A Taste of Home

Whenever I am far away from Texas, I always crave a taste of home. Whether I'm gone for a day or a week, I can never go too long without Mexican food. It's like my life blood. Tonight, the solution was clear--shrimp tacos with a tomatillo avocado salsa.

The entire meal came together in a flash with the salsa only requiring a quick whirl in the blender and the shrimp a simple saute. Served on warm corn tortillas, these shrimp tacos are light and fresh with just a little bit of heat. With a few sprigs of cilantro, onion, purple cabbage and a drizzle of salsa, these tacos are the perfect cure for homesick taste buds.

Shrimp Tacos with Tomatillo Avocado Salsa (Adapted from Food Network's Chipotle Shrimp Taco with Avocado Salsa Verde)

Tomatillo Avocado Salsa

1 small onion, quartered

1 jalepeno, seeded and quartered

2 garlic cloves, smashed

6 medium tomatillos (about 1 cup) husked, rinsed and chopped

1/2 avocado, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks

1 teaspoon of salt

Juice of half a lime

1 teaspoon of olive oil

1/4 cup of cilantro, chopped

Shrimp

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 1/2 lb of shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 teaspoon of salt

Garnish:

Chopped onion

Cilantro sprigs

Shredded purple cabbage

Lime wedges

Method

Put the onion, jalapeno, and garlic in a food processor and finely chop. Add the tomatillos, avocado, salt, lime juice and olive oil. Blend until smooth, transfer to a bowl and stir in the cilantro. Taste and adjust the seasoning with additional lime juice or salt.

Heat a skillet on medium-high heat. Mix the olive oil, salt and shrimp in a bowl and toss to coat. Grill the shrimp until translucent, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on each side.

Lightly moisten the tortillas with a small amount of water on both sides. Heat the tortillas one at a time in a skillet over medium heat until warm. Once the tortillas are warm, serve each taco with 3-4 shrimp, chopped onion, cilantro, shredded cabbage and a healthy drizzle of tomatillo avocado salsa. Serves 4-6.