Beat the Heat #SundaySupper...Featuring Refreshing Chunky Shrimp Salsa

This week’s #SundaySupper theme is Beat the Heat. Trust me, heat is something we know a LOT about here in central Texas! During this time of year, I try to avoid using my oven as much as possible. That means I mainly use my stove, grill pan, and even my crockpot to prepare most of our dinners. On particularly hot days, we’ll sometimes have main dish salads or other cold items for dinner. Today’s versatile recipe can be used as an appetizer, side dish, or as a component of a healthy main dish salad. My Refreshing Chunky Shrimp Salsa only requires boiling the shrimp; the rest of the ingredients are chopped and added before the finished dish goes into the fridge to chill for a couple of hours before serving. 

This salsa has a lot of different flavors and textures: spicy boiled shrimp, crunchy veggies, fiery serrano pepper, creamy avocado, and sweet mango. Before giving it a quick toss, it’s seasoned with tangy lime juice and a bit of cilantro. I like to think of this concoction as the love child of pico de gallo and ceviche! This colorful salsa is fantastic served with sturdy tortilla chips for a company-worthy appetizer...or as a side dish for a simple dinner of cheese quesadillas. You could also leave out the avocado and serve this shrimp salsa inside avocado halves for a refreshing Summer lunch or light dinner. See? It’s really versatile...and really yummy! Let me show you how easy it is to whip up!!

Refreshing Chunky Shrimp Salsa

adapted from 750 Best Appetizers

Step 1: Boil 1/2 lb. shrimp with Cajun shrimp boil in salted water -- this infuses the shrimp with LOTS of flavor! Cool, peel, and chop the shrimp into bite-sized pieces. You should have just over 1 cup of diced shrimp when you're done. Add the shrimp to a large mixing bowl, along with the following ingredients: 1 small finely diced seeded serrano pepper, 1 seeded chopped roma tomato, 1 small diced mango, 1 thinly sliced green onion, 1/3 cup chopped shallot, and one small diced avocado. 

Step 2: Add the juice of one lime, 1 tsp. sea salt, and chopped cilantro to taste. Cilantro can be overpowering to my tastebuds, so I used about 1 tbs. Feel free to add more if you're a cilantro lover! Stir to evenly coat the salsa with the seasoning ingredients...but be gentle so you don't break up the avocado. 

Step 3: Place the salsa in the fridge to chill for an hour or so before serving. When you're ready to eat, spoon the salsa into a festive serving bowl. Serve with sturdy corn chips for dipping...or spoon it on top of a cheese quesadilla...or heck, just eat it with a spoon if you want!

Man, is this salsa addictive! A little spicy, a little sweet, and a little tangy...the avocado cools the heat with creamy goodness. Every bite is subtly different, depending on what ingredients end up on your chip. This salsa has great eye appeal too thanks to the colorful combination of ingredients. I hope you'll whip up a batch of this salsa for your next party...or just because. It's literally ready for the fridge in less than 30 minutes...including boiling time for the shrimp!

Make sure you join us on Twitter at 3:00 p.m. EST this afternoon for our weekly #SundaySupper Twitter chat!  All you have to do is follow the #SundaySupper hashtag...or you can follow us through TweetChat!  While you're at it, check out all the fantastic heat-busting recipes that my fellow #SundaySupper food bloggers are sharing this week:

#BeatTheHeat Appetizers:

• Totally Cool Green Hummus ~ My Kitchen and I
• Smoked Whitefish Salad Bagel Bites ~ Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Watermelon and Goat Cheese Bites ~ Chelsea’s Culinary Indulgence
• Strawberry Gazpacho ~ Diabetic Foodie
• Grilled Loaded Baked Potato Skins ~ In the Kitchen with KP
• Sweet & Tangy Chili Lime Fruit Salad ~ Sue’s Nutrition Buzz

#BeatTheHeat Salads, Soups & Sides:

• Cool Cucumber Salad ~ Momma’s Meals
• Lemony Garbanzo Kale Salad with Tuna ~ Shockingly Delicious
• Hungarian Cucumber Salad Recipe – Uborkasaláta Recept ~ The Watering Mouth
• Tomato Salad with Macadamia Cheese ~ Cooking’s Good Vegetarian Cafe
• Char-Grilled Corn Salad ~ The Little Ferraro Kitchen
• Gazpacho ~ The Hand That Rocks the Ladle
• Summertime Sweet Pea Salad ~ Granny’s Down Home Southern Cooking
• Apple and Poppy Seed Coleslaw  ~ Damn Delicious
• Cold Cucumber and Orzo Salad ~ Mama.Mommy.Mom
• Carribbean Salad with Grilled Shrimp ~ Mama’s Blissful Bites
• Chilly Dilly Cucumber Soup with Shrimp ~ Comfy Cuisine
• Mom’s Creamy Pea Salad ~ Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen
• Greek (Yogurt) Potato Salad ~ Family Foodie

#BeatTheHeat Main Dishes:

• Rainbow Slaw with Steak and Chipotle Crema ~ Cooking By The Seat of our Pants
• Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken ~ Make Dinner Easy
• Rolling with Kim Bap ~ Kimchi Mom
• Ranch Chicken Tacos ~ Pippi’s In The Kitchen Again
• Serrano Ham, Mozzarella and Arugula Sandwiches ~ Vintage Kitchen Notes
• Asian Veggie Lettuce Wraps ~ The Lemon Bowl
• Slow Cooker Root Beer Pulled Pork ~ Cupcakes and Kale Chips
• No Bake Pizza ~ The Meltaways

#BeatTheHeat Desserts:

• Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream ~ Supper for a Steal
• No-Cook Egg-Free Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream ~ Chocolate Moosey
• Peach Sorbet ~ Magnolia Days
• Gluten-Free Cookie Dough Ice Cream ~ No One Likes Crumbley Cookies
• Icebox Chocolate Pie ~ Doggie at the Dinner Table
• Honey and Elderflower Ice Cream ~ Small Wallet Big Appetite
• Blackberry Lavender Popsicles ~ Girlichef
• Frozen Chocolate Bananas ~ In the Kitchen with Audrey
• Strawberry-Lime Margarita Ice Cream ~ Cookistry
• Elegant Fruit Jellies ~ Happy Baking Days
• Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches ~ That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream ~ Baker Street
• Vanilla Peach Swirl Frozen Yogurt ~ Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts
• Espresso and Toasted Almond Semifreddo ~ The Messy Baker
• Mango Ice Cream ~ Queen’s Notebook
• Raspberry Mousse ~ Basic and Delicious
• White Apricot & Honeysuckle Sorbet ~ Family Spice
• Biscoff Ice Cream Cupcakes ~ Juanita’s Cocina
• Old Fashioned Banana Pudding with Nilla Wafers ~ famfriendsfood

#BeatTheHeat Drinks & Cocktails:

• Shirley Temple ~ Cravings of a Lunatic
• Coco-Limeade ~ What Smells So Good?
• Prickly Pear White Wine Spritzer ~ Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Classic Daquiri ~ Katherine Martinelli
• Salty Lassi ~ Soni’s Food for Thought
• Blueberry Mint Lemonade ~ Pescetarian Journal
• Sweet Basil & Cucumber Melon Smoothie ~ Daily Dish Recipes

Wine Pairings Provided By:  ENOFYLZ