I love being inspired by others whether it is learning a new helpful kitchen tip or a mom hack!  It is much more fun doing life with a tribe of awesome people like you! My point, just the other day I was miffed to find my plump tomatoes in the garden had splits and lines down them.

Rather than google my dilemma and spend hours being engulfed into the cyper world of information, I asked you all on Facebook your thoughts. Low and behold, one of my tribe peeps answered the call of help!  The cracking and slits in the taut skin were apparently the consequence of a sudden rain storm, fluctuating soil moisture, temperatures over 85 degrees!

Never mind the lines and cracks because those tomatoes were so good despite their imperfections!!  Ya’ll, if I may INSPIRE….get some tomato plants and try out your green thumb! Even if you only get one measly tomato you will taste the most heavenly thing ever!

All this “inspiring” is truly about this recipe’s recipient!  My sister-in-law, Cherie, is one of those woman in my life who inspires me with her steadfast joy and commitment to her family and I should also mention her savvy cooking skills!  She never complains and if anything she jokes about the incidences of being a parent to 17 year old twins, a 14 and 9 year old as well as several furry babies.

For Easter, Cherie brought over this flavorful “Shrimp Salsa” that I tried to make a meal of but couldn’t scoop enough onto my chip {and didn’t want to look like a pig}! Of course, I asked if she could share the recipe so that I could share it with you .

I did modify the recipe or shall we say put my twist on it and renamed it accordingly. I originally added a red onion as the recipe suggested but decided chives were more my thing {I had surplus in the garden} and then I omitted the orange only because I didn’t have one.

I am not a fan of garlic powder in recipes that are not cooked so I left that out.  I made this recipe with mint instead of cilantro but either taste great!  I decided rather than a salsa this was more like a salad like chicken salad but with shrimp and added celery and even a red pepper!

I suppose I really did pack it with vegetables and I would call the Vegan version, Hemp Vegetable Salad. Keep in mind, the shrimp really are the stars of the show if that is on your plate so to speak! Although, my culinary friend, Jessica, over at Cod & Capers Seafood Market & Restaurant gave me a lesson on shrimp; not all shrimp are created equal {poor shrimps}!

I wanted to pass on to you some valuable information that my friend shared that  piqued my foodie brain!  For instance, did you know all “WILD” shrimp are frozen on the boats because the boats stay out for weeks at a time!? “There is no such thing as fresh wild shrimp unless you live in Mayport or Fenandina Beach,” said Jessica.

However, wild frozen is excellent because it’s frozen immediately so they are fresher than fresh! Jessica also mentioned when they peel shrimp before freezing, they lose flavor because the shell holds it in.  I feel like I have a {shrimp} leg up on my foodie friends with my secret weapon of wisdom from Jessica!

For my recipe Jessica suggested rock shrimp because they are small and wild and get this,  they taste and have the texture of lobster tail! Cod & Capers has them already peeled and deveined but raw so all I have to do is cook them unless I call ahead and they STEAM them for you!!  Now we are talking my language…make it simple silly!

Key West Pinks are another favorite of my culinary Cod & Capers friend and on my list next time I head to her market!  I hope this post was helpful and gives you a “shrimp leg” up on making this recipe or any other shrimp dishes like my Rosemary Lemon Shrimp with Creamy Red Pepper Sauce , Simple Curry Shrimp or my Avocado & Shrimp Gazpacho Soup !  Thank you Jessica for all your knowledge, guidance and for your family seafood market and fabulous restaurant!

Oh, and one last thing, I got to thinking after my “shrimp leg” word antic above, how many legs do shrimps have anyway? If you said a lot, you got that right!  Shrimp have 5 pairs of jointed walking legs, they have 5 pairs of swimming legs {swimmerets} and 3 pairs of maxillae {feeding appendages} on their shrimpy bodies!

In lieu of Mother’s Day, I wanted to dedicate this post to all you Mums {of human babies or furry ones}!  I also, wanted to recognize a very special woman/mom {to both human and all kinds of furry babies} in my life, who brought my inspiration forth with this tasty recipe!  Thank you Cherie for being wonderful you and I feel truly blessed to call you my sister-in-law and friend! MUAH, I adore you!

With a Spoonful of Health,