Love shrimp tacos but want to cut down on the tortilla carbs? Here’s a wonderfully tasty, fresh and healthy way to get those same flavors with nothing but solid proteins and veges. We also substitute crunchy quinoa for rice. Have a couple favorite hot sauces at the ready for liberal dousing when constructed.
Serves 2
For the Dressing
¼ C plain Greek yogurt
¼ C chopped cilantro
Juice of ½ lime
Dash of a smoky pepper sauce (to taste and temp)
Couple pinches garlic salt and pepper
Combine all ingredients and stir well together. Let sit on the counter.
For the Bowl
Choose a large, slightly rimmed plate/bowl where the elements have space to spread out into their own, little section. It’s fun to feature each element basking alone in a portion of the plate at first (like slices of a pie) to let the eater coordinate and blend as he/she wishes.
Chopped lettuce
Shredded radish
Chopped cilantro
Diced avocado
Chopped cucumber
Chopped tomatoes and/or tomatillos
Assemble these elements onto the serving dishes and then proceed with the quinoa and shrimp prep.
Quinoa mixture
½ C any variety quinoa
1 C water
Juice of ½ lime
¼ C chopped cilantro
¼ C chopped scallion
1 can black beans, drained
Bring water to a boil. Add quinoa and simmer – partially covered to allow a little steam to escape – until water is mostly absorbed and quinoa has softened. Check at 10 minutes. (If the quinoa has absorbed too much liquid but is still not cooked all the way through, add a little more water to balance.)
When quinoa is done, mix in the drained black beans, cilantro, green onions and lime juice. Stir together and leave off heat but partially covered. (It’s okay to cool the grains as you don’t want to add blazing hot quinoa to the veges already on the plate.)
For the Shrimp
¾ lb. shrimp, shelled
Wash and set in one layer on the paper the shrimp came in. Sprinkle both sides with whatever Mexican spices strike your fancy.
I like a combo of: chili powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, chipotle (or ancho) powder
When quinoa is halfway done, start shrimp. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Toss in shrimp and cook 2 minutes, then flip and cook no more than 3 minutes more on the second side. Transfer shrimp to cutting board and roughly chop into fork-sized pieces.
Now complete the bowl assembly by adding the shrimp and the quinoa/bean mixture into their vacant sections to complete the “pie”.
Drizzle the dressing over all the elements then combine or combine all the ingredients into one big mash-up and then spoon on the yogurt dressing. Add drops of your preferred hot sauces (Dexter Holland’s Gringo Bandito red or green sauces are perfect as is a habanero-based drop or two to kick the bowl up a notch. Shovel in!
