Never Ending Summer...

Sunny's Favorite Shrimp Campechana

2 Lbs Cooked Shrimp, peeled and deveined

3 C Low Sodium V8 Juice

3 tsp Sugar

3 Avocados

3-4 Roma Tomatoes, depending on their size

1 Small Red Onion

2 Limes

1 Bunch Cilantro

2 Fresh Jalapenos*

Salt to taste

For Serving:

Saltine Crackers

Tobasco Sauce

Add V8 Juice and sugar to blender pitcher and set aside. You will need a very large, non-metal mixing bowl for this adventure!

Time to get chopping!

Starting with the tomatoes, quarter one tomato and put it in the blender with the V8. Core and dice the remaining tomatoes and add them to your large bowl.

Halve both limes, squeezing the juice from one into the blender and one into the bowl.

Halve onion. Roughly chop one half and add it to the blender, dice the other half and add it to the bowl.

Halve and pit all of the avocados. Add one avocado to the blender. Dice the remaining avocado and add it to the bowl.

Halve jalapenos, removing the membranes and seeds if you like less heat. Add one pepper half to the blender. Finely dice the remainder of the jalapeno and add to your bowl. If you have especially hot peppers, you may want to add less. Not a fan of the peppers? This is your world! Add as much or as little as you like!

Thoroughly wash and dry cilantro. Pull off a handful of leaves and add them to the blender. Roughly chop the rest of the leaves and add them to the bowl.

Roughly chop the shrimp and add them all to the bowl - none of them go into the blender!

Gently stir the mixture in the bowl to distribute all ingredients evenly, then set aside.

Secure the lid on the blender container, and puree until you have a smooth sauce. Gradually stir the sauce into the mixture in the bowl until you have emptied the blender and all ingredients are incorporated into the sauce.

Serve in bowls with saltine crackers and Tobasco sauce on the side.

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This is one of our very favorite dishes to have on an especially hot summer day. I prefer it immediately after it has been assembled, but you are welcome to chill it if you like!

Several years ago, I went exploring in San Antonio with one of my friends. She took me to all of the cool places, and showed me where to get the best food. This included a shrimp campechana from Mi Tierra. I was in love! This love affair with a Mexican shrimp cocktail led me to want to recreate it myself, changing a couple of things to make it more my style!

First of all, the campechana from Mi Tierra was too sweet for my liking. Controlling the amount of sugar took care of that! I also wanted to be able to taste all of the ingredients in each bite, so I added a bit of each ingredient to the blender. This blended concoction was thicker than the original, and I liked it even more. I'm not a fan of too much salt so after having tried original V8, I realized that I could control the salt by using reduced sodium instead. And tada! My very favorite campechana!

I've stood over the kitchen counter happily inhaling a giant bowl of this stuff with my tour guide of a friend. We were supposed to take it to a Christmas party to share, but decided that we didn't want to share it with anyone else! I've made this for family and friends alike and the reviews are always the same. This stuff is good!

The most beautiful part about this dish is that you can customize it to suit your taste, just like I did! Want it spicy? Add serranoes instead of jalapenos, or maybe something with even more heat. Love avocado? Chop up extra and add some more! I'm here to tell you, you can't mess this up! If you can run a blender (or food processor if you rather) and chop vegetables, you can pull this off in no time!

While this version isn't what I would consider authentic, it will bring you a little bit of summer anytime you need a bite of sunshine! You can even up the sunshiny feeling with a mango margarita if you're feeling saucy!

Now then...go chop up some deliciousness and have yourself a great meal!