Shrimp Tacos with Apple Salsa and Queso Fresco

It's almost that time of year when you can break out the BBQ and start grilling every meal, because most foods are better when grilled.  Luckily for me I live in sunny L.A. and can grill pretty much year round.  Insert dinner:  Grilled Shrimp Tacos with Apple Salsa and Queso Fresco.  Grilly deliciousness.

Clean take the tail shell off of about a pound of peeled and deveined shrimp.  Put them into a ziplock bag with 1 Tbsp of olive oil, the juice of one lime, and about 1/4 tsp each of paprika, cumin, and red pepper flakes.  Squish around until all of the shrimp is covered and let stand for about 15 minutes.

Heat the grill to about 350 or so.

Into a large bowl combine the following, all chopped into salsa sized chunks: apple, red onion, jalapeno, red bell pepper, green onions and the juice of half a lime, half a lemon, and a pinch of salt.  Mix well and let sit in the fridge until everything else is done.

When the grill is ready, place each little shrimp directly from the bag to the grill, making sure they don't fall through.  Cook for a couple minutes on each side until pink and opaque.  Remove the shrimp from the grill and replace with soft, fresh corn tortillas (I like La Tortilla Factory).  Grill on each side until heated through.

Assemble!  Tortilla, shrimp, salsa, crumbled queso fresco.  Eat!
I served mine with marinaded cucumbers and carrots.  I love these because they are potent and the vinegar kinda burns your mouth, it's a real treat...Jesse does not agree.

Thinly slice cucumbers, shave carrots, thinly slice some red onion.  Toss these in a bowl with some rice vinegar, red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt.  Mix well and let sit for as long as possible.

Veggie Pizza

Okay, you caught me, Jesse and I are on a diet.  It's really more of an eating healthy trend than a diet...except that I can't eat cookies, which feels like torture, which feels like a diet.  Anyway, our goal was to eat all of the things we love, like pizza, but healthier versions of them.  Insert: Veggie Pizza on whole wheat crust (which was way better than I expected).

Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough (Whole Foods makes a great one)
Mozzarella Cheese
Goat Cheese
Pizza Sauce
Plum
Zucchini
Summer Squash
Broccoli
Red Bell Pepper
Jalapeno
Salt and Pepper

Heat oven to about 425.  Spray a little cooking spray on a baking sheet and stretch out your dough.  Add a little bit of pizza sauce in a thin layer on top of the dough.  Add shredded mozzarella cheese, also just a thin layer on top of the sauce, remember, you're on a diet.

Chop the veggies into very small pieces, about the size of a corn kernel.  If they are too large they will weigh down the pizza and when you pick it up it will flop down and everything will fall off...big pizza fail.

Add all of the veggies, sprinkling them evenly over the pizza, then drop the goat cheese in small clumps over the veggies.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for about 15 minutes until the cheese is bubbly.

This pizza is awesome because the plum adds a bit of sweetness, the jalapeno adds a bit of spicy, and the goat cheese adds a lot of delicious.  Jesse was skeptical, but I convinced him after the first bite.

Healthy Vegetable Fried Rice

Healthy, you say?  Why yes, it turns out that every so often I do make a healthy dinner that is blog worthy. Tonight was one of those nights.  My vegetable fried rice is heathy, filling, and goes great with Pork Tenderloin.

Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves
3 scallions
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
Red Bell Pepper
Canned Corn Kernels
Frozen Shelled Edamame
Extra Firm Tofu
Carrots
Zucchini
Summer Squash
2 Lightly Beaten Eggs
Brown Rice
3 Tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
Worcestershire Sauce

I like to chop everything up at once so it is ready to go.  It is also best to chop all the veggies to about the same size, so I use the corn kernels as my guide.  You can use however much of everything you'd like.  You can gauge how much to use by how much rice you have, since you want to have a nice rice to veggie ratio.

Heat a little bit of vegetable oil in a wok over medium high heat.  Add in the chopped garlic, scallions and ginger.  Cook for a minute or so, making sure not to burn the garlic (it will get bitter).

Add just a little more oil and all of the veggies and tofu.  Stir and cook until the veggie are tender but everything is still brightly colored and crisp.

Make a well in the center of the wok and add the eggs.  When the eggs are cooked, stir everything together and add in the rice.  Add in the soy sauce and a splash of worcestershire sauce.  Stir together and cook until the rice is heated through.

I served this tonight with a side of Pork Tenderloin.  I used my standard recipe:
Dump all of the following into a zip lock bag and let marinade in the fridge for 3 days.
Pork Tenderloin (half of one is perfect for 2 people)
Soy Sauce
Rice Vinegar
Orange Juice
Sriracha Sauce
Ginger
Garlic

Cook on a broiler pan for 25-30 minutes at 425.  The temperature at the end should be no higher than 140....135 is best I think.

BBQ Pork Pizza

I have really got to start taking photos of my food more often.


Anyway, the other night I made one of my favorite pizzas, BBQ Pork Pizza.  I used leftover pork from the Savory Pork Tacos, homemade pizza dough, and delicious veggies.  It was so good Jesse and I ate the entire thing, and Ceasar salad!


Ingredients:
*Pizza dough (if you don't want to make your own, Whole Foods sells amazing pizza dough that you can buy fresh.  I also hear that Trader Joe's has pizza dough, but I don't like anything Trader Joe's has to offer.)
*Shredded pork (see recipe in my Savory Pork Tacos post)
*Your favorite BBQ sauce
*Gruyere Cheese (shredded)
*Canned corn
*Red bell pepper (chopped into chunks about the size of the corn kernels)
*Jalapeno (finely chopped)
*Salt and Pepper


Preheat oven to 425.


Stretch out the pizza dough (never roll) and place on a baking sheet coated with Olive Oil Cooking Spray.  Brush on some BBQ sauce to cover the bottom.  Then top with the shredded pork (as much as you like), then I like to add a little more BBQ sauce in drops over the top of the pork.  Not too much, just enough to add a little more sauciness.  Then top with the corn, red bell pepper, jalapeno, shredded cheese and a pinch of salt and pepper.


Bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and blistery on top.


Let sit for a minute before slicing and diving in.  Enjoy with a salad for a well-rounded meal.