Naturally, I spent yesterday morning browsing Pinterest yet again for clothes I don’t need, recipes I’ll never actually master (is it just me or does everything on Pinterest always look better than it tastes? Hopefully this recipe won’t be like that!), and home décor I will most likely never purchase.

After falling down the black hole of Pinterest for a good 30 minutes, I stumbled on a Cajun shrimp dish that looked super tasty, but I wasn’t looking for a dinner recipe; so I began the thought process of, “How can I spin this into an appetizer?”

This morning, I woke up, turned on the TV and the lovely Ina Garten was giving a quick run through of her favorite guacamole recipe. Side note—don’t you just love Ina? I mean, who wouldn’t want to live in The Hamptons and cook food all day? But really, when I saw her whipping up that awesome guac, I got the idea to pair avocado with the Cajun shrimp. And why not serve it up on a tiny piece of bread? Carbs make everything better.

For this recipe, cooking the shrimp in a grill pan works best (or you can throw them on the grill if the weather is nice!). I usually boil shrimp from frozen when I’m cooking up a quick dinner, but to get that summertime-barbecue vibe, grilled is the way to go.

Makes 20 crostini
Ingredients:
For Cajun sauce:
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more if needed
For crostini:
1 baguette, sliced into 20 slices
3 tablespoons olive oil
20 medium shrimp, thawed
1 avocado
1/4 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped
1/2 garlic clove, minced
squeeze of lime juice
salt & pepper

Directions
Combine all Cajun sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix to form a smooth paste, then set aside. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over baguette slices and toast in oven to desired crispness. Cook shrimp in remaining olive oil on medium heat, about 3 minutes on each side. Mash avocado, then add tomatoes, garlic and lime juice and mix. Season with salt and pepper. Toss shrimp in Cajun sauce. Remove warm baguette slices from oven and top with guacamole and shrimp.