First came the blood orange salsa, then the brilliant idea to serve it on shrimp tacos.
This is another simple and quick recipe that works well for a busy weeknight. Just a little chopping for the salsa and few minutes to cook your shrimp, and dinner is done. That’s what I’m talking about.
You may remember from the Blood Orange Tequila Cocktail post that I’m a somewhat crazy about blood oranges. And I’m pretty vocal about it. So it was not a surprise when people started to associate me with anything blood orange and send me recipes and suggestions for new ways to incorporate them into my recipes. This salsa recipe is from one of Josh’s best friends. He said he was just playing around with some ingredients he had on hand and came up with this winning salsa that we are so glad he thought to share with us.
It’s best to start with making your salsa so that it has time to marinate a bit while you prepare the tacos. In fact, you may consider making the salsa a day before you are going to eat it because it tastes even better on the second day. We didn’t have any cilantro this time, but we’ve added it before and it’s bright flavors work well with the sweet orange and peppers. This salsa is excellent with chips but also pairs so perfectly with seafood. And because we wanted an easy option during a busy week, shrimp was the obvious choice.
Tips For Cooking Shrimp
So about cooking shrimp. Not sure if you feel the way we do, but it’s way too easy to over-cook and ruin shrimp. We used medium-sized shrimp. Not popcorn or jumbo. So adjust the timing depending on your shrimp size. In general though, here’s a few simple tips for making sure you avoid a shrimp-tastrophe:
1. Be patient and get your pan nice and hot before you add ANY shrimp.
2. Medium shrimp cooks in about one minute, total. Only let your shrimp sit on that hot pan for 30 seconds at the most on each side. This means you have to move quickly!
3. No matter what size shrimp you cook, the key is to remove the shrimp from the pan as soon as they begin to curl and turn pink.
Take Canned Black Beans To Another Level
In addition to the blood orange salsa, we also stuffed our tacos with some black beans. We use canned black beans but we spice them up with a few common kitchen ingredients that really make a huge difference. For two cans of black beans, add a couple of coarsely chopped cloves of fresh garlic, a quarter of an onion not chopped, a teaspoon or so of brown sugar, black pepper, and the magic ingredient–cinnamon. Let everything simmer for 20-30 minutes and you will be the happiest foodie since Sandra Lee.
Add the shrimp, salsa, black beans and a bunch of beautiful green leaf lettuce and enjoy!
Let us know if you try any other great ingredients that we should consider next time we make this easy weeknight meal.
- Blood Orange Salsa
- 2 blood oranges, segmented and diced
- 10-12 sweet peppers, diced
- ¼ small red onion, minced
- 2 splashes red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
- cilantro, optional
- Shrimp Tacos
- 1.5 pounds shrimp, medium-sized, peeled and deveined
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 6 tortillas, large
- lettuce, chopped
- black beans, cooked and seasoned
- other taco fillings
- Create your salsa in a small bowl by combining the blood oranges, sweet peppers, red onion, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Set aside and allow to marinate while you prepare the shrimp.
- Rinse and dry the shrimp. Then toss them in a bowl with the olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.
- Start warming your tortillas on very low heat in a toaster oven or a small skillet.
- Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat. Allow to get hot and then add the butter. Once butter melts, add the shrimp.
- Cook the shrimp quickly, allowing shrimp to cook for about 30 seconds on each side. Remove from heat as soon as shrimp start to curl and turn pink.
- Take warm tortillas, add black beans, lettuce and warm shrimp. Top with generous amount of blood orange salsa.
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