Sunday, June 25, 2006

Day 32

Adult Menu
  • shrimp campechana (see below)
  • leftover HUGE salad with lots of goodies in it

Girl Child
Had a microscopic serving of salad, some shredded cheddar, a piece of string cheese and some whole-grain bread with Smart Balance margarine.

Boy Child
Had salad, shredded cheddar, and bread with no margarine.

DH and I have become addicted to the campechana served at a local Mexican restaurant. They make it with shrimp and some sort of mild white fish with very fresh vegetables and a spicy tomato-based sauce. I googled recipes for it and saw everything from squid to octopus to oysters included therein, with all sorts of different sauces. So I kind of winged it based on what we like and what seems to be included in the restaurant version we love. I didn't measure as I went but here, to the best of my knowledge, is how I made it tonight:

1 lb. raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined
1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup yellow bell pepper, chopped
2 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup chopped sweet yellow onion
1 avocado, diced
1-2 Tbs. fresh cilantro, snipped
the juice from 2 small limes
1/2 bottle of Heinz chili sauce
a grind or two of black pepper

Bring a pot of water to the boil and add shrimp, removing just after they turn opaque and start to curl (no more than 3-4 minutes). Cool shrimp in an ice bath, then rough chop (or leave whole, if they're small) and transfer to a bowl. Add all the other ingredients and toss, then cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. Serve cold.

DH doesn't like anything spicy, so I made it VERY mild. If you want to boost the heat factor, add a minced jalapeno pepper or two, or sprinkle in some hot sauce with the chili sauce. I didn't add any salt because of the bottled sauce, but you do whatever.

Make sure all the veggies are REALLY fresh. You could scoop this up with tortilla chips or wrap it in lettuce leaves to serve, but I use a fork, the better to cram it into my mouth in an expedient manner. This is a great cold dish for hot weather and goes great with beer AND margaritas.

2 comments:

Laura/PFG said...

hmmm...this stuff sounds pretty lunch friendly for me to take to work....

and it's so weird you mentioned chili sauce, because just this morning i was reading the side of my Club cracker box on a recipe for Shrimp Louis (?) and they mentioned it and i was SO confused. haha :)

BabelBabe said...

I have a great recipe for shrimp/chicken marinade - do you object to coconut at all? it's delish, and I would be happy to share the recipe....it's the ONLY way H will eat shrimp...you just need to grill more, I think : ) but if you don't do coconut milk...you would not like it...maybe just ONE more set of ellipseseseses...