Shrimp & Naan "Wraps"

A few days ago I sauteed shrimp in olive oil and garlic for dinner.  There were a few shrimp left over, and I was trying to figure out how to turn them into a tasty lunch.   Luckily my refrigerator and freezer offered a wealth of good options:  mango, spicy mayo, butter lettuce, and naan.  

Frozen naan is now a staple in my house.  It heats quickly in the oven, and is great not only for my attempts at Indian cuisine, but also as an alternative to crackers when serving cheeses and various tapenades.  Since I was heating up the oven for the naan, I also wrapped the shrimp in aluminum foil and put them in at the same time as the naan. The naan and the shrimp were heated through in about three minutes. The wraps were assembled as follows:

1 naan - spread generously with spicy mayo

1 leaf of butter lettuce

2 or 3 slices of mango

2 or 3 shrimp

The wrap was too thick to roll, but the naan was large enough to fold in half, sort of similar to a soft taco.  Yumm!

 I apologize for the lack of a picture, put as frequently happens, I ate everything before I had a chance to take any photos!  

Spicy Smoked Salmon Canapes

I love spicy tuna-maki. It's my must have in every sushi order. I wanted to find a way to satisfy my craving for the spicy mayo which is central to these makis, without having to spring for sushi. The result: an easy appetizer which requires little work and is a nice alternative or compliment to a cheese board and olives.

Ingredients:

3 tbsps. mayonnaise
sirrachi or hot sauce of your choice
6 ounces smoked salmon
2 tbsps. sesame seeds, toasted in a dry skillet till lightly browned.
1 green scallion finely sliced.
2 heads of endive

This is not an exact recipe. The proportions of hot sauce to mayonnaise depend on personal taste and the strength of your hot sauce. I used sirrachi, but there was a noticeable difference in the heat between the bottle I picked-up at Trader Joe's and the bottle from my Asian grocer. My suggestion, keep on adding hot sauce until the mayo has a BIG kick. Remember you want a little bit of spicy mayo to add a lot of flavor to the smoked salmon. I started with about 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise and 1/2 tsp of hot sauce. I kept adding small increments of hot sauce until I reached the desired heat level. The finished product was somewhere in color between a creamsicle and orange juice.

6 oz. of smoked salmon ( appx. 2/3 of a 8 ounce package) - dice the salmon into small pieces.

Add spicy mayo to smoked salmon in 1/2 tsp. increments until desired spiciness is reached. If your spicy mayo is too mild you will end up with a mash of mayo and salmon. The goals is to minimize the amount of mayo needed.

Mix salmon/mayo mixture with one finely sliced green scallion.

Fill 1/2 of each endive leaf with salmon mixture, top with toasted sesame seeds.

Other serving ideas: toast points, water crackers, naan.