Advent Day 14: Shrimp Fajitas

One of the interesting graces to come with Christ was the advent of a New Covenant, made with His body and blood.  As our Eucharist service (and the Bible, Mark 14:24) indicates, this is the blood of the [new] covenant.  The older covenants had included some pretty strict dietary laws, which precluded the eating of shellfish (or anything that comes from the sea without scales or fins).  Now, there are certainly some reasons not to eat shellfish that have more to do with biology than Biblical law, but that's another topic.

Christ said:  "there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile."  (Mark 7:15)   We Christians have taken that to mean that it's not the food that can be unclean, but rather ourselves, our words and actions that show themselves to be unclean.  It's an advisement to watch ourselves and be good representatives of the word that Christ brought us.

That said, by request, we have:

SHRIMP FAJITA BOWLS
(Taken from Skinny Taste)

INGREDIENTS:

For the shrimp:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 pound large peeled, deveined, tail-off shrimp

For the veggies:

• 2 medium red bell peppers, sliced
• 1 large red onion, sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the rice:

• 3 cups cooked brown rice
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Juice of ½ lime

For the salsa and topping:

• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• 1/3 cup chopped white onion
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• Pinch kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 small (4-ounce) Hass avocado, thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

For shrimp:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the shrimp ingredients from olive oil through pepper.
2. Add the shrimp and toss to evenly coat.
3. Set aside and allow to marinate while you make the veggies.

For veggies:

1. Combine all veggie ingredients in a large bowl.  Use your hands to toss and evenly coat veggies with oil and seasoning.
2. Transfer to a sheet pan and roast 20 minutes, tossing halfway through.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the rice and salsa.  In a medium bowl, combine rice with cilantro, salt and lime juice.
4. In small bowl, make the salsa by combining the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, salt and pepper.
5. Remove veggies from oven and place marinated shrimp (leaving excess marinade in the bowl) evenly among the veggies.
6. Return to the oven and roast 8 minutes.
7. Place ¾ cup rice in each of 4 bowls.  Evenly divide the shrimp, veggies, salsa and sliced avocado among each bowl and serve.