Sizzling Spring with The Art of Spice

Spring is upon us and I’m reminded of the tasty, refreshing food I had growing up like ceviche, fresh fruit, and guacamole—all topped off with hot sauce. That’s why I am so excited to share with you this new hot sauce from De La Viuda, made with a 100% traditional Mexican recipe. There are two hot sauce flavors; one is their Original Hot Sauce and the other is the Green Pepper Hot Sauce. The Original Hot Sauce is a delicious blend of chile de árbol peppers and hand-selected premium ingredients and spices.The Green Pepper hot sauce is a unique, tasty blend of poblano and habanero peppers. Each hot sauce has a perfect balance of spice, tangy, and savory flavors, perfect on its own with tortilla chips or to enhance your favorite dish.

Inspired by De La Viuda’s Original and Green Pepper Hot Sauce flavors, I’ve come up with a crisp, refreshing salad topped with spicy buffalo fried shrimp and drizzled with a rich poblano dressing. Follow along in the video below to see how I put together this amazing dish you’ll want to try for yourself. See the step by step recipe and ingredient list below. 

Spicy Buffalo Fried Shrimp

Ingredients 

• 2 tbsp De La Viuda Original Hot Sauce
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup of southern fry cornmeal batter
• 1/2 lb of jumbo shrimp or 5-6 pieces
• 1/2 quart of vegetable oil or your preference 

1. Gather the ingredients along with a plate and shallow bowl. 
2. If the shrimp is frozen, be sure to properly thaw before cooking. 
3. Peel the shrimp, including the tails. To devein, run a small, sharp knife down the back of each shrimp. Pull the dark vein out.
4. Place a cup of your favorite southern cornmeal batter on a plate. Coat each shrimp evenly and set to the side. 
5. Heat 1/2 quart of vegetable oil (or your cooking oil preference) in a shallow frying pan on high. 
6. Shake each shrimp to remove excess batter and drop immediately into the frying pan, keeping in mind not to overcrowd the pan. Adding too many shrimp at a time can drop the temperature. 
7. Fry until light golden brown, about 2 to 4 minutes. Let shrimp rest on a rack and drip excess oil. 
8. In a separate small sauce pan, heat 1/2 cup of unsalted butter on low. Keep in mind not to brown the butter, so keep the temperate low and watch the butter melt. 
9. Before the butter is completely melted, remove from heat and drop into a shallow bowl. 
10. Add 2 tbsp of De La Viuda Original Hot Sauce to the melted butter and whisk together. 
11. Toss in the fried shrimp to coat. 

Rich Poblano Dressing 

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp of De La Viuda Green Pepper Hot Sauce
• 1 cup of Mexican crema or sour cream
• 1 poblano pepper
• 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro 
• 1 lime
• Pinch of garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and salt 

1. Heat a griddle top or cooking pan to high. Place the poblano pepper on one side. When skin has completely blackened, turn pepper to the other side. Char poblano pepper completely on all sides and place inside a brown paper bag or plastic storage bag and seal tightly. This will help make it easy to peel off the skin from the pepper. Wait until the pepper cools to room temperature and peel off skin. 
2. Place a cup of Mexican crema or sour cream in a blender along with 1 tbsp of De La Viuda Green Pepper Hot Sauce, 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro, juice from half a lime, and the roasted poblano pepper flesh (remove seeds and stem). Add a pinch salt, black pepper, garlic and onion powder to taste. 
3. Blend until smooth and give a taste test. 
4. Set dressing to the side and keep cool in the fridge. 

In a salad bowl, place a medley of your favorite vegetables. I chopped up some romaine lettuce, red and orange bell pepper, red onion, and cilantro. I added some juicy yellow grape tomatoes. Top the salad with Spicy Buffalo Fried Shrimp and drizzle the Rich Poblano Dressing made with De La Viuda Hot Sauce. Sprinkle cotija cheese and enjoy! 

This dish is perfect for a spring lunch and make an extra bowl to enjoy with a friend.  

Purchase your own bottles of the new De La Viuda Hot Sauce at a special limited time offer of $5 off a 4-pack and free shipping here. Get inspired with #TheArtOfSpice of De La Viuda and create your own recipes to share! 

This is a sponsored post in partnership with The Network Niche Influencer Agency on behalf of De La Viuda Hot Sauce. All opinions are my own.