Don't you just love those little causes for celebration. I had one today that made me feel all powerful, ya know kind of like "I am woman hear me roar." I remember when my ex and I were separating my therapist asked me why I was still in the marriage and I looked at her and I said,"well he is pretty handy he can fix things." She laughed, I laughed and she asked if there was anything else...and I just couldn't come up with anything else. That is when she gave me the best advice I have ever had,"you can hire someone to fix things. I think you might want to get a divorce." And so today when I...wait for it...hooked up my own DVD player...I felt pretty damn bad ass. I realized that yes I can hire someone to fix things or do it myself and yes, my divorce was one of the best things I ever did. And yes you can totally laugh, but I am going to continue to gloat for right now.



So I have been missing being in the kitchen. As you all know I have been having a lot of fun, but I just needed some kitchen time this Saturday afternoon. And I also needed to drink a lot of water (ok sure I did have a beer because this recipe just needed one) and eat healthy since I think I ate and drank the world yesterday. So tonight I made Chipotle Rubbed Shrimp Taco Salad, however because I never stick to a recipe I decided I didn't want the tortilla and left the "taco" part of the salad off. I loved the dressing on this salad as it is a nice combination of citrus and sweet with the combo of olive oil, lemon juice, honey, cilantro and shallots. I also loved the dry rubbed chili shrimp, they were spicy but not overpowering and they were perfect with the dressing and the sweet mango. This recipe screams a warm summer evening, but since it's March in So Cal, it is pretty much the same thing.


So for the dressing combine the cilantro, shallots, lime juice, honey and salt. Whisk in the olive oil.

Beautiful Key West Shrimp!

For the shrimp, toss them in a dry rub of chipotle chili powder, regular chili powder and salt. Heat a grill pan, that has been sprayed with cooking spray and cook them for 2 minutes on each side (per the recipe).

I honestly found I probably cooked them for more like 90 seconds on each side just because I hate over cooked chewy shrimp.


For the salad, chop the romaine lettuce, mango, cherry tomatoes and radishes. Toss with the salad and serve with the shrimp on top.

Here is the actual recipe:


3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons minced shallots
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons honey
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 refrigerated (8-inch) flour tortilla taco salad shell kit (such as Azteca)
1 pound peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle chile powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
6 cups packaged prechopped romaine hearts
1 1/2 cups chopped peeled ripe mango (about 1 large)
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
4 radishes, quartered
Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add oil, stirring constantly with a whisk.
3. Bake tortilla shells at 350° according to package directions.
4. While shells bake, heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Combine shrimp, chili powders, and salt in a large bowl; toss well to coat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add shrimp to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until done.
5. Combine lettuce, mango, tomato, and radishes. Drizzle vinaigrette over salad; toss to coat. Place about 1 1/2 cups salad in each tortilla shell; divide shrimp evenly among salads.


Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend and now I am going back to basketball...this March Madness stuff is addicting!