Shrimp Tacos with Tomato-Raspberry Salsa

You know how much McKenzie and I love, love, love fish tacos.  When we travel to coastal destinations, we’re always seeking the best taco truck or restaurant to get our fish taco fix.  And when we get a glorious sunny day at home, we’re thinking about making fish tacos to eat on the deck.

Last week, I switched up my favorite halibut taco recipe for shrimp tacos topped with a spicy fresh tomato and raspberry salsa.  The raspberries add the same sweetness and tangy pop as pineapple does to tacos al pastor.  The combination of the in-season tomatoes with the sweet-tart raspberries, creamy avocado and spicy jalapeno is really good.    

This recipe is so easy to make—it’s ready in minutes, so it’s perfect for a weeknight meal.  To serve, let everyone make their own tacos by setting out plates of warmed tortillas, shrimp, and the tomato-raspberry salsa.  I like to serve this with a tangy cabbage slaw and roasted sweet potato fries.  We hope you invite some friends over, make a pitcher of margaritas and enjoy a casual dinner on your deck. 

Shrimp Tacos with Tomato-Raspberry Salsa

Serves 6

1 shallot, thinly sliced

Zest and juice of one lemon

¼ teaspoon sea salt

1 pint cherry tomatoes, tomatoes sliced in half

½ cup frozen raspberries, thawed

1 avocado, diced

1 jalapeno, diced (seeded, if desired)

2 – 3 tablespoons cilantro leaves

12 corn tortillas

¼ teaspoon cumin seed, toasted and ground

¼ teaspoon coriander seed, toasted and ground

¼ teaspoon paprika (sweet or hot, your choice)

¼ teaspoon sea salt

24 large shrimp, peeled and de-veined

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

First, make the Tomato-Raspberry Salsa.  Place the shallot, lemon juice and zest and salt in a bowl and let set for at least five minutes.  The lemon juice will mellow and slightly pickle the shallot.  Add the halved cherry tomatoes, thawed raspberries, avocado, jalapeno and cilantro.  Stir together and let sit while you make the shrimp tacos.

Heat a large cast iron skillet (or heavy bottomed skillet) over medium—high heat.  Place the tortillas in the skillet for a minute or so on each side, to toast and warm.  Wrap the tortillas in a clean dish towel to keep warm until serving.

In a small bowl, stir together the cumin, coriander, paprika and salt.  Sprinkle the spice mix on both sides of the shrimp.  (Extra spice mix may be stored in an airtight container for up to two weeks.)

Drizzle the shrimp with extra virgin olive oil on both sides.  Place the shrimp in the hot cast iron skillet and cook, about 1 – 2 minutes per side, or until just cooked through.  Be sure to place the shrimp in a single layer, not crowding the pan.  You may have to cook the shrimp in two or three batches, depending on the size of your skillet.  The shrimp will turn an opaque color when done.  Remove shrimp from the heat as soon as they are cooked and place in a bowl.  

Place two cooked shrimp in a corn tortilla and top with salsa.  Enjoy, preferably with someone (or several people!) you love!   

Although we do work with the National Raspberry Council, we were not compensated for this post.  

All our opinions are our own.  We really do just love raspberries!

Magical Tulum

The turquoise waters and white Caribbean beaches of Tulum, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, appears to be a magical place.  Not unlike Lake Wobegon, in Tulum all the visitors fall in love, friendships are formed and time stands still.  And the freshest handcrafted food can be found everywhere, from the taco truck in Tulum’s central square to the tiny restaurants frequented by locals to the ‘eco-chic’ resorts lining the beach.   

A wedding took Elie and me to Tulum in May.  Scarlett and Diego met and fell in love while working at Amansala, famous for its bikini boot camp.  Now living in California, they returned with their gorgeous baby, Onyx, and dog, Sierra, to officially begin their life as a family in the place that brought them together.  On a sun-drenched afternoon, their closest family and friends, all dressed in white, gathered on the pier at La Laguna for the ceremony.

By this time, we all felt like family.  Since we all hailed from different phases of Scarlett and Diego’s lives, few of us knew each other when we arrived four days before the wedding.  Our bonding began the first morning, with Scarlett’s mandatory (*smile*) 7 a.m. beach walk.  Elie and I happily threw on bathing suits (and a little sunscreen for myself) and joined the group at the water’s edge. 

Over the next few days, we formed friendships as we explored the Mayan ruins at Coba...

Swam in the Gran Cenote and underground cenote…   

Relaxed on the beach…

And shared many meals together.  Great meals, I might add.  You can’t find bad food in Tulum, which is a testament to the power and beauty of incredibly fresh food.  Fresh food, lovingly prepared, tastes good.  And is good for you. 

Here are some of my favorite Tulum food finds. 

Mateo’s Mexican Grill calls their fish tacos the best in the world.  That might be a stretch, but they are good—grilled fish in a corn tortilla with a mango salsa.  Simple and very satisfying, especially if eaten sitting in the sun with a Negro Modelo (for me) or a fresh fruit smoothie (for Elie).

At La Zebra, Elie and I shared the chicken mole, fall-off-the-bone tender and tasting the way you imagine mole should—dark, rich and slightly spicy. 

We ate breakfast at Posada Margherita after a few of our beach walks, sitting in the sun on the low benches of the deck and enjoying an Americano or fresh juice with a Mexican scramble.  Dinner at Posada Margherita begins with a gift from the kitchen—a rustic wooden board layered with homemade foccacia and a bowl of warm pistachios.  The red snapper cooked in sea water is their specialty and is quite good.

On the main street in Tulum, you’ll find Flor de Michoacan, serving homemade paletas, or Mexican popsicles.  They have dozens of flavors to choose from, from the sweet and fruity to creamy or spicy.  The pistachio paleta was very good—creamy, crunchy and not-too-sweet, studded with whole pistachios.

The best corn tortillas of the week—and perhaps the most interesting tacos—were found at an un-named off-the-beaten path restaurant.  We stumbled upon the restaurant—which looked more like a picnic area with a cooking shed in the back—after an unsuccessful hunt for street tacos.  After taking our seats at tables lined with bright red plastic picnic cloths, we ordered fish and shrimp tacos.  For $4 US, we got three tacos.  The corn tortilla—thicker and more rustic than others we’d eaten that week, with a flavor of freshly ground corn meal—held freshly fried fish and shrimp, hot and crispy, topped with slices of avocado, tomato and pickled onions.  We topped them a drizzle of salsa piquant made from habanero peppers—a kind of hot pepper oil found in many of the restaurants in Tulum.  Really good. 

Our favorite restaurant of the week was El Tabano, a slow-food place with a charming jungle garden dining room where everything is made from scratch.  If you sit near the kitchen, you can watch women hand-roasting granola for breakfast, slow roasting pork or rolling and griddling corn tortillas. 

My favorite dish of the week was their egg casserole, a clay pot with two eggs baked in a spicy sauce of black beans and roasted poblano peppers.  When I scraped my spoon through the sauce, I pulled up a string of melted cheese hidden in the bottom.  Scooped into homemade corn tortillas, it was the most satisfying and nourishing dish.  Stay tuned, because I’ll definitely be recreating this dish at home, and I’ll share the recipe with you when I do. 

For lunch or dinner, El Tabano also has a great wine list, which is not necessarily easy to find in Mexico.  Lunch and dinner are just as delicious.  And I love the chalkboard menu. 

Unfortunately, Hartwood—which had been on my list of must-try restaurants in Tulum—closed for a brief vacation on the day we had intended upon eating there.  We’ll have to catch it next time around.

While in Tulum, every single day I continued to be delighted at the variety, availability and affordability of the homemade, fresh and healthy food.  Tropical fruits, avocados, black beans, spicy peppers and tomatoes are abundant at almost every meal.  At breakfast, the bright orange yolks of the eggs obviously came from free-roaming chickens eating a wild and varied diet.  And in every restaurant, including ‘fast food’ taco stands and roadside eateries, the ingredients are fresh and the food is handmade.  It’s a great model for good eating.

In Tulum, we certainly practiced our (non)diet advice.  We ate real food with people we love.  Thank you to Scarlett, Diego and Onyx for bringing us there. 

    

Craving Summer

I admit it. I'm a sun worshipper. And sometimes I forget to wear sunscreen. It's awful, I know. In fact, the sun is one of the many things I love about living in California.

When the groundhog saw his shadow on February 2^nd, declaring another six long weeks of winter it did little to affect our sunny lives here in Southern California. Luckily for us, winter in California still means we have access to a wide variety of some of the freshest and most vibrant fruits and vegetables on the planet. Buying fresh foods, picked at the peak of their season equates to buying foods with their maximum nutrient content. Americans are encouraged to eat more fruits and vegetables because they contain a variety of essential nutrients, are associated with reduced risk of many chronic diseases and, when prepared without added fats or sugars, are relatively low in calories.  

My CSA box makes me very, very happy

So, if you're in need of some sunshine - or at least craving summertime -  we encourage you to take advantage of your local farmer's market and stock up on these in-season foods:

Avocados, broccoli, grapefruit, kumquats, lemon, oranges, tangerines, and mushrooms.

When cooler weather is getting you down, citrus fruits have this wonderful way of lifting your spirits. Even though they’re peak season is winter, they just taste like summer. Not only are they refreshing and crisp, but they’re packed with nutrition. Grapefruits, lemons, oranges, tangerines, and kumquats all boast high levels of Vitamin C – perhaps the most well-known antioxidant for promoting a healthy immune system. By enjoying citrus fruits as part of your meals and snacks, you also improve the absorption of iron in your body’s cells –a nutrient in which many people are deficient.

Love the lemon tree in my backyard

Speaking of craving summertime, while avocados also taste like summer, they are luckily still in season during the winter months. For this reason, Hass avocados are a staple in most Californian diets. It wouldn’t be a meal without a side of avocado, right? Being touted as "nature's mayonnaise" for their naturally creamy texture and rich flavor, Hass avocados are our favorite. They are a delicious source of healthy mononunsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, and are one of the most nutrient dense foods out there. One-fifth of a medium avocado (1 oz.) has 50 calories, contributes nearly 20 vitamins and minerals and contains less than 1g of sugar. Fresh avocados used as spreads or dips in place of other processed products can reduce your intake of saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium and calories.

Image reprinted with permission from
www.katherinemartinelli.com & www.healthyaperature.com

And now for a few recipes.

We thought we would share the recipe for our second favorite food, fish tacos. (Pizza is, and always will be, #1). While we've had some wonderful moments sharing pizza together, we've had some equally wonderful moments sharing fish tacos.

Our Favorite Fish Tacos with avocado crema & citrus slaw

Serves 6

 Start by making the citrus slaw and avocado crema.  Serve the tacos topped with slaw and crema, or serve them on the side.  Enjoy, preferably with those you love!

 Citrus Slaw

 1 jalapeno, seeded

1/2 cup cilantro

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon honey

juice of one large lime, about 1 tablespoon

juice of ½ grapefruit, about 3 tablespoons

zest of 1 lime

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

½ cup grapeseed oil

1 small head red cabbage, cored and thinly sliced

1 small head green cabbage, cored and thinly sliced

1 carrot, shredded

1/2 bunch green onions, thinly sliced

Make the dressing.  Blend the first nine ingredients, jalapeno through salt and black pepper, in a blender.  With the blender on a low speed, blend in the grapeseed oil until emulsified.  Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

The heat of the dressing will vary, depending upon the spiciness of the jalapeno pepper.  Adjust the amount of honey to temper the heat to taste.  The dressing will keep in the refrigerator for about a week.  Just whisk to reincorporate all of the ingredients.

Toss the cabbage, carrot and green onion with about ¼ - ½ cup of the dressing.  Do not overdress the slaw.  It should only be lightly coated with the dressing.  Place in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Avocado Crema

 1 large ripe Hass avocado

4 ounces Greek yogurt

Dash hot sauce

Juice of 1 lime, about 2 tablespoons

Sea salt, to taste

In a small bowl, mash together the Hass avocado, yogurt, hot sauce, lime juice and salt.  Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.  Serve as a topping for tacos or a dip for homemade tortilla chips. 

Halibut Tacos

1 tablespoon ancho chili powder

1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/4 pound fresh halibut

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil , or grapeseed oil

12 6" corn tortillas

Blend all spices together in a small bowl. 

Cut halibut into large 1" dice.  Sprinkle spice mixture over halibut and toss to coat. 

Add two tablespoons of oil to large skillet over medium heat.   Add halibut and cook about 4 minutes, or until halibut pieces are just cooked through.  Remove from heat and place halibut pieces on a plate.

Grill corn tortillas on flat top grill, about 1 minute per side, or until blistered.  To each corn tortilla, add a few pieces of the cooked halibut, a little of the citrus slaw, and a drizzle of the avocado crema.  Repeat with remaining tortillas and serve with a wedge of lime.

These seasonal tips & recipes were featured in last month’s Health & Wellness Guide for

The Santa Clarita Valley Signal. For more “In Season” tips & recipes us, pick up the next issue of The Health & Wellness Guide on April 13^th.  

Day Three—Monterey and Carmel

Day three of our road trip kept us driving south down the Central Coast, first destination:  Monterey.  Looking forward to being spoiled with the area’s freshest seafood and local, flavorful avocados, we headed straight to Cannery Row to search out the best fish tacos in town.  After a quick reconnaissance of local spots, we settled in to the sunny patio overlooking the bay at Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa.  Homemade corn tortillas, the freshest fish, creamy guacamole, a local IPA, sunshine and a lovely view—need we say more? 

With happy bellies and high spirits, we headed to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, arriving only an hour before closing time.  Delighted to get discounted tickets (every $15 counts!), we raced to see the penguins, puffins and jellyfish before collapsing into a giant clam. 

In the late afternoon, with the arrival of the marine layer blocking the warmth and sun, we traveled south toward Pebble Beach and through the exquisite 17-mile drive hugging the rugged coastline.  We slowly wound our way past multi-million dollar estates and breathtaking vistas, stopping often to enjoy fresh air and take photos (and avert nausea!). 

Arriving in Carmel for the night, we checked into our quaint cottage and headed to dinner, walking through the quiet streets to Cantinetta Luca, the sister restaurant of the acclaimed Aubergine at the L’Auberge Carmel Hotel.  The grilled eggplant appetizer and wood fired pizza at Luca were quite tasty, even if it didn’t make our Top 10 list. 

After dinner, we stopped at the French bistro La Bicyclette for dessert, a strawberry rhubarb tart baked in their wood oven.  A sweet ending to a full day.  Next, stay tuned for our adventures in Big Sur and San Luis Obispo.

A Love Affair with Avocados

Avocados play a starring role in our daily diet—and they’re on our list of the Top 5 Foods we can’t live without.  (In case you haven’t noticed, we love lists!  More about our Top 5 Foods in another blog.  Oh, the suspense!)   

We both love avocados because they taste SO good and are one of the most nutrient-dense foods available, loaded with potassium, B vitamins, vitamins K & E, and healthy monounsaturated fats. 

Store your avocados at room temperature and wait until they are perfectly ripe.  To test an avocado’s ripeness, try to pull off the little stem (or the bellybutton of the avocado, as we call it!).  If it comes off easily, it’s ripe.  To ripen a green avocado, store in a paper bag and it will ripen more quickly.    

Here are some of our favorite ways to use avocados:

          Toss into your salads.

·         Use in place of mayonnaise in salad dressings.

·         Blend into smoothies.

·         Add slices to your sandwiches. 

·         Try mashing an avocado with a heaping spoonful of nonfat plain Greek yogurt, a little sea salt and hot pepper sauce (Lisa likes chipotle, but McKenzie just likes it spicy!). Stir it all together and you’ve got yourself a delicious sandwich spread or the perfect fish taco topping.

·         Make your own homemade guacamole.  For one of our favorite guacamole recipes, check out Mama’s Homemade Guacamole Recipe available by Hass Avocados.