Ron's Favorite Shrimp

Ron spends a lot of time eating.  And watching TV.  He spends very little time actually going to work.  His job consists mostly of laying around eating, watching TV and waiting for the phone to ring.  It's a great job if you can get it.

Because of this he tires of the average snack food.

He loves this shrimp recipe.  So much so that he will often ask for it several times a month.  Sometimes even several times a week.

It's super easy.  Especially if you have an immersion blender.  I couldn't live without mine.  Really.  Worth the $ to invest in one if you make dressings, sauces, etc.  Much easier clean up than a blender.

Anyway, here we go.

Go to the store and get 2 pounds of shrimp.  I like at least a medium size that you can eat in one bite, but not so small that they get lost in the sauce.  Tail off is preferable, because then you don't have to worry about the tails.  (Costco sells a bag of 2 pounds, tail off, precooked and cleaned shrimp.  It's a staple in my freezer.)  If you are starting with raw shrimp, you're gonna have to clean and cook them, and that's a lesson for another blog post.

I leave the shrimp to thaw in a colander while I do the rest.

Zest your limes.  Microplane graters are awesome for this task.  You only want the green, not the white underneath.  Sorry, no pictures.  I forgot.  Once you've zested your limes, juice them.  You need a total of 4 ounces of lime juice, which means you'll probably need to add more - either fresh or bottled is fine.  I'm a huge fan of key lime juice if you can find it.  Set your lime juice aside.

Chop the cilantro, tossing most of the stem.  I don't do a fine chop on this, as the immersion blender will puree it anyway.  Just small enough to get it in the blending cup.

I am a huge fan of those flexible cutting mats (mine are from IKEA.)  You can chop stuff up and use the mat to dump it in whatever you're mixing or cooking with.

Stuff that cilantro into the immersion blender cup or your blender jar.

Throw in the garlic cloves (if using fresh) or measure out the minced/crushed jarred stuff.

Measure out the oil and add it to the mix.  As well as the lime juice.

Stick that immersion blender in there and puree until the cilantro looks like little green specks.

Now you're gonna add in your spices so you can taste and make sure you like it.  Hot sauce, salt & pepper are all added to your liking.  Ron likes it really hot, so I use about 2 tablespoons of Sriracha.  You can certainly add less.  Be careful with the salt too.

By now your shrimp should be somewhat thawed.  I throw the shrimp in a large plastic storage container to make it easy.  Pour the sauce over the top, place the lid on tightly and shake shake shake.

This is the easiest way to mix it up.  If the shrimp were still a bit frozen, I leave the container on the counter for about 30 minutes to finish thawing.  Stick em in the fridge and occasionally toss them around again for good measure.  You want to make sure that all the little buggers have been totally coated with the marinade.

I like to let them sit overnight and really soak up the marinade, but Ron usually snags them right after they're mixed.  It's up to you.

We prefer these cold.  I suppose you could probably grill them or heat them or put them over pasta.  Mine are never around long enough to know.

Yeah, they'd never get served this way either.  But it's sure pretty.

Printable version:Cilantro Lime Shrimp