When you think of Mexican food you probably think of the standard burritos, nachos and quesadillas. While those dishes are definitely tasty why not do the summer ‘thing’ and incorporate these ingredients in a salad.
The idea of a full meal salad has always appealed to me. Of course, there are many of these using a variety of ingredients. Probably one of the most popular was the taco salad. The earliest record of it dates back to the 1960’s with its predecessor being the small teacup sized ‘Tacup’. It consisted of beef, beans, sour cream and cheese, served in a small ‘bowl’ made entirely of a Fritos tortilla.
The taco in a Tacup was invented by Charles Elmer Doolin, the founder of Fritos (tortilla chips). He created a device that looked like tongs but with two tart molds at the end of each tong. One mold would fit within the other mold with a tortilla sandwiched between them. The scalloped-edged shell was dipped into hot oil. Holes in the bottom mold exposed the tortilla to the hot oil, enabling it to cook evenly.
Tacups were first served in Dallas, Texas in the early 1950’s and by 1955, he was selling them in Fritos’ flagship restaurant, ‘Casa de Fritos’, at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. It became popular enough that the Tacup was made bigger and served as a full, main-dish sized salad bowl.
Today’s salad is a satisfying meal, a seriously feel-good dinner salad that’s crisp, spicy, and fresh all at once. Tacos de camarones (‘shrimp tacos’) originated in Baja California in Mexico. But these shrimp tacos in salad form gives you that full meal deal. All the very best elements —seasoned shrimp, healthy fresh veggies, in an edible tortilla bowl with a homemade cilantro lime dressing.
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- 2 cups fresh cilantro
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 avocado OR 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 2 tsp honey
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp cumin
- 3/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 454 gm WILD, large shrimp, peeled, deveined & tails removed
- 1 Tbsp butter,
- 3 strips bacon, chopped
- 1/2 cup corn niblets OR fresh corn cut from cob.
- 1 avocado, peeled, pitted & cubed
- 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
- 3 green onions, sliced
- 12 black olives, sliced
- 70 gm Monterey Jack cheese with Jalapenos, cubed small
- 2 Tbsp chives, thinly sliced
- 2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
- 100 gm baby arugula
Ingredients
Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing
Shrimp
Salad Ingredients
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- In a food processor, place the cilantro, garlic, avocado, lime juice, honey, coriander & salt. Pulse to combine. With the machine is running, pour in the olive oil & process until smooth.
- In a medium bowl, add all marinade ingredients (except shrimp) & blend well. Add shrimp tossing well to coat. Set aside to marinate for 15 minutes. In a saucepan, melt a Tbsp butter then sauté shrimp over medium-high heat for 5 minutes or just until shrimp is cooked.
- In a saucepan, fry bacon until cooked but not too crisp, drain on paper towel & chop. Drain canned or cook fresh corn on the cob & remove kernels from cob. Peel, pit & cube avocado. Sprinkle a bit of lime juice on it to keep it from going brown. Halve grape tomatoes. Slice green onions, chives & dill. Drain sliced black olives. Cube cheese.
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Brush inside of 2 heat resistant glass bowls with oil. Place one tortilla in each bowl so that the shape more or less adheres to the bowl. Line each tortilla with cheese slices then place a second tortilla on top.
- Place the bowls with the layered tortillas in the oven & bake for 7 minutes. Remove the bowls from the oven & allow to cool before removing the 'edible tortilla bowls'.
- Place tortilla bowls on serving plates. In a large mixing bowl place shrimp & all salad ingredients. Toss gently, then divide between tortilla bowls. Drizzle with cilantro dressing (or dressing of choice) & serve.
