just the ticket

inspired by julie and julia, i knew i had to try something new and different today. this recipe was in the august 2009 real simple and i thought it would be the perfect summer light supper. i usually try a recipe once the way it's written to get a feel for the flavors and then i start 'tweaking' to our individual tastes. tonight my brother and sister agreed to be the experimental subjects as we watched the movie 'defiance'(by the way - the movie was great - definitely put it in your netflix cue.)

Shrimp Tacos with Citrus Cabbage Slaw
Ingredients
* 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
* 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
* 2 tablespoons sour cream
* kosher salt and black pepper
* 1/4 small cabbage (8 ounces), shredded
* 1 cup corn kernels (from 1 to 2 ears)
* 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp
* 8 small flour tortillas, warmed

i'm proud to report i used a mandolin for the first time and . . . no fingers were damaged. (victory dance) if you have one of those nifty gadgets, it makes this recipe so much easier! or, you can just buy the pre-shredded angel fine cabbage shreds at the grocery. it being summer and cabbage is so cheap at the market, i went for the whole head. warning: if you haven't handled fresh jalapenos before, the majority of the heat is in the rib membrane and seeds. so slice the pepper lengthwise and clean to your taste. if you like a bit of heat, leave in a few seeds. (i'm a whimp)

corn is also cheap and so sweet right now (though the frozen is very handy and very easy to use). clean it well and slice off the cob. now toss the cabbage, peppers and corn together. in a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, orange juice, lime juice and then season it to taste with the salt and pepper.

this is important: do not dress the slaw (mix the sour cream mixture and cabbage mixture) too long before using. the high acidic mixture of the dressing will wilt the cabbage and you will want all that crunchy goodness in the tacos for texture.

heat the olive oil in a nice heavy skillet and stir in the deveined and peeled shrimp. luckily, we're close enough to the gulf to get beautiful wild caught alabama shrimp. it cannot be said enough - get wild caught whenever possible. if you can't get that, just use the flash frozen stuff from the grocery - it's better than the stuff you get in the grocery fish market which has been frozen twice and has practically no taste. (don't hate - appreciate *grin*) continue stirring the shrimp until they turn pink and are no longer opaque. warm your tortillas, dress the slaw, and spoon a generous dollop over the shrimp. yummmmmmmmmm! - goes great with beer or a nice crisp wine.

my brother doesn't really care for cabbage much, so to appease his appetite, i also made another recipe from real simple for his shrimp. it is easy peasy lemon squeezie.

Pineapple-Jalapeno Salsa
Ingredients
* 1 cup chopped fresh or canned pineapple (about 4 ounces)
* 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
* 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
* kosher salt

i picked up a smallish container of fresh pineapple, already chunked so all i had to do is chop it into smaller bits and use part of the previously chopped pepper from the slaw. the recipe says one teaspoon of lime juice, but basically i halved a lime and squeezed the juice over the pineapple-pepper mixture. and, the kosher salt makes all the difference in the world. the flavor it brings to the sweet acid of the pineapple and the mild heat of the pepper is perfection.

all-in-all, a very successful supper. the next time, i think i will chop up a few cherry tomatoes into the pineapple salsa and serve it over grilled chicken. doesn't that sound delish?