On top of the fish is some avocado relish (white onion, avocado, tomato, lime juice, salt. Also fresh dill, cilantro and Theros olive oil from Green Hill). In the background is some whole wheat French Bread from Annie's bakery in Sylva with more Theros olive oil infused with garlic, rosemary and thyme from my own garden. The fish only took a minute to cook, everything else was no-cook. Very healthy stuff and my house is much cooler (if you consider 79 degrees to be cool).