Shrimp Tacos w/Red Cabbage Cilantro Slaw and Chipolte Sour Cream

When Paige mention the possibility of a taco blog party I was in!  Who doesn't love tacos?  They are incredibly easy to prepare and relatively healthy.  My version of a shrimp taco is also gluten free because of my current needs.  Corn tortillas are naturally gluten free, but since they are a soft taco I add  a bright red cabbage cilantro slaw for the crunch in a perfectly textured taco.

Shrimp Tacos w/ Red Cabbage Cilantro Slaw and Chipolte Sour Cream

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Makes 6-8 tacos

Ingredients:

¼ head of red cabbage, thinly sliced

Small handful of cilantro, chopped

¼ tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp. olive oil

¼ cup sour cream

1 tsp. sauce from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo

18 – 24 shrimp, peeled and deveined

Juice from 1 lime

6-8 corn flour tortillas

Instructions:

Cabbage Slaw: combine cabbage, cilantro, vinegar, and ½ tbsp. of olive oil in a bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  Keep refrigerated until ready to serve, can be made ahead.

Chipotle Sour  Cream: combine sour cream and adobo sauce.  Keep refrigerated until ready to serve, can be made ahead.

Shrimp and Tortillas: marinate shrimp in the juice of ½ a lime and ½ tbsp. of olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Can marinate up to ½ an hour in the fridge.   While the shrimp is marinating, toast the tortillas in a dry skillet one at a time until just small bits are golden brown.  Transfer warmed tortillas inside aluminum foil to keep warm until ready to serve.  Saute shrimp in skillet, about 3-5 minute per side.  Assemble tacos with slaw first, shrimp, and chipotle sour cream.

Summer Vegetable and Goat Cheese Pasta

Summer Vegetable and Goat Cheese Pasta

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 Shallots - chopped

2 Garlic Cloves - chopped

1 Large Orange Pepper – cut in matchstick pieces

1 medium Zucchini – cut in match stick pieces

(Optional) 1 small summer squash – cut in match stick pieces

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt & Pepper

2 tbsps. chicken stock

1 can of San Marzano Tomatoes

4 oz Plain Goat Cheese

3 cups of pasta – recommend orchetti

Instructions:

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook pasta to el dente following the instructions. 

Meanwhile, using a medium dutch oven, heat oil to a medium heat and add shallots, pepper, zucchini and squash.  Season with salt and pepper and sauté about 5 minutes until vegetables begin to soften.  Add garlic and cook another 2 minutes until garlic is just fragrant.  Add chicken stock and entire can of tomatoes including juices, break up tomatoes with a wooden spoon.  Just before the pasta is ready, melt the goat cheese into the vegetable mixture – the sauce will turn a beautiful orange color. 

Drain pasta and combine with sauce.  Serve garnished with a bit of Parmesan cheese and fresh basil if available.

Tomato Watermelon Salad

Tomato Watermelon Salad

This summer time recipe was inspired by our first trip to California's wine country.  The Girl in the Fig restaurant downtown Sonoma was a favorite, and a tomato watermelon salad was on their price fix menu that night.

(Serves 4)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

2 Large Tomatoes - Sliced in large rounds (need 12 slices)

¼ Seedless Watermelon - Sliced in thin wedges or cut round with cookie cutter to match tomatoes (need 12 slices)

¼ Cup Feta Cheese - Crumbled

4 tsp. Balsamic Vinegar

Salt

Instructions:

Stack tomatoes and watermelon in an alternating pattern using 3 slices of each.  Sprinkle each stack with ¼ of the feta cheese then drizzle with the balsamic vinegar and season with salt to taste.  Serve chilled on a hot summer day.

The Liquor Bottle Tiki Torch

Many of our summer nights are spent outdoors, however around here, that means mosquitos. We inherited a bug zapper in the move, but wanted something a little less...weird. I love tiki torches. Like, an oddly obsessive amount. Another thing I love is good tequila. I usually have a bottle of Parton Silver on hand. Not only does the tequila taste great, but the bottle looks pretty cool too. We found a pretty sweet way to upcycle the bottle and kill bugs at the same time. (To be fair, the idea did come from a Lowe's catalog, we just made it better.)

Here is what you'll need:

• One empty bottle of Patron
• Tiki Torch fluid
• Spare tiki torch wick (they sell these to 2-packs at Home Depot)
• Washers

The actual assembly is straight forward.  Trim the wick so there is about an inch above the bottle opening.  We used two washers, one at the top of the bottle and the other set a bit higher to raise the flame from the top of the bottle, we didn't want to lignite the whole thing!  Please don't use this around children or clumsy adult though - the torch fluid could spill since there isn't a good seal.

Now go make some margaritas so you can make a Patron Bottle Tiki Torch too!

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