Grilled Honey Chipotle Shrimp Taco with Pineapple Salsa

To me, a simple taco should be a delicious bite of freshness and a burst of bold flavors. Somehow, you just can't really find those things in a regular beef taco. This is why I've turned to my favorite seafood, shrimp, for some new taco inspiration. First off, I like spicy food and I happen to have a can of chipotle peppers (in adobo sauce) lying around the pantry. Chipotle are smoked-dried jalapeño peppers and they offer both the smokiness and biting spiciness that I love. So, let's start by making the sweet and spicy marinade for the shrimp.


Here are the ingredients for the honey-chipotle marinade:
1 lb. shrimp (peeled and deveined)
1 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (rough chop the whole peppers)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1-2 tablespoons honey (depending on how sweet you like it)
1 tablespoon lime juice
A pinch of salt
1 tablespoon tequila (optional)
Add all the ingredients above and marinade the shrimp in it for about 30 minutes or so. Set that aside in the refrigerator.

Now for the pineapple salsa. You'll need:
1 can pineapple (cut them into small chunks) together with the syrup
1/2 cup frozen corn (thawed)
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves (rough chop)
1 medium tomato (seeds removed, small dice)
1 jalapeño pepper (small dice, optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Again, mix all the ingredients above and set aside in the refrigerator for the flavors to come together.

As for the other components, chop some iceberg lettuce leaves, grate some colby or monterey jack cheese and pick more cilantro leaves. Also, gather some sour cream. Now on to grilling the shrimp. I like using skewers when I grill shrimp so that they'll all stay together and you can turn them all at once easily. To put it all together, I start with the lettuce on the bottom, followed by some pineapple salsa, sour cream, grated cheese and finally, the shrimp. Just before serving, squeeze some fresh lime juice onto the shrimp to freshen it up and top with some cilantro leaves as garnish. And there you go, a simple yet beautiful dish that you can serve anytime of the day.