For the Love of Food

I made this for my mom’s birthday.

Ingredients:
1.5 Lbs Shrimp, cooked, tails removed, and chopped
4-6 Plum Tomatoes, chopped (use more if they are small)
1/2 a Green Bell Pepper, chopped
1/4 an Onion, diced
Salt
Pepper
Chili powder
Cayenne pepper
Cumin

Directions:
As you chop each tomato, place it in a large bowl and sprinkle salt on it – this will make the tomatoes give off more juice.  Add shrimp, bell pepper, and onion and mix.  Sprinkle more salt on the mixture.  Add a dash of pepper and cumin.  Add a few dashes of chili powder and cayenne pepper – make it as spicy or mild as you wish with these 2 spices.  Mix.

Place bowl in the refrigerator and mix every 30 minutes to make sure that all flavors are evenly distributed.  You can start this the night before or as little as 2 hours before you want to serve.  The longer you let it sit the more juices that the tomatoes will give off.  Before serving, taste, and add more salt – after the tomatoes give off so much juice, the ceviche will taste less salty.

Serve with tortilla chips as an appetizer or main course of a meal.  You may also drain away the liquid of you wish.  Serves 10-15 as an appetizer, or about 5 as a main course.

What can I say, I was too lazy to make my own dip…sorry no “real” recipe.

Components:
1 head of Broccoli, cut into florets
2 large Carrots, cut into sticks
1 large green Bellpepper, cut into sticks
20-30 grape Tomatoes

Dip:
1 packet of Hidden Valley Rach Dip Mix
1 container of Sour Cream

Directions:
Heat oil in a frying pan. Peel the Platanos, and cut into 2-inch pieces. Fry these pieces for a few seconds, until the outer portion is lightly fried. Remove from oil and place in a dish to cool (this should not take long since they were only frying for a few seconds). Place one of the rounds vertically between the Cheese Cloth (fold the cheese cloth over it so that it is both bellow and above the Platano).
With the meat hammer, pound the platano until it is a flat disk. Once you have completed this with all the pieces of platano, put them back int he frying pan and fry until they are crispy. Remove them from the oil and drain them on a paper towel or the cheese cloth. Sprinkle with salt.

If the Platanos are very ripe and soft, cut into slivers and only fry once. Then serve, they most likely do not need to be sprinkled with salt, but use your descretion.

There is nothing like a homemade dinner…especially when your mom makes it for you!

See individual recipes in following posts: Sig