Grilled Caesar Salad with Anticuchos Camarones

 For our Facebook live Savour the Flavour event we decided to each put our own spin on caesar salad. Since I've learned so much about tasty food from my husband's Peruvian family I decided to take inspiration from Peru with a dish called Anticuchos, which are meat skewers cooked on a barbecue. Since seafood is really popular in Peru I decided to use shrimp and make Anticuchos de Camarones. 

These skewers are brushed in a delicious spicy-tart-salty sauce and grilled so I thought why not compliment them with a grilled caesar salad? The smokey taste of charred romaine lettuce complemented the spicy, smokey Anticuchos really well.

Caesar Salad with Anticuchos de Camarones

Serves 4

For the Salad:

2 romaine hearts washed, dried and split down the middle lengthwise

1 teaspoon olive oil

salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

Cotija cheese, crumbled, for serving

For the dressing:

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

3 anchovy filets

3 large cloves of garlic

1 large egg yolk

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

1 teaspoon aji amarillo paste

1/2 cup olive oil

3 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup finely grated parmesan

1/2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

For the Anticuchos:

1/2 lb tiger shrimp, peeled & deveined

Marinade:

1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon mirin

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic

½ teaspoon ground or 1 teaspoon fresh ginger

Method: combine the marinade ingredients in a small baking dish. Thread shrimp onto skewers and lay in marinade. Meanwhile, make the dressing: at the bottom of the mixing bowl toss a layer of coarse salt. Using the back of a fork, mash the garlic into a paste with the salt. Mash the anchovies into the salt and garlic late. When everything is well combined add the egg yolk and whisk to combine. As you continue working, add the mustard and aji paste, then slowly drizzle in the olive oil. The dressing should be thick. Whisk in vinegar, then Parmesan. Add pepper to taste. Set aside. Remove shrimp from marinade. Over indirect heat in a medium barbecue, grill shrimp 1-2 minutes per side, until just cooked through. Set shrimp aside. Brush lettuce with olive oil front and back. Season with salt and pepper. Over high heat, cook for one minute per side. When lettuce and shrimp have cooled you can assemble your salad: with the cut side up pour dressing over lettuce and serve with Anticuchos balanced over. Sprinkle with cotija cheese.

Bacon Fried Rice + New issue of Food in the Time of Quarantine

 

First the big news: the August issue of Food in the Time of Quarantine, our free recipe magazine, has been released! To help ease the mental load we are providing this magazine full of fun budget recipes. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoy sharing it! 

Download a free copy here: tr.im/FitToQ-04 

Admittedly, this dish is a little decadent. We usually eat it no more than once per week. On one hand it is a bit rich, but on the other it is quick, easy and wow is it delicious! It’s also extremely budget friendly. I buy bacon in bulk for my family, then chop it and freeze it in recipe sized portions and I use a frozen diced carrot and pea mix, so it’s possible to mostly make this meal from the freezer and pantry.  Bacon fried rice is versatile: you can use any kind of rice and this is a great dish to use up any veggies you have lying around.

If your kids are picky they will probably still agree on this. Mine are and they will always eat bacon fried rice. So schedule this one in on a particularly hectic night and enjoy.

Bacon Fried Rice

Serves 6

3 cups cooked rice

1/2 yellow onion

2/3 cup diced carrot & pea frozen mix*

4 slices bacon, chopped

4 extra large eggs

1 teaspoon grated ginger

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon soy sauce, divided (see method)

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Method: 

In a wok or heavy bottomed pan, cook bacon until crisp and fat has fully rendered. Transfer bacon to a paper towel lined plate and drain off all but three tablespoons of the bacon fat. Return pan to the heat and add onions. If you’re using fresh carrots add them as well. Cook over heat until tender and beginning to brown.Drizzle sesame oil, and add in ginger and garlic. Cook for one minute, stirring often. Toss in frozen peas and carrot mix. If you’re using fresh carrots, toss in frozen peas at this stage. Add rice, 1/2 Tablespoon soy sauce. Mix and then add eggs, bacon and remaining soy sauce. Mix thoroughly and stir frequently until the eggs have been fully cooked. Best served fresh and hot.

*Or 1/3 cup chopped carrots and 1/3 cup frozen or canned peas