Forget the Rain, I’m bringing in the Tropics

Hi everyone,

How was your St. Patrick’s Day?  I didn’t do much, just house work and some cooking, but time sure did go fast.  Here in Northern California it has been nothing but rain, clouds and cold, so I decided to bring the warmth to me, with my tropical dinner.

I wanted the taste of the tropics with flavors of mango, pineapple, shrimp, peppers and coconut.  So with all that I am bringing you a whole meal.  I could break it down in pieces throughout the week, but why?  All of this goes together and makes one fantastic dinner and dessert!  Yah, you read that right, dessert!

First I’ll share with you the Mango Salsa.

This salsa is fantastic!  The flavors are wonderful!!  It’s made with mango, jalapeno, sweet bell pepper, onions, freshly squeezed orange and lime juice and topped with a little cilantro.  I didn’t add to much cilantro to the dish because I’m not a huge fan, but I don’t mind a little.  This is the first time I ever made mango salsa and I wonder why I never made it before?  It tastes so good and would accompany a lot of meals.  I am happy that I have just a little bit leftover and will definitely be used with tomorrows lunch.  Unless of course I grab a spoon and just eat it now.

Now mango salsa is not all I had, what goes with mango salsa?  Shrimp!!!  I sautéed up some tasty shrimp to go along the mango salsa.

I wanted to avoid using oil, so I decided to make a sauce to go with my shrimp.  It’s made of rice vinegar, freshly squeezed orange juice, garlic, honey, Cajun seasoning and a few other added touches.  I served the shrimp on a bed of shredded cabbage.  Its stinky, I didn’t have any shrimp left over!  :(

I served the shrimp and mango salsa on a baked corn tortilla shell.  But that’s not all, I had to have a side dish to go with my Shrimp Tostada.

I made a side of coconut rice.  I used unsweetened light coconut milk, water and a dash of salt.  This was very nice, but next time I think I may add a little bit of diced pineapple.  That would have made it perfect, but it was pretty dam tasty.  When making it, I used one cup of balsamti brown rice and it made a ton!  Enough to probably serve 6 to 8 people.  My Husband was like holy crap, who’s going to eat all that rice?  Don’t worry sweetheart, it will get used in leftovers!!

Now to put it all together and this is what you get!

I am so happy with my dinner, it was wonderful it really did bring the feeling of the tropics to this dismo day!  But you know dinner is great but not complete without dessert, don’t you think?

Like my glass?  I got it at Islands Restaurant in Long Beach when I went there with my Mom a few years ago.  I fell in love with Islands tropical feel and there taco’s, oh so good and they also serve Sweet Potato fries!  Yum!  My shake is made with coconut milk, vanilla ice cream, pineapple and greek yogurt.  Topped with fat free whip cream, cherry and coconut.  This was fantastic!  So good I want to make another one, but I’m out of coconut milk.  I need to buy more tomorrow.  This drink is creamy smooth and tastes like a virgin Pina Colda.  One of my favorite drinks!!

Shrimp Tostada

Ingredients:

6 corn tortilla shells

cooking spray

8 Wild Blue Shrimp, deveined, uncooked, diced

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed

1/2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp. honey

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 Tbsp. red onion, diced small

1/4 tsp. Cajun seasoning

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro (use more if you like)

1 cup cabbage, shredded

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Lightly spray both sides of corn tortillas with cooking spray. Bake for 7 – 10 minutes, until crisp (flipping half way through)

Meanwhile in a bowl whisk together vinegar, orange juice, mustard, honey, garlic,onion, Cajun seasoning and cilantro.  Add sauce into a skillet with the shrimp. Cook the shrimp until no longer pink.

Top shrimp and cabbage onto tortillas.

Optional: Serve with mango salsa and coconut rice.

Serving Size: 3 (2 Shrimp Tostadas each)

Calories per serving:  199,  Fat:  3,  Cholesterol:  120,  Sodium:  194,  Potassium:  123,  Carbs:  27,  Fiber:  5.7,  Sugar:  6.7,  Protein:  17.4

Mango Salsa

Ingredients:

1 cup Mango, diced

3 Tbsp. Jalapeno Pepper stemmed, seeded,chopped (about 1/2 a pepper)

2 tbsp. cilantro leaves, finely chopped (use more if you like)

11/2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice

2 Tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice

1/3 cup red bell pepper diced

3 tbsp red onion, diced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a bowl. carefully mix. Refrigerate to chill. Use up within 3 days.

Serves 4, approx 1/3 cup each

Calories per serving:  39,  Fat:  .02,  Cholesterol:  0,  Sodium:  1.5,  Potassium:  126,  Carbs:  9.8,  Fiber:  1.2,  Sugar:  6.9,  Protein:  .05

Coconut Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked brown basmati rice (I used Trader Joe’s Quick Cook Rice)

11/4 cups unsweetened coconut milk

1 cup water

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tbsp coconut, shredded, reduced fat

Directions:

Combine rice, water, coconut milk and salt in a sauce pan.

Stir slightly, bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover with a lid.

Simmer for 10 – 12 minutes or until coconut milk is absorbed.

Add shredded coconut, fluff with fork, and serve

Makes about 6 – 8 servings (serving size about 3/4 cup)

Calories per serving:  122,  Fat:  2.3, Cholesterol:  0,  Sodium:  31, Potassium:  0,  Carbs: 23.7,  Fiber:  .07,  Sugar:  .02,  Protein:  2.7

Virgin Pina Colda Shake

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1/4 plain greek yogurt

1/2 cup vanilla ice cream, fat free

1/2 cup pineapple, diced

Directions:

Add all ingredients into a blender and process until smooth.

Top with fat free whip cream and a cherry!

Serving Size: 1 serving

Calories per serving:  188,  Fat:  2.9,  Cholesterol:  5,  Sodium:  138,  Potassium:  155,  Carbs:  32,  Fiber:  4,  Sugar:  21,  Protein:  8.8

Hope I didn’t overload you with recipes today, but sometimes I think it’s best to put the whole meal together.  I hate when I want to make something and I don’t know what kind of side dishes to have with it.  Well with this meal, you get the whole caboodle!!  Want to know the stats for the whole meal??  I do, let me calculate, I’ll be right back…

Calories include 2 shrimp tostadas with mango salsa, 1 side of coconut rice and the Virgin Pina Colda shake

Calories:  547,  Fat:  8,  Cholesterol:  125, Sodium:  365,  Carbs:  94,  Fiber:  12,  Sugar:  34,  Protein:  29

Huh, I don’t think that’s to bad considering I had an ice cream shake in there, plus quite a bit of coconut!  This is one meal I can’t complain about calories!!!  Now the carbs may seem high, but you’re getting a lot of fruit and rice which adds up, plus 29 grams of protein!

I had fun with this post tonight!  I love creating different types of meals and sharing them with you.  This meal is something that I would order from a restaurant.  I really loved the mango salsa!  It was sweet and spicy, perfect together.  Yum!!!  I never buy mango enough, but after this dinner that is going to change.

Oh, as a friendly reminder, as you know I was nominated for Healthiest Eating Food Blog on Fitness Magazine and would love it if you voted for me.  So far I only have 45 votes,  if you like my blog, please vote for Peanut Butter and Peppers.  To vote for me, just go here. Thank you, much appreciated!!

Have a wonderful Sunday!!

Aloha

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