Mexican Shrimp Cocktail

3 Roma or plum style tomatoes, diced.

½ cup diced red onion

⅓ cup chopped cilantro plus additional for garnish

1 jalapeno seeded as desired and finely diced.

1 English cucumber (No need to peel) finely diced.

2 limes

Kosher salt

12 ounces cocktail sauce (homemade or your favorite brand)

1 pound large peeled and deveined shrimp cooked or raw.

2 ripe avocados, diced.

Homemade tortilla chips, dusted with ground cumin.

Vegetable oil, for frying tortilla chips.

In a large mixing bowl combine the diced tomatoes, diced onion, chopped cilantro, diced cucumber and finely diced jalapeno. Squeeze the juice of one lime over the top, season with a little salt, and toss it together with a spoon. Add the cocktail sauce and stir until combined. Place the bowl in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the shrimp.

If using raw shrimp, place them in a colander, rinse with cold water, and drain well. Remove tails if necessary. Bring a large pot of water to boil on the stove. Drop in about one tablespoon of salt. Add the shrimp and cook for about two minutes or until the shrimp is white with pops of pink. Drain the hot water from pot and cover the shrimp with cold water to cool them down and stop them from cooking further. Drain well and transfer the shrimp to a

cutting board.

Cut each shrimp into two or three pieces. Reserve some of the shrimp for garnish and transfer the rest to the chilled cocktail sauce mixture. Stir well to combine.

When ready to serve, remove the pits and dice the avocados. Squeeze the juice from the remaining lime over the top of the chopped avocado.

Cut a stack of regular size, corn tortillas into quarters to make triangles. Heat oil in a deep skillet or deep fryer to 365 degrees. Deep, or shallow fry the tortillas in vegetable oil until brown and crispy, about one minute. Remove when done and place on a paper towel lined plate and immediately hit them with salt and ground cumin.

To Serve in a Bowl

To serve in a large bowl, garnish the top of the shrimp cocktail with the avocado, the reserved shrimp, and a little cilantro and allow people to serve themselves.

For Individual Servings

Layer a heaping spoonful of the shrimp cocktail mixture in the bottom of each glass. Add a generous layer of avocado. Fill the glasses to the top with more shrimp cocktail. Garnish each serving with a little avocado, cilantro and a piece or two of shrimp.

Make Ahead Instructions

You can get most of the prep for this Mexican Shrimp Cocktail recipe out of the way several hours in advance of your gathering.