Shrimp Salsa for Cinco de Mayo

I've made the executive decision that this week is going to be a Mexican food fest in honor of Cinco de Mayo.  Cinco de Mayo is, well, the 5th of May in case that isn't obvious to you.  I'm not judging.  I'm blonde.  I couldn't figure out how to double 2/3 of a cup the other day.  Anyway, I'm going to be giving you some mainly healthier alternatives, but you know damn well at some point there is going to be some cheese-laden something or other pile of goodness...  All things in moderation.

Let's begin at the beginning.  Salsa.  Well, that sounds kind of boring.  How about shrimp salsa?  The idea for this came via Pinterest, but I modified it so that it is basically my pico de gallo with shrimp added in.

Salsa con Camarones

What you need:
1 lb of cooked large shrimp, de-veined and de-tailed
5 roma tomatoes
1/2 red onion
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper
1 handful of cilantro
1 lime
Sea salt

What to do:

Start by dicing the shrimp as finely as you can.  Double check that  all of the tails are completely removed and there aren't any mystery shell remnants hanging around.

Move on to the tomatoes and de-seed them. ((Seeds in tomatoes are typically kind of bitter... it will taste better if you get them out.))  You can do this quite efficiently by cutting the tomato into quarters, and then just scraping out the seeds.  If you miss some, you miss some.  Not the end of the world.  Chop the tomato quite finely.

Chop your onion, mince the garlic, and cut up the jalapeno.  Jalapenos in and of themselves are not that hot.  It is the seeds that hold the heat.  Depending on who I'm making it for, I leave varying amounts of seeds in.  ((Arizona natives can take it and will say the hotter the better.  Upper midwest transplants tend to be pretty wimpy and can't seem to handle it.))  Chop up the cilantro, give the lime a good squeeze, and crack some salt over the top.

Stir it all together and place in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  Keep in mind that at this point, none of the flavors have had a chance to mingle so this is not really what your finished product is going to taste like.  After it has had at least a couple of hours in the refrigerator, but preferably overnight, stir it again and sample.  At this point you can add more of whatever you may think it needs.  I generally tend to add another squeeze of lime and some more salt.  Or maybe I'm thinking of tequila...

This will serve somewhere between 8-10 people.  If you are going to have it at a potluck or a cookout, be very aware that seafood is not so happy when it sits outside or even inside for very long.  I would recommend at the very least, putting it on ice and just throw the damn stuff out after a couple of hours.  I don't want any of y'all to get food poisoning, blame me, and tell everyone how I tried to kill you.

Nutritional Info:  Basically free!  This is very low cal and has no fat.  Enjoy with reckless abandon.

*****

Other Mexican goodies can be found under the label of "Mexican" which you should be able to search on the side bar.