Mommy is in Timeout

Today’s recipe is part 2 of a 3 part series. These posts will give you several options for a Mexican Fiesta out on your deck to celebrate summer. Last week I showed you a recipe for Shrimp and Salmon Fajitas. Make sure to come back next week for Carne Asada.

I’m always on a quest to make the perfect guacamole. My recipe is still a work in progress. I would like to mention though that I am the champion of a Guac-Off. However, I only had 1 comptetitor, my sister. But still, I won. This is the recipe I used. It’s tasty and healthy.

Recipe: Nayna’s Guacamole

Tip: When picking avocados in the store – you want them to be slightly firm, yet have a little give. Get to know your avocado in the produce section. If you can push in a lot while holding it, it’s too ripe. If you can’t even make the skin budge, it’s not ready. Find the perfect balance.

What You’ll Need:

3 Large (or 4 small) Avocados
1/2 Red Onion, Diced
1 Roma Tomato, Diced
1 Green Tomato, Diced
Juice of 3-4 Limes
1 Clove Garlic, Chopped
3 tbsp Cilantro, Chopped
1 Jalapeno Pepper, Diced (remove seeds if you can’t take the heat)
Salt, pepper and Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

In a large bowl, peel and shell out avocados. Stir the avocados around. Do NOT mash. I like to leave my avocados chunky in guacamole.

Add in all the ingredients above, however, don’t pour in all of the lime juice. Add in a few dashes of salt, pepper and Frank’s and fold together. Continue to add in lime juice, salt, pepper and Frank’s to taste. Serve with chips, nachos or fajitas.

Today’s recipe post is going to be the 1st of a 3 part series. I’m sharing a recipe for salmon and shrimp fajitas today, homemade guacamole and margaritas next Sunday and carne asade the following Sunday. Combine them all for an outdoor Mexican Fiesta.

A few weeks ago we had our friend, Becky Johns, come to stay with us for the weekend. Since I try to fake being the hostess-with-the-mostess and look like I have it all together, I planned a night out on our deck. We had a great time catching up over fajitas and margaritas. Here is part of what I made.

Shrimp and Salmon Fajitas

What You’ll Need:

1 lb thawed uncooked shrimp
1 large piece of salmon (keep the skin on one side)
Frank’s Red Hot
Cavender’s all purpose greek seasoning
Garlic salt
Low-sodium soy sauce
1 bag of tortilla chips
1 package of soft flour tortillas
2 blocks of cheese, shred yourself (I used 1 block of pepper jack and 1 block of sharp cheddar)
1 bag of cole slaw mix (I use this instead of shredded lettuce)
2 roma tomatoes (diced)
1 red, yellow and orange bell pepper
1 small sweet onion or red onion
1 small container of sour cream
1 container (or homemade bowl) of your favorite salsa

Prep:

Preheat your grill (I always use high heat).

Once the shrimp are thawed, dry off with a paper towel. Put them on a platter and hit them with a few dashes of Frank’s red hot and soy sauce. Sprinkle Cavender’s salt and garlic salt on the shrimp. Set aside until they are ready to grill.  Take your piece of salmon and rub with the same ingredients. Set aside.

Get all the toppings ready and serve them on a platter – roma tomatoes, slaw mix, shredded cheeses (another topping option are black olives and diced jalapeno peppers). Serve salsa & sour cream in small bowls. Plastic kiddie bowls as you see here.

Slice bell peppers and onions. Take a piece of foil and pour a few dashes of olive oil in the bottom. Put the peppers and onions in here, sprinkle with some salt & pepper and then wrap up the foil so it forms a flat bag for the ingredients.

Throw the foil pepper bag and salmon on the grill (skin side down). Let the items cook for about 5-7 minutes. While you are grilling, gently flip the salmon over to the skin-off side. I only grill it on this side for a few minutes to get grill marks. Flip back to the skin side and add the shrimp to the grill. Continue grilling – make sure to flip the shrimp over after a few minutes. Toward the end of the grilling process, I throw a few soft tortillas on the grill to give them a little bit of a crisp.

Once the salmon and shrimp are cooked, remove everything from the grill, put on platters, grab your margarita and dig in.

Our happy houseguest! That is, until the boys woke her up at 7 a.m.

Remember to check back next week for my guacamole and margarita recipe. If you want a recipe for some homemade salsa, be sure to check out Jessica’s (My Time as Mom) post today. I’m so proud of her for posting a recipe!