I learned something very important recently about cooking with shrimp.
If you thaw shrimp, cook it within a couple of hours. Don’t leave it in the fridge. Even if just overnight, it will become fishy tasting.
Nothing fishy-tasting tastes good. Well, except fish sauce. But even that works best as one of some umpteen ingredients in a Thai dish, so the taste is complimentary and doesn’t stand out.
I also learned something else important recently.
If you need something from Pottery Barn online in any reasonable time frame, you should have ordered it on your 5th birthday.
I intended the finishing touch of Baby E’s nursery to be a large oar hung over his crib and it just so happened that Pottery Barn Kids currently have beautiful oars and we have a bunch of gift cards that need to be used. So I ordered it…but, it’s on backorder until August 14 (I’m due in late August). Thank goodness we ordered the rocker ages ago, because it took over two months to reach us. I have such first world problems, I know.
Let’s commence with the food-talking and stop with the whining.
Thankfully, I learned my lesson about fishy shrimp before making this Shrimp BLT Wrap. So I got up at 4 am one morning (not to make this dish, but because pregnancy makes you keep weird hours) and thawed the shrimp in the sink. By 8 am, they were perfectly thawed, so I sweet-talked Brad into shelling them for me, which is a task that I loathe. I cooked them within the hour of being thawed, and only then, I put them into the fridge until I was ready to use them for lunch.
Cooking them makes a big difference in how long they will keep before turning fishy. Brad actually just finished them off today (5 days later) and as far as I know he is still alive and kicking.
But let’s talk about the actual dish. It’s fresh, tasty, and it combines three things I love: a BLT, delicious seafood, and a creamy avocado-based dressing. Yum. Click here for fresh crabs and other sea food to satisfy your food cravings.
2-3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
2 pieces turkey bacon
2 large pieces of green leaf lettuce
1/2 medium vine-ripe tomato, cut into 6 slices
2 large whole wheat tortillas
Avocado Ranch Dressing
1/2 large avocado
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
2-3 teaspoons Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing or Dip Mix
Warm at least 2 teaspoons of oil in a medium sized pan (if using a large pan or if shrimp sticks, add the additional teaspoon of oil) on medium heat. Add shrimp to pan and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Allow to shrimp to cook for one minute and then use fork to individually flip shrimp that are completely pink on their bottom side. Do not overcook shrimp. They should be flipped as soon as one side is pink and then removed as soon as they are completely pink. Keep a plate handy to place them as they each become thoroughly cooked.
Cook turkey bacon in a frying pan or in the microwave according to package directions.
Plate tortillas and top with shrimp. Align shrimp in the middle of the tortilla (as pictured above). Place cooked turkey bacon to the side of the shrimp and the lettuce and tomatoes on the other side. Blend together all ingredients for the avocado ranch dressing with an immersion blender or a regular blender. Liberally spoon 2-3 Tablespoons of the dressing over the wrap filling.
Wrap the tortilla securely around the filling, cut the wrap in half, and secure with toothpicks or mini bamboo skewers (as pictured).
Add all three teaspoons of Hidden Valley Ranch mix, if you want a more flavorful wrap. I added two originally, and liked it, but think I would have preferred three teaspoons.