Nathan’s Southwest Shrimp Cabbage Wraps with Avocado-Lime Sauce

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Hi everyone! I hope you enjoy this guest post from my awesome husband, Nathan!

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Until recently, I (the husband/father person) have cooked dinner nearly every night for the past two years. This is not a complaint. Not one bit. I absolutely love prepping all of the ingredients and placing them in ramekins & other such receptacles so I can (pretend to) be the star of my own cooking show. The sad reality is that I’m my own sous chef. I can’t just reach below the counter to a little shelf and magically produce perfectly julienned vegetables or precisely measured herbs & spices, but I digress.

We have dozens of tried-and-true recipes we return to with great regularity. Occasionally, these grow stale, so I search for more or come up with something based on ingredients we already have. As we plan our weekly menu, we aim for one dish each centered around chicken, shrimp, veggies, pork, and fish, for no other reason than variety and exposing little P to a wide range of foods.

Last week, I decided to try something new with shrimp, which we almost always have waiting in the freezer for any occasion. This ended up being a mash-up of a few different dishes we fix often. One of those is this Asian Turkey Cabbage Cups recipe from Cooking Light. I wanted to go with more of a Southwestern taco feel, so the only thing that carried over from that one was cabbage used as a wrapper. Napa cabbage leaves are a bit sturdier than lettuce tends to be, but maybe don’t wrap quite as well.

Another recipe we’ve come to love is this One-Pan Mexican Quinoa from Damn Delicious. This helped a bit with the filling. We also borrow from a similar recipe and add toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) into the mix.

Finally, I’ve gradually been perfecting a healthy & delicious sauce for tacos over the years using nonfat plain Greek yogurt, lime zest, lime juice, honey (or agave nectar), and salt. It is completely fat-free and fairly low-calorie. Since this recipe was already low-calorie, low-fat, and low-carb, I decided to mash a whole avocado into the sauce as well as a few spices to add to the flavor profile and make it more substantial.

Feel free to add, remove, or substitute anything you’d like. Jalapenos or some other spicy peppers would be nice to give it some heat. Diced zucchini or squash and tomatoes would be a hearty addition too.

Southwest Shrimp Cabbage Wraps with Avocado-Lime Sauce
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 6 servings (2/3 cup of veggies, 4-5 shrimp, tablespoon of sauce)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
2 lb Medium Shrimp (peeled)
½ cup Pepitas (toasted)
3 cloves Garlic (minced)
1 cup Red Bell Pepper (diced)
1 cup White Onion (diced)
1 can Reduced Sodium Black Beans (drained & rinsed)
1 cup Frozen Corn
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (divided)
12 Napa Cabbage Leaves, trimmed, rinsed, and patted dry
(may substitute Boston Bibb or butter lettuce leaves)
¼ cup Cilantro (coarsely chopped, for garnish)

Spice Mixture
1 tbsp Chili Powder
1 tbsp Cumin
1 tsp Salt
½ tsp Black Pepper

Avocado-Lime Sauce
1 cup Nonfat Plain Greek Yogurt
1 Ripe Medium Avocado (mashed)
1 Lime (zested & juiced)
½ Spice Mixture
1 tbsp Honey (or Agave Nectar)

Instructions

1. Combine chili powder, cumin, salt, & pepper and coat shrimp with half of the mixture. Set aside.
2. Combine yogurt, avocado, lime zest & juice, half of the spice mixture, and honey in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.
3. Prepare cabbage leaves.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic & sauté until fragrant (1-2 minutes).
5. Add red bell pepper and onion and cook 2 minutes or until slightly translucent.
6. Add carrots and cook 1 minute.
7. Add corn, black beans, and pepitas and cook 3 more minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
8. Transfer to large bowl and keep warm.
9. Wipe out pan, add remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add shrimp and cook until opaque (about 3 minutes on each side).
10. Fill cabbage leaf with 2/3 cup of vegetable mixture, 4-5 shrimp, and a dollop of sauce.
11. Optional: Garnish with fresh cilantro and a lime wedge.

Nutrition Facts (per 1 Serving)
Calories 379 • Fat 13g • Sat Fat 1.5g • Unsat Fat 8g • Protein 40g • Carbohydrates 26g • Fiber 7g • Sugars 9g • Sodium 843mg

Time-Savers
All of the prep work can be done the night before & thrown in the refrigerator. This way, you can have dinner ready in a quick 15 minutes!

• Make spice mixture.
• Peel shrimp.
• Dice red bell pepper & onion.
• Drain & rinse black beans.
• Make sauce.
• Separate cabbage leaves, rinse, pat dry, and place between paper towels in the fridge.

Enjoy and be sure to check our more awesome recipes over on Full Plate Thursday!