Dear friends,
I feel like Hemingway writing in some jungle hut. A humid breeze cools a trickle of sweat inching down my back. The visita from my screen room is lush — waist-high ferns and shoulder-high plumes of grass, with a relentless sun filtering through the trees. Should the jungle guides light a fire and cook lunch? I think not. We will dine instead on an avocado salad that cools the tongue and sustains us for the journey ahead.
Yeow, it’s hot. I write this on Monday, and everything but the jungle and guides is true. If the temperature drops between now and Wednesday when you receive this, save the recipe for the next hot spell that we all know is coming.
This week’s recipe was born on a beach in the Bahamas in the 1980s. Tony recalls vendors crisscrossing the sand with coolers full of icy conch salad. Tony wolfed it down and has been dreaming about that salad ever since.
I don’t know if the shrimp and avocado version he made for dinner one night was a faithful replica, but I loved it. The ingredients are simple, but the precise way he cut the vegetables and the proportion of avocado to everything else were perfect. I asked Tony to make it again so I could measure and jot down the ingredients as he worked. This salad will keep you cool in the jungle, on the beach or wherever you land in this heat.
TONY’S SHRIMP AND AVOCADO SALAD
1 lb. shell-on raw shrimp, briefly cooked and peeled
2 cups chopped sweet onion in 1/2-inch dice
2 avocados in 1/2-inch dice
2 cups chopped tomatoes in 1/2-inch dice
1 1/2 tsp. Tabasco sauce
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Slice the shrimp into 1/2-inch cubes. Combine with remaining ingredients, taking care to cut the vegetables precisely. Gently toss. Cover and chill. Makes 4 servings.
GUT CHECK
What I cooked:
Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, crudités with yogurt ranch dip; tuna and edamame salad; roast garlic scapes and roast cod; chicken and asparagus stir fry; shrimp cocktail; baked ginger-soy chicken legs; antipasto, Roger’s smashed potatoes, grilled ribeye steaks and lime Jell-O (Tony’s fave, on Father’s Day); venison spaghetti sauce and cottage cheese baked in a spaghetti squash half; pulled chicken, fresh green beans, burst cherry tomatoes and shaved Parmesan; asparagus crustless quiche; Sonoran shrimp ceviche; blueberry pancakes and eggs; barbecued ribs, sesame green beans and steamed new potatoes; jian bing, a Chinese crepe with egg wrapped around fried wontons skins.
What I ate in/from restaurants:
Superfoods salad with chicken and pomegranate iced tea at Aladdin’s in Fairlawn; chicken gyro from Star Pizza in Copley; a Detox Smoothie from Tropical Smoothie Cafe; a chicken Caesar salad and lemon cookie from Panera.
THE MAILBAG
From Darren B.:
(Responding to my request for his favorite recipe from his coleslaw survey): The below has been the favorite so far. This recipe was the 2012 Southern Living Cole Slaw winner submitted by Nadine Mesch from Mount Healthy, Ohio!
The first time I made the recipe I purchased two cans of chipotle chile peppers in adobo sauce and proceeded to start chopping away. Halfway through the first can it dawned on me, after I of course had added them to the slaw, that maybe two cans was a bit much. Read the recipe again and realized my mistake…TWO peppers…not TWO cans. Good thing the dinner guests enjoyed spicy food.
CHIPOTLE-CILANTRO SLAW
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. sour cream
1 tsp. lime zest
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground pepper
1 (16-oz.) package shredded coleslaw mix
1 carrot, shredded
2 canned chipotle chile peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped
½ cup minced fresh cilantro
Whisk together first 8 ingredients in a large bowl. Add coleslaw mix and remaining ingredients, and stir until coated. Serve immediately, or cover and chill up to 1 hour.
Dear Darren:
That sounds delicious. It would go great with ribs or burgers and my Elote Corn Spoonbread from June 16. Maybe that will be our July 4th picnic. What’s everyone else having?
From Karen:
I have a friend who can’t eat onions in any form. All the ketchup in the United States is made with onion powder.
European ketchups do not use onion powder. They use tomatoes, spirit vinegar, sugar, salt, spice and herb extracts (contain celery) spice. (I took the ingredients label home with me!) Do you know why the European ketchup is made without onion?
Have you seen a recipe or a brand here that does not use onion in ketchup?
Dear Karen:
I have no idea why European ketchup would be different from those sold in America. Your friend could make her own or buy the no-onion, no-garlic vegan ketchup made by Fody. Ingredients are water, tomato puree, sugar, vinegar, modified cornstarch, salt, spice extractive (no onion or garlic). The ketchup is available by mail order from a variety of sources, in health-food stores and some supermarkets.