Grilled Shrimp Tacos

I don't know what got into me yesterday but I saw shrimp tacos on Pinterest and could. not. stop. thinking. about. them.  It was as if my brain had a jumbo size piece of shrimp lodged in it, it was all I could think about!  I think it was because it was so nice outside and I just couldn't help but reminisce about our vacation in Cancun; eating shrimp tacos on the beach.  So with that, I called Aaron and told him I wanted grilled shrimp tacos for dinner, although we've never made them at home, I knew they were going to turn out amazingly.  

And it did.  I was excited as a pig in mud. Will definitely be a staple summer meal going forward. 

I love shrimpies on the grill.  I specifically bought shrimp that is de-tailed and de-veined.  I got these at Target and love how easily I could just marinate them in the bag and then throw them on the grill.  Easy peasy, just the way I like it. 

I didn't get a  picture of cooking the tortilla shells on the grill but it worked fabulously!  Key is to definitely fold them right away off the grill and lay a spoon over them to hold their shape.  Don't over cook them as they will get tough.  You could also do this meal with chicken tender in the grilling basket if you don't like seafood. 

I loved the arugula, it's such a spicy green that works well with these kind of tacos 

Now that's a meal! 

Hello lil' shrimpies! Nom, Nom Nom!  Only thing missing with the beach!

• 
  
  SHRIMP TACOS! 
  

  
  

  Shrimp Marinade (I made 2 batches of marinade): 

  
  

  2 tbs fresh lime juice
• 2 Tbs Olive Oil 
• 2 cloves of garlic
• ¾ tsp Kosher salt
• 1 tsp light brown sugar
• ¼ tsp chili powder

Market Pantry Small Shrimp, de-tailed/de-viened 

Corn tortilla shells 

1 can of Mexicorn

Arugula 

Crumbled queso fresco (I could not find so I shredded a block of jalapeno cheese) 

Sliced tomato

Sliced avocado 

1. Marinade shrimp 
2. Preheat grill
3. Once hot, place the tortillas on the hot grill, leave it on med-high to high heat. When the tortillas get some color, flip them. Once the other side is done, remove to plate lined with paper or cloth towel. Fold each over in a row, then place a wooden spoon or other utensil on top to gently weight them, and keep them in taco shape, while cooling.
4. Grill the shrimp. This should be quick. Pull them off as soon as no translucency is visible on the outside, to avoid over cooking. If the inside isn’t fully cooked through, it will finish doing so off the grill, from residual heat.

Assemble tacos:

1. Put arugula on bottom of shell
2. Then spoon on some corn, tomato, avocado, and sprinkle on cheese
3. Finally nest the shrimp on top and top with more cheese

Adapted from source: http://blommi.com/grilled-shrimp-corn-tacos-recipe/

Lemon Cake

I love lemon flavored things.  I don't really like lemon candies, most are too tart but I do like a nice undertone of the flavor in lemon cakes, lemon cookies, lemon in my water/tea, lemonade, lemon bars, Starbucks lemon iced pound cake (YUM!). 

Many moons ago, there use to be Girl Scout cookies where half the box were vanilla sandwich and the other half were lemon sandwich cookies, remember those?  OMGosh, I loved those cookies!  I was so bummed when they discontinued them.  I remember sitting by the pool eating my sleeve of lemon cookies (that froze well hence eating in the summer poolside) and with each cookie I would savor eating it, as you know how many cookies you get in those darn boxes, each one is to be treasured, not devoured since there were so few per box!  Those were the days!  Then they switched to the cookies called Lemonades, those were good but disappointing.   I've tried the lemon sandwich cookies at the grocery store, not nearly as good as the Girl Scout ones.  Man I wish they would bring those back!  I would buy a freezer full of them. 

I have really been craving lemon cake ever since I went to a wedding a few months ago with AMAZING lemon cake.  I've been keeping my eye on several Pinterest recipes and decided to give one a whirl!  This one was pretty good, I wasn't a fan of grating a lemon rind but I got thru it.  This one kind of seem more pound cake-like than the fluffy consistency I was hoping for but it was still very good and seem to got better as it was refrigerated.   I was pretty proud of myself, this recipe is completely from scratch, beginning to end, I used no shortcuts, and actually enjoyed making it (other than that grating the lemon, that part sucked).  

Ingredients

• Cake:
• 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind 
• 3 tablespoons thawed lemonade concentrate
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs 
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 cups fat-free buttermilk
• Cooking spray
• Frosting:
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind 
• 2 teaspoons thawed lemonade concentrate
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare cake, place first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs and egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; stir well with a whisk. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat well after each addition.
3. Pour batter into 2 (9-inch) round cake pans coated with cooking spray; sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.
4. To prepare frosting, place 2 tablespoons butter and the next 4 ingredients (2 tablespoons butter through cream cheese) in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, and beat at low speed just until blended (do not overbeat). Chill 1 hour.
5. Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Store cake loosely covered in the refrigerator.

Source: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/lemonade-layer-cake-10000000249959/