Quick and Easy Mexican Dinner

Since we've been busier than usual {as mentioned here}, dinners have been quick and easy! Of course, there have been quite a few takeout nights much to my dismay so I tried to throw in fresh ingredients for dinner as much as possible...which unfortunately wasn't all that much.  One night, I was craving a Mexican dish, so I bopped into Publix and picked up a few items.  I'm 100% a taco girl {beef taco, fish taco, shrimp taco, calamari taco}and the spicier the better!! Since Publix had a sale on swordfish, I decided to go for it, though I'd never had that type of fish in a taco before.  The man behind the counter assured me it would go well because its mild enough and meaty and dense like tuna.  So I went for it along with some shrimp which is always fab.  Of course, every good Mexican meal must have either chips and salsa to accompany it or chips and guacamole.  I was craving the guac so I scooped up avocado, onion, cilantro, and lime juice. 
And away we gooooo!!!!

Dylan grilled the swordfish for me after I seasoned her up. 

A little sea salt and fresh ground pepper first.  Then a drizzle of olive oil.

Then, I added some cumin and cayenne for a little kick

How easy was that? Next, onto the shrimp! 

My marinade included: olive oil, juice of 1 lime, worstershire, cayenne, salt and pepper
and a teaspoon of dark brown sugar.  I like the caramalizing that happens from the sugar being mixed in and it truly
makes the grill smell great!  Even though I think charcoal alone smells good : ) I swear, us Bowden's LOVE to grill!

Stir it all gently with a spoon and pop into the fridge about 30 mins prior to grilling.
I didn't skewer them.  Instead, wrapped them in a tinfoil bed to lay down on the grill.

With the fish and shrimp being so easy breazy, I decided to spend a little more time with the homemade quac. There are many many versions of this recipe but I went with the most well known, simple version. Simple...me?!? I know! Surprising! Ha. Let's say "classic" version instead of "simple" shall we?



3 Hass avocados, juice of 1 lime, 1/2 diced onion {or more if you prefer}, and
a big ole yummy bundle of cilantro. Fresh and smells delish!



For the avocados, cut all the way around from top to bottom, twist to open and then gently press a sharp knife on the pit and twist it to get it out.  Then, my method the method I stole from Giada, to get the flesh out is to score the avocado long ways and then the opposite way {as seen in the blurry pic below...my bad}.

Once you get your avocado into a bowl, squeeze the lime juice over it immediately so the avocado won't brown.  Nothing is less appetizing than brown quacamole.

 

Tip: Easy way to peel an onion...cut down the side of the onion {from the top to the bottom}
to get through the peel and one layer of the onion.
Then, you can easily peel back those layers and get your dice on!
Kind of hard to see in the pic but that's what I do.

Add the rest of our ingredients into the bowl!

Add salt and pepper to taste and mash gently with a fork to incorporate all of the

ingredients. I prefer it a bit chunky so I don't mash too much.

  

Next comes the super fun part! Presentation!! I do little things like this for Dylan and I just because I figure if you put the time and effort into making a dish, it should be served in something that echos that time and effort and makes it special and pretty.  This is a great way to serve quac at a dinner/cocktail party as well!! And nowadays you can buy mini versions of margarita glasses which would be cute too! I've seen those at Pier One and Home Goods. 

I garnished the top with diced onion and cilantro and a few tostido chips. 

I gotta tell ya, no meal is complete without some Sriracha.  Dylan and I can't get enough of the stuff. 

{Admission: I actually put sriracha on pizza the other day! yikes! it was fab}.  So I added that as well to the quacamole.

More proof of my love of sriracha! The only other thing I added to the tacos was a bit of sour cream {if I had greek yogurt on hand I would've used that}, a squeeze of lime and for the fish taco, a smear of the guac. Voila! A quick and easy Mexican dinner for two.