A day late and a dollar short, but the shrimp was delicious!

Okay, let me first begin with an apology.  I’ve been meaning to share this recipe for a couple of days and obviously, that didn’t happen.  The days just got away from me.  This recipe is just too good to keep to myself and it’s about time I sat down and shared it! 

We’ve had a couple of really hot days the past few days – fairly certain that’s why all those storms ripped through the country during the same time – and I have not really been interested in doing cooking that requires a lot of my time.  So, I was looking for easy and quick recipes that would definitely be delicious.  I found this one – Black Bean, Corn and Shrimp Salad - in my homemade cookbook.  It’s from a Cooking Light magazine, July 2005.  Seriously, this is a 5-minute dinner.  That’s a win in my book!  And, it was delicious!  Double WIN!

The hardest part of making this dinner is probably opening the can of black beans and getting them rinsed.  Ha!  The salad calls for bottled salsa; but of course, if you’re feeling like you want to put more into it, you can always substitute homemade salsa for bottled – I don’t usually buy bottled salsa myself as hubby is particular about salsa.  I have found some really delicious salsa in the produce section of our grocery store – that’s the closest to homemade and you don’t have to worry about random strange ingredients you can’t identify.  I opted for medium heat because we like spicy foods but if that’s not for you, definitely use mild.  You could probably even use a more exotic salsa that just tomato too – I bet a mango salsa would be fabulous with this!  Just pick your favorite and go with it. 

The recipe says to serve the salad with toasted pita wedges.  I opted for a baguette, warmed in the oven for 5 minutes, and brie.  Let me tell you how much I love brie.  LOVE!  And, the bread can be used to mop up the juices left on your plate – YUM!  Rave reviews from both Things 1 and 2 – it’s so easy, maybe I’ll have THEM make it next time. J

Quick, easy, inexpensive and delicious – that’s what dinner should be.  This salad fits that bill.  Make it, enjoy it and savor your extra time doing something else like walking your dog, helping your kid study for a math test, reading a book or just plain sitting down on the couch.  Here’s the recipe.  Now go relax!

Happy cooking, eating and drinking! 

Black Bean, Corn, and Shrimp Salad

1 tablespoon chili powder

½ teaspoon garlic salt

½ teaspoon ground cumin

1 ½ pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Cooking spray

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided

1 ½ cups frozen whole kernel corn, thawed

¾ cup bottled salsa

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1.  Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

2.  Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl.  Add shrimp; toss to coat.

prepped and ready to go!

3.  Coat pan with cooking spray.  Add shrimp; sauté 3 minutes or until done.  Add 1 tablespoon lime juice.  Remove shrimp from pan.  Add corn to pan; sauté 1 minute.  Stir in salsa, cilantro, and beans; cook 30 seconds or until thoroughly heated.  Stir in 1 tablespoon 1 lime juice.  Serve shrimp over bean mixture.

hey, where's the salad?

Yum!

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1/3 cup shrimp and about 2/3 cup bean mixture)

Calories 354 (12% from fat); Fat 4.8g (sat 0.7g, mono 0.7g, poly 2.4g); Protein 43.3g; Carb 34.9g; Fiber 9.1g; Cholesterol 259mg; Iron 7.6mg; Sodium 827mg; Calcium 148mg