Beat the Heat

Summer is a glorious season. I like the late evenings best. There is a strange tranquility, even in the city. The calmness of late evening is different. I think it is the relaxing of all things. The sun has given reprieve from the daily roasting and animate beings and inanimate objects alike are calmly enjoying the simple fact that one more scorching day was ticked off the calendar—pretty soon September and relief!

I have this great little recipe to get one fed on a late evening in the middle of the insane heat of summer. It is a cool served dish that uses the grill. Its cool to eat and the house does not have to deal with the hot oven or stove.

I have found that any Riesling works nicely with this dish. The crispness of the wine is refreshing and really brings out the flavor. But, you can do what you want—it is your kitchen!

Grilled Shrimp Tacos

½ cup reduced fat sour cream
3 tbsp lite mayonnaise
3 tbsp milk
½ tsp cumin
3 tbsp unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1½ pounds large shrimp, peeled and de-veined
4 limes, quartered
½ tsp kosher salt
8-6 inch corn tortillas
3 cups shredded green cabbage
1-14 to 16 ounce jar of green (tomatillo) salsa

You need wood skewers for the shrimp. Soak the skewers in water for 30 minutes before loading them. This keeps your skewers from burning up in the charcoal’s heat. Use two skewers in parallel, this improves your ability to turn the shrimp while grilling.

In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, mayonnaise, milk, and cumin; set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the butter and garlic. Heat the grill. Rinse the shrimp and pat dry. Place the shrimp and lime wedges on the skewers. Brush shrimp with garlic butter. Grill until shrimp are cooked through and the limes are browned (3 minutes per side). Season shrimp with the salt. Transfer from skewers to plate. Grill the tortillas for about 30 seconds per side; place warmed tortillas between towels to keep them warm.

To serve, divide shrimp among the tortillas, and top each with cabbage, sour cream mixture and salsa. Serve with lime wedges on the side.

I have served a can of black beans (rinsed, chilled and topped with chopped cilantro and a bit of lime juice). It’s a simple, cool side. It gets a bit of fiber in the meal too as if all that cabbage was not enough!

Enjoy and be cool!!

MITK

Snapper with Lime-herb Succotash

Here is a great dish I found. The fish is grilled and the rest is chilled, it’s a great “beat-the-heat” dish. Healthy and tasty.

4 Red Snapper, Grouper, or Orange Roughy Fillets (I use Orange Roughy because it is most available in my area)
½ cup finely chopped green onion
¼ cp fresh lime juice
2 tsp. EV olive oil
½ tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 cups frozen succotash, thawed
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
¼ cup diced, seeded plum tomato
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
cooking spray

Place fish in a shallow dish.
Combine green onions and next 5 ingredients; spoon half of mix over fish. Cover fish and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Combine remaining green onion mix, succotash and the next three ingredients in a bowl. Cover and chill.
Prepare grill. Place fish on hot grill rack that was coated with cooking spray. Grill 5 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve with succotash mixture.

A serving is 1 fillet and ½ cup of succotash mixture.

If frozen succotash is not available, substitute a mixture of, one cup each, frozen lima beans and frozen, whole-kernel corn.

Cal 278, pro 38.6 grams, fat 5.4 grams, carbs 19.2 grams, fiber 4 grams.