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Cook the Book: Santa Fe Summer Pot with Avocado and Shrimp

Posted by Lucy Baker, June 4, 2008 at 12:45 PM

If, like me, you live in a small city apartment, turning on your oven in the warmer months can be unbearable—the whole place heats up like a sauna. And even if you live in the spacious suburbs, who wants to slave away in a hot kitchen on a steamy night?

Today's Cook the Book recipe, excerpted from The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper, is made up entirely of raw and precooked ingredients. No oven, no stove, no microwave needed. Fresh tomatoes are whirred in a food processor with lime juice, red onion, jalapeño, and spices, and then heaped on top of bowls of cucumber, avocado, and shrimp. Think of it as a no-cook stew.

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Santa Fe Summer Pot with Avocado and Shrimp

- makes 4 servings -
Adapted from The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift.

Ingredients

1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 a medium red onion, fine chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 a jalapeño, seeded and minced
1/2 teaspoon Crossover Spice Blend (recipe follows), or a blend of ground coriander, ground cumin, and fresh-ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds ripe, delicious tomatoes, coarse chopped (do not peel); or one 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
2 sprigs fresh coriander
1 small cucumber, peeled and diced
1 ripe avocado, diced
1 pound cooked, peeled shrimp, or firm tofu, or leftover poultry, diced
Handful tortilla chips, lightly crushed
2 limes, each cut into 8 wedges

Procedure

1. In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, onion, garlic, jalapeño, and spice blend. Let marinate for 10 minutes.

2. Place the tomatoes and coriander sprigs into the bowl of a food processor, and pulse until the mixture is chunky. Add the onion mixture, and pulse five times.

3. Divide the cucumber, avocado, and shrimp among four bowls. Spoon the tomato blend into the bowls. Garnish with the crushed tortilla chips and lime wedges.

Crossover Spice Blend

- makes about 3/4 cup -

Ingredients

1/4 cup ground cumin
1/2 cup ground coriander
1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) fresh-ground black pepper

Procedure

Blend the spices together in a jar, and seal. Store away from the heat and light.

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Tags: avocado, CTB: The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper, Lynne Rossetto Kasper, Sally Swift, shrimp, summer, The Splendid Table