Easy Mexican Dinner

My good friend told me about this quick dinner she whipped up one night with some random leftovers in her fridge. I was immediately intrigued since I was just craving some fish tacos. Tortilla, frozen fish nuggets/sticks some greens and tarter sauce and you have home-made fish tacos!  Genius really!  I didn't have tarter sauce, so instead I whipped up a lemon-cilantro crema to go on top of our fish-tacos.

lemon-cilantro crema
(i didn't use any exact measurements, so just season & add to taste)

• Mayonnaise
  
• Sour cream
• Chopped cilantro
• Garlic salt
• Lemon juice

To accompany our tacos I also made one of our favorite Mexican dishes, Shrimp Cocktail. Normally we'll get these cocktails from the street vendors, who'll promptly open their igloo and scoop us a cup of this delicious spicy red concoction. I know, it sounds a lot more frightening than it really is and you can definitely find this dish in most Mexican restaurants as well... in either case, it's quite an addicting dish, a little like gazpacho, but better!

Coctel de Camarones (shrimp cocktail)
(adapted from Chef Rick Bayless)

ingredients

• 1 pound uncooked small shrimp
• ¾ cup ketchup
• ¼ cup Mexican hot sauce, I used Tapatio
• ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 3 Tbs fresh lemon juice
• 1 small white onion, chopped
• ¾ cup clam juice
• 1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, sliced crosswise

directions
1. Boil the shrimp, cook until shrimp are pink and firm, 10 to 30 seconds. Immediately drain shrimp in a colander and then rinse under cold water until shrimp are cool.
2. Stir together the ketchup, hot sauce, cilantro, lemon juice, white onion, and clam juice in a medium-sized bowl. Add shrimp and stir well.
3. Taste & season with salt accordingly, garnish with slices of avocado, and serve with lime wedges and crackers or tortilla chips.

Note: If you're not accustomed to spicy food, I recommend adding the hot sauce a little at a time and season it to taste.