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Un-shrimp Tacos and Watermelon Jicama Salad
Cody V. (original recipe)
I visited the Grand Canyon as a kid and it's worth your while. As someone who grew up around
gorges, it takes a certain amount of grandeur to impress me with a big rut. But the Grand Canyon
lives up to its name. It's also the perfect excuse for donkeys and mules, which are always good
fun. As I recall, we spent a fair amount of time there. I'm never sure whether a state is proud
to be associated with an iconic landmark, or if you feel reduced to a one-dimensional stereotype.
Donkeys and mules don't vote, so it stands to reason I will need to try a little harder.
I'm sure you have lovely people but my second association is again a natural feature, the
Desert. For whatever reason, they made a big deal about deserts when I was in elementary school.
I'm pretty sure the cutoff point is 10 inches of rain annually. Arizona as a state averages just
above this, but Yuma, AZ in the southwest corner of the state (a portion of the Sonoran Desert
-- shout out to your tortoises) receives less than 3.5 inches per year. It is one of the sunniest
places in the world. Phoenix, too, which might have the best city name in the country. It is
appropriately named because it gets HOT there! Over 100 days each year at over 100 degrees
Fahrenheit. Wow. I lived in Montana for a year and Phoenix is basically the opposite. Which
is neat. I'm not sure everyone should go and live there, but I respect people who live in
extreme environments. Deserts were once thought to be desolate but we learned in elementary
school they are actually teaming with life and we should value them just as much as other
ecosystems.
I may not have the experience of holding office or running a large organization, but I seem
to make the most out of my public school education. Do Biden or Trump even remember elementary
school? I went looking for an anecdote from The Art of the Deal for a completely unrelated
project and apparently the most memorable event of Trump's schoolboy days was when he punched
his music teacher and gave him a black eye. These men are twice my age so I will never win a
contest of "most experienced" but I like to think my intense curiosity and thoughtful nature
dovetail to give a quality of experience that a life of pleasing campaign donors or committing
business fraud cannot equal.
Bringing it back to Arizona, I always wanted to see your Petrified Forest. It sounds so cool!
This recipe is exciting. I still have frozen un-shrimp left over from
Alabama and because this is such a wildly different application, I will use them.
Watermelon Jicama Salad
- 1 cu. Watermelon, chopped
- 1/4 cu. Cilantro microgreens or cilantro
Tacos
- 1 small container plain vegan Yogurt
- 2 oz. Pickled jalapenos, diced
Preparation
For the salad: Combine all ingredients and refrigerate until you've prepared the rest of the meal.
For the taco: Combine yogurt and pickled jalapenos. Boil un-shrimp for 5 minutes, then remove
from water with a
slotted spoon. Warm up tortillas on the stove top or in the
microwave. Top the tortillas with salad, pickled cabbage,
un-shrimp, yogurt sauce, and salsa and serve with avocado.
Discussion
This was a fairly complicated (sophisticated!) dish and I am happy to report it turned out marvelous.
I added jalapeno to some of the earlier recipes to spice them up a bit but I've been playing it pretty
close to the recipe recently. Thus, it was exciting to see a recipe that used jalapenos two ways.
I must give credit to a local Mexican restaurant for providing the pickled jalapeno, picked cabbage
("zesty slaw"),
and salsa. Even with these prepared ingredients there was still a fair amount to do, so I appreciate
the help.
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