I love a refreshing, easy, dinner recipe for summer. I also love any dinner that can be cooked on the barbecue and enjoyed outside. That’s the whole point of summer dinners! I’ve had a hankering for shrimp tacos and mango salsa for some time now, and with limited restaurants in my town, I had to become the guac-and-salsa making machine!
While Pinterest-fails are trendy, I’ve actually had some really good luck with recipes I find there. Pinterest is my quick, go-to when venturing out of my normal, down-home style cooking (aka burgers and pancakes). The mango salsa recipe I used came from Pinterest, and the original link is: https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/5-ingredient-mango-salsa-recipe/. The rest of the dinner… well it’s not rocket science and I was able to figure that out on my own.
Ingredients
Mango Salsa:
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 1 jalapeño
- 1 lime
- Frozen mango chunks (this recipe calls for 2 fresh mangoes, but frozen is easier!)
- 1 red onion
Guacamole:
- 2 avocados
- Jalapeño(s)
- Lime
- Cilantro
- Red onion
- Salt
Rest of the chow:
- Pound of shrimp
- Cabbage
- Salsa or tomatoes
- Small corn tortillas
- 1 can black beans
- Brown rice
As always, when making the mango salsa I used the recipe as a guide… but strayed. I opted to use the frozen diced mangoes I had at home for my smoothies, in place of the fresh mangoes. What can I say, I’m cheap, lazy, I don’t think the local grocery store carries mangoes (#smalltownprobs), and I don’t know a ripe one from an unripe one. Frozen mangoes seemed like the way to go. I pulled the bag out of the freezer at lunch and put it in the fridge to thaw until that night. When it was show time, I cut down the thawed chunks so they were more bite-sized. Since Jared didn’t want any, I eyeballed the amount I thought I’d want. From there I diced the cilantro, jalapeño, and onion. I added the amount of each that looked “right” and tasted along the way (a small handful of each). I added more of each until it suited my liking (you can always add, more but it’s hard to take some out). I then squeezed about half a lime onto the top, added some salt, and was ready to go.
Now, onto the guac. I’d never made it and didn’t have a recipe, but I figured it was pretty common sense if you’ve ever eaten guacamole before. Again, Jared doesn’t like guacamole, so I chopped to the quantity and flavor I wanted. I halved, pitted, and scooped out both avocados. I had some leftover onion, cilantro, and jalapeño chunks from the salsa, so threw those in too. I mashed that all up together, but I like chunky guacamole, so didn’t mash it until it was smooth. I squeezed about half a lime, and added salt. I’m sure this shocks you, but I’m a salt feign. I added more salt every time I ate it. Can’t get enough of that stuff. Anyway, homemade guac is easy and life changing and I could have ate the whole bowl in one sitting.
For the rest of the dinner spread – pretty easy. Put your can of black beans on to heat up, start your rice (however many servings you want), chop your cabbage, pull some tomato salsa out of the fridge (or dice some tomatoes), and BBQ your shrimp. I like fresh, raw shrimp from the meat counter at the store, so that’s what I get (not the frozen bagged stuff). It’s not much work and so much tastier! Rinse and peel them, then skewer the little buggers. I like the grill marks and flavor, so we opted to skewer and direct-grill vs. putting them on tinfoil. It only takes about 5-10 minutes to barbecue the shrimp, so make sure everything else is started before you put them on!
I used every bowl and plate in the house (to Jared’s dishwashing-demise) to set everything out on the patio. We dished up, cursed at a few flies, and enjoyed our refreshing, summer BBQ dinner.
Cheers!
Beer in a Martini World 