Spicy Apple Salsa with Lemon Butter Shrimp

This dish is one of those that I started with one idea, for spicy apple salsa, and then as I cooked I kept adding stuff. I was gathering the items to make the salsa and realized, “oh, black beans and rice would be great with this!” Then I opened the fridge and was like, “hey! I’ve got some shrimp!” And that’s pretty much how I came up with this. So even if you don’t have beans and rice or shrimp, this spicy apple salsa is still great on its own.

The combo of spicy and sour packs a one-two punch for your taste buds. I quite liked it, hope you do too!

For the salsa, you’ll need:
1 Granny Smith Apple
1 jalapeño
1/3 of a large onion (white or red)
Fresh garlic
Cilantro
Cumin
Cayenne Pepper
Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 of a lemon
Kosher Salt

For the Rice and Black Beans:
1 cup brown rice
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves of garlic
Kosher salt
1 can black beans

For the shrimp:
Fresh shrimp
1 tablespoon butter
Fresh lemon

First, let’s get the rice going. Mince up 2 cloves of garlic.

In a pot, bring one cup brown rice, 2 cups of water, 1 tablespoon of butter, minced garlic and some sprinkles of kosher salt to a boil. Cook as you normally would rice.

Now, pour the can of black beans into a colander.

Rinse them really well with water. Getting all that liquid they come in off.

Leave these in the colander and let them dry out a bit while you prepare everything else.

Now, time to chop up the good stuff.

Mince up the jalapeño and garlic. I minced the whole jalapeño, seeds and all. Up to you whether you’d like to remove them or not. Some people think the jalapeño seeds make it hotter but the final verdict isn’t out on this yet.

Wash and slice the granny smith apple.

Then dice up the apple. It’s ok if these are a little chunky, gives the salsa some crunch and texture.

Dice up some onion. Really depends on if you like onion or not how much to use. I used just a little less than the amount of apple. The onion packs a ton of flavor, so I don’t suggest leaving it out all together.

Avocado time! Slice that beauty up!

Place all of that in a bowl. Add some chopped cilantro and squeeze the juice of half of a lemon.

Now, time to add the heat! Just depends on how hot you like it. I added a few shakes of each. Sprinkle in some kosher salt too.

Looking nice and fresh!

Mix that up and set aside.

Shrimp time! Have your shrimp and lemon ready. These do not need to cook for long at all. We are really more warming these up than anything.

Melt a tablespoon of butter on medium heat.

Add the shrimp and lemon juice. The more lemon, the more sour flavor you’ll get. This is an awesome compliment to the spicy salsa.

Cook these for 2-3 minutes. They look about ready to me!

Plate your rice with the black beans on top.

Layer the spicy apple salsa over top the rice and beans.

Now, pour that hot shrimp and lemon butter right over top of everything. Holy yum.

Omg, this is making me so hungry!

Such a colorful dish! And I love the taste combination of sour (granny smith apples and lemon) with the spicy (jalapeño, red pepper and cayenne). Gives your taste buds something to talk about!

Perfect, light dinner! The salsa is great with tortilla chips all on its own. And for all my vegetarians out there, just skip the shrimp for an awesome meal!
Enjoy y’all!