Mango Avocado Shrimp "Tacos"

Overview:

I don't know about you guys, but I love seafood. I enjoy eating tilapia, scallops, eel…and of course sushi! But I also love eating the star of this post, shrimp! 

In general, shrimp is pretty good for you in terms of nutrition. Sure, it may be relatively high in cholesterol but is also low-calorie and a great source of protein. With that being said, this recipe is pescatarian, paleo, and gluten-free! Yay!

I'd say this dish is a great blend between sweet and savory. The mango and avocado textures pair up nicely against the shrimp. Having a lettuce taco shell makes this meal very light and refreshing as well. 

Now, as you can see from the picture above, this "taco" does not involve any kind of tortilla. Instead, fresh green romaine lettuce leafs take its place. Of course, there is nothing wrong with using tortillas if that is your preference. You may also simply like to enjoy a more traditional taco. Ideally, I would have prepared this with corn tortillas as well, however, I didn't have any on hand. As you will see by continuing to read this post, I improvised with something a bit unorthodox.

This recipe serves two comfortably, with 2-3 tacos per serving depending on how much you want to fill each taco.

Ingredients:

First off, I just want to preface this list by saying you can ignore the cheese and the onion. Those ingredients did not end up making it into the final recipe. I happened to take this photo before making this meal and when I realized I didn't want to use these two ingredients, everything was already prepared so it would have been difficult impossible to "uncook" everything.

For the filling:

1 eight ounce package of shrimp (or 4 oz. per serving)

1 ripe mango

1 ripe avocado

1 lime*

1 lemon*

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp black pepper

A pinch of salt (not pictured)

Olive oil to grease the pan

For the "taco shell": 

3 large romaine leaves per taco 

OR **

1/2 whole wheat pita round per taco

Directions:

1. Season your defrosted shrimp with the black pepper, garlic powder, and salt. 

2. Squeeze half your lemon and half your lime into the shrimp as well. Mix everything together so that it is well distributed.***

2. Turn the heat on your stove to medium and pour a bit of olive oil in to grease your pan.

4. Peel and chop your mango and avocado into similar size medium-chunks. This can get kind of difficult considering how soft and slippery these fruits can be. Your chunks may turn out unattractive like mine.

5. Place the shrimp into the heated pan and let cook on each side until the shrimp is evenly pink. This process should take around 2-3 minutes on each side. Don't overcook the shrimp. You'll end up with rubbery yuck.

6. Get three pieces of lettuce together to form a boat shape. There should still be enough room to fold the lettuce length-wise to wrap around the filling. 

7. Place your cooked shrimp, mango, and avocado into the lettuce boat. Make sure you portion your filling evenly so every taco gets the same amount of goodness.

8. If you opt to use pita bread, or tortillas like a regular person, heat up both sides of the taco shells on the stove. 

9. Like its lettuce boat cousin, place an even amount of the filling in each of your pita/tortilla taco shells.  You may actually put twice as much filling onto one pita and then split the taco in half as pictured below. Enjoy!

Notes:

* You technically only need 1/2 a lemon and 1/2 a lime because the other half is for garish. However, I just figured the chances of you having 1/2 a lemon and lime lying around were slimmer than the chances of you having whole ones. You're welcome.

** You don't have to do only one! I made a couple tacos with either shell.

*** Ideally, you want to do this ahead of time and let your marinated shrimp sit in the fridge for an hour or so to let all the flavors combine. However, if you are lazy like me, just remind yourself that ain't nobody got time for that.