Summertime often brings huge, unpredictable thunderstorms in the Northeast. So when the power went out today, I was immediately in search of a tasty, summery meal that I didn’t have to cook. Thankfully, I bought some pre-cooked shrimp a while back, so all I had to do was defrost them in room temperature water, and they were good to go. While I tried not to open the refrigerator too many times to keep it cold until the electricity returned, I did manage to reach in quickly and grab some essentials for a tasty shrimp salad.

I had a ripe avocado sitting in my fruit bowl, and my doctor recently told me I need to eat more protein (apparently it’s not healthy to sustain oneself on macaroni and cheese alone). Since avocado is a great source of protein, I decided to forego the idea of a shrimp salad sandwich and opt for shrimp salad in these cute avocado bowls, which I had seen a couple of times on Pinterest. I like to add a kick to most of my recipes, hence the jalapeño, but feel free to leave it out if you’re not interested in the hint of spice.

One tip I’ll add: Always use freshly squeezed lime juice from a real lime—never buy that bottled kind! I’m telling you, it’s not nearly as good.

Ingredients: Makes 2 bowls
7-10 large shrimp, cooked and chopped
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sour cream
1/2 jalapeño, roughly chopped
1/8 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice (add more if you’d like)
Salt & pepper
1 avocado
Fresh cilantro to garnish

Directions:
Set shrimp aside. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, jalapeno, garlic, salt & pepper, and lime juice. Set aside. Then, slice the avocado long-ways down the middle. Remove the seed, then gently remove the skin around the avocado. (Note: The avocado must be ripe enough for this to work. To tell if an avocado is ripe, gently squeeze it to make sure it gives a bit. If it’s too firm, it’s not ripe.) Hollow out a bit more of the avocado until there is a decent sized hole. Then, combine mayonnaise mixture and shrimp, then spoon it into the avocado. Top with cilantro to garnish, and serve.