Jamaican Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa

Two of my fantastic friends are about to move away. (Yes, this keeps happening  – welcome to DC.)

Very soon, Tracy and Mike are moving to Nepal (oh hello awesome!!!), then to South Carolina for Tracy to start a PhD program (I feel like a proud parent – my little office-mate is getting all growed up!).

Tracy and I became friends through work – we share an office (The Situation Room) with a Lumineers poster on the door, we regularly rock climb together, venture out on weekly cookie-runs, “global” dinners, coffee shop work-weekends, concerts, and of course go on the occasional camping trip and/or ski trip.

Anyone who has shared an office before knows that a good officemate is key and a bad one is literally the worst thing ever. Sooo basically I’ve been winning.

A while back Tracy and Mike hosted a “family dinner” at their apartment. They put me to work in the best way possible – sous-chef slicing and dicing all the Mango Salsa components. De-freaking-licious.  And totally worth the little effort it required.

They made these AMAZING Shrimp Tacos, garnished with the salsa and some other things. I love when other people cook for me for many reasons, one of which is that it means that I eat something I wouldn’t think to cook for myself. Shrimp cooks very quickly, so this is a great weeknight I'm-hungry-now meal. (Though the shrimp should marinate for 30 minutes in advance of cooking.) And it's a bright and beach-y meal to transport you (mentally at least) to somewhere sunny and summery.

With corn-cake on the side. 

Jamaican Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa

Printable recipe.

Serves 4

For the shrimp:

• 2 pound raw medium or large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 tablespoons Jamaican curry powder (or yellow curry powder)
• 1 cup Jamaican Jerk Barbecue sauce
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil

For the salsa:

• 2 large mangos, finely diced
• 1 red onion, finely diced
• 1 8-oz can crushed pineapple
• 3-4 bell peppers (yellow, red, or orange), finely diced
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• black pepper

For serving: (all garnishes are optional. Obviously I want them all)

• Small corn or flour tortillas (we used flour, they’re more durable)
• Shredded cheese
• Lettuce or spinach (we used spinach)
• Hot sauce
• Finely diced or thinly sliced radishes
• Lime juice

Directions:

1. Prepare the salsa: Slice, dice, and mix. Crush if you want. EASY! (This recipe makes a lot, so expect leftovers.)
2. Prepare the shrimp: In a large bowl, toss the shrimp with the curry powder and barbecue sauce and let it marinate for about 30 minutes. 
3. Heat a large saute pan over medium temperature. 
4. Add the olive oil to the pan and heat for about 1 minute. 
5. Add in the shrimp, and cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are evenly cooked and not translucent at all (about 5 minutes). 
6. Serve immediately with garnishes!

Printable recipe.

And this is my parting GIF gift to Tracy and Mike: