Growing up in El Paso, Texas we did not eat fish often. Actually, it was more like never. I don’t think I tasted seafood until I was in my teens and waitressed at a seafood restaurant. The closest we had to seafood growing up was tuna fish and it was from a can.
During Lent, we usually ate tuna fish sandwiches for lunch and red enchiladas for dinner every Friday night. It was a Lent ritual and one that I actually still crave. Nowadays I look forward to Lent and the excuse to test new seafood dishes. My husband and children like fish, but they love shrimp even more so that is why I chose to make this dish with shrimp. If shrimp is not your favorite, this recipe works really well with red snapper or tilapia too.
Read Related: Cooking for Lent-Cod Veracruz
This baked Shrimp Veracruz with tomatoes, tomatillos, olives, and capers tastes like Camarones a la Veracruzana at a fancy expensive restaurant, but it is actually very economical to make. This is a wonderful meal for after work when there isn’t much time—it’s easy, healthy, and delicioso. Serve with rice or pasta, a side salad, and some bread, and you will have a winner mi amigo!
CAMARONES A LA VERACRUZANA
Ingredients:
1 lb. raw, large shrimp, tail off, peeled, and deveined
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 cup sweet golden tomatoes
3 tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed, and quartered
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
½ cup onion, chopped
½ cup pitted green olives, sliced
1 Tbsp. capers, drained
Kosher salt
round black pepper
Snipped fresh cilantro
Lime wedges
Instructions:
1. Thaw shrimp, if frozen. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. In a large skillet, cook tomatoes and tomatillos in hot oil over medium heat about 6 minutes or until softened and skins begin to split.
3. Add garlic and onion and stir about 1 minute or until translucent.
4. Remove from heat & stir in olives and capers.
5. Transfer to a shallow baking dish.
6. Season shrimp with salt and pepper. Place shrimp on top of mixture in baking dish and bake uncovered for 25 minutes or until the shrimp are opaque. If you’d like your tomatoes to have an added roasted quality, place under a broiler for 1 minute.
7. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with lime wedges.
