Shrimp Tacos with Corn Lime Salsa

I love shrimp tacos and I wanted to mess with a different salsa. I didn’t go spicy and wanted the corn to be toasty and pop with each bite. I threw in some broccoli slaw for a crunch. The shrimp was fully cooked so the grill was for char and smokiness. This dinner took 15 minutes without turning the oven on. Perfect for summer!

Roasted Corn and Lime Salsa - The Three Bite Rule

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups corn
1 lime
1 tomato, chopped
1/4 cup red onion chopped
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tbs honey
6 jumbo shrimp
1 cup broccoli slaw
flour tortillas

Directions:

In a dry, hot pan, roast the corn until lightly browned, about 5 minutes on high heat. Then let cool to room temperature.
Roasted Corn and Lime Salsa - The Three Bite Rule
Mix together the tomato, lime juice, lime zest, onion, garlic, and honey.
Roasted Corn and Lime Salsa - The Three Bite Rule
Mix together and then let sit.
Skewer the shrimp, then brush with honey, lime juice, salt and pepper.
Roasted Corn and Lime Salsa - The Three Bite Rule
Grill the shrimp until lightly charred.
Toss the corn into the salsa.
Assemble tacos with tortilla, broccoli slaw, salsa, and shrimp.
Roasted Corn and Lime Salsa - The Three Bite Rule
The salsa was subtle. I liked the honey and lime flavors with the corn but I think I’d add more of kick next time. It was good and made dinner feel different, which is what I was going for. My grocery store never has cotija but had I found feta in the fridge I might have thrown that on there for more contrast.

Crabcakes with Remolade Sauce

I had my Momma over for lunch so I figured we’d have something only the two of us would like. I mixed up a couple of crabcakes and some remolade to be dressing, serving it over salad. It seemed springy and fresh. The remolade would be easy to make in advance. The crabcakes would be pretty fast fried, but baking them is easier, and keeps them from being greasy.

Plus, you’ll want to put the remolade on ev-ry-thing.

The Three Bite Rule - Crab cakes with Remolade

Ingredients for crab cakes:

8 oz crab meat
3 tbs chopped white onion
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
3 tbs mixed breadcrumbs & panko
2 tbs chopped parsley
1-2 tbs mayo
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt & pepper

Ingredients for remolade:

1 cup mayo
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1 tbs paprika
1 tsp grill rub
1 1/2 tsp horseradish
1 tsp pickle juice (or relish)
1 tsp hot sauce
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp ground pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375-degrees.
Add crabmeat, onion, mushrooms, breadcrumbs, parsley, mayo, dijon mustard, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
The Three Bite Rule - Crab cakes with Remolade
Gently mix together until combined.
Form into patties and bake 15 minutes, then flip and bake for 10 more minutes.
While the crabcakes are baking, mix together the remolade.
The Three Bite Rule - Crab cakes with Remolade
Blend together. Taste, add more horseradish or hot sauce to taste.
The Three Bite Rule - Crab cakes with Remolade
Toss together mixed greens, cucumbers, and tomatoes.
The Three Bite Rule - Crab cakes with Remolade
Drizzle remolade, or use to dip.
The Three Bite Rule - Crab cakes with Remolade
I loved the kick in the remolade without being spicy. The horseradish was perfect. Real remolade has cajon or creole  seasoning, but I substituted since I hate one-time ingredients.

What I Ate: His & Hers Caesar Salad

What I Ate’ is a series of posts for so-easy-this-doesn’t-need-a-recipe but I’m sharing with you for the idea or inspiration.

I love caesar salad for the fresh greens, the salty Parmesan, and crunchy croutons, and garlicky dressing. It isn’t the healthiest salad, but it is ohh-so-good. It made for such a quick dinner to welcome spring. The simplicity is the charm.

I topped mine with grilled shrimp. I squirted the shrimp with a touch of lemon, salt, and pepper. They only needed to grill for a few minutes for the charred flavor.

The Three Bite Rule - Caesar Salad with Grilled Shrimp
Mr. J had his topped with steak. The steak marinated all day in a teriyaki marinade.

The Three Bite Rule - Caesar Salad with Grilled Steak
I toasted a few slices of wheat bread, tossed with olive oil, Italian seasoning, and salt. Instant croutons! While the steak & shrimp was grilling, I whipped up a quick caesar dressing I’ve made before.

Sometimes the easiest meals are exactly what I want. Other times I want lots of complicated components juggling more than is necessary for a random week night. It was awesome to blend the dressing, toss the salad together, and get the grill going. I had everything made, cleaned up, and plated by the time the steak & shrimp was off the grill. #winning

Mojito Shrimp

It was another his/hers night here at the Chilton household…I’m seriously on a quest to get more deer out of the freezer. I was planning something with shrimp and Mr. J was forced to eat some venison. He braised it. It smelled to-die-for but my 3 ingredient shrimp was so amazing and such a reminder how easy shrimp is to throw together. Also, my shrimp had taken up some permanent residence in the freezer so I was also a culprit of freezer real estate taken over by food we’re not using.

I often cook shrimp in lemon and garlic but wanted to think about what else goes well with the flavor of shrimp. Not lemon this time, but lime! Perfect! Fresh herbs were on sale so I didn’t feel as bad shelling out big bucks for an herb I had 1 plan to use. I did get a fancy herb keeper for xmas so there’s hope that the mint can find another use. I’d be all about mojitos if it weren’t 4-degrees outside.
The Three Bite Rule - Mojito Shrimp

I made shaved brussels sprouts as a side dish but thought it’d be a perfect bed for my little shrimp. Trader Joe’s sells them shaved, which is awesome, or you can chop up whole ones, discarding the base. Jasper’s Corner Tap in San Fran does a side dish of brussels sprout petals which is also an amazing way to use them.

Mojito Shrimp over Shaved Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients:

~5 large shrimp
10 mint leaves
3 tbs lime juice
2 tbs melted butter
3 tbs bread/cracker crumbs (optional)
2 slices of bacon (optional)
10 oz bag of shaved brussels sprouts, or 1 pound fresh brussels sprouts

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.
Defrost, peal, devein the shrimp (as needed).
Chop the mint.
Toss together shrimp, lime juice, butter, and shrimp in a small baking dish.
The Three Bite Rule - Mojito Shrimp
Sprinkle with salt & pepper and bake for 5-7 minutes (my shrimp was fully cooked already).
Heat a large pan to medium high heat.
Fry the bacon until crisp and 75% cooked.
While bacon is cooking, chop brussels sprouts if using whole ones.
Add in the shaved brussels sprouts, salt, and pepper.
The Three Bite Rule - Mojito Shrimp
After the shrimp has cooked for the 5-7 minutes, stir, then top with breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs (optional) and bake another 5 minutes.
The Three Bite Rule - Mojito Shrimp
Toss the brussels sprouts letting them caramelize a little bit.
Lay a bed of brussels sprouts onto the center of the plate.
The Three Bite Rule - Mojito Shrimp
Top with shrimp and drizzle a spoonful of the liquid on top of the shrimp.
The Three Bite Rule - Mojito Shrimp
I went a little overboard with the lime juice so I toned it back for your quantities, and increased the butter a bit so your liquids have better balance than mine did initially. The lime was quite strong so I added the breadcrumbs to it. It would be fine without those…just use my lime/butter quantities as a reference.

This was really good. The mojito (aka lime & mint) flavors would be great with chicken, or pork, or other fish…such a great way to have fresh flavor in the dead of winter! The shrimp would be great on a grill, or even indoors on a grill pan. I popped mine into the toaster oven, since they were fully cooked I was just looking to get them warmed and the flavors incorporated.

Parmesan Pesto Tilapia

Mr. J isn’t into fish and I don’t do red meat so sometimes we do his-and-hers with shared sides. I went grocery shopping thinking maybe I’d get salmon, but the tilapia was a steal so I got some which ended up being 2 servings. I popped half in the freezer for another time. We shared some mashed potato/cauliflower and roasted asparagus.

I don’t cook fish that often and I was so happy and surprised by this. I threw it together and think the sauce would be great on other white fish, or chicken, or pork. Seriously, buying pesto pre-made is really handy for a lot of uses.
The Three Bite Rule - Parmesan Pesto Tilapia

Ingredients:

1 tilapia fillet
1 tbs pesto
2 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp mayo/olive oil
1 tsp parmesan grated
salt & pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.
Sprinkle each side of the tilapia with salt & pepper.
The Three Bite Rule - Parmesan Pesto Tilapia
In a small bowl, whisk together the pesto, lemon juice, mayo, and parmesan together.
The Three Bite Rule - Parmesan Pesto Tilapia
Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray and spoon a few tablespoons of sauce onto the bottom the baking dish. Lay the fillet on-top, spooning the rest of the sauce over the top.
The Three Bite Rule - Parmesan Pesto Tilapia
Bake 20 minutes. Then flip the fish and bake another 10 minutes.

I absolutely loved this. I thought the sauce was bright and powerful enough to flavor the fish. The lemon seemed appropriate for the fish but the pesto was the shining star on this one. This super simple sauce will reappear again, I’m sure.

The Three Bite Rule - Parmesan Pesto Tilapia
Leftover pesto? Use pesto in grilled cheese. Use pesto on potato pizza. Use pesto in your lasagna. Use pesto aoli on a panini. Use pesto in your tomato soup or wherever you might use basil.