Spicy Summer Appetizers the Latin Way

"Amalia's Mesoamerican Table" is filled with recipes focused on time-honored dishes from middle America. It's chef and author Amalia Moreno-Damgaard's second cookbook.

Menu 

• Coctel de Camarones y Aguacate, Spicy Shrimp and Avocado Cocktail
• Spanish Cava
• Latin beer

Recipe (serves 2)

• 1/4 cup V-8 juice
• 2 Tablespoons ketchup
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons minced yellow onion
• 1/4 cup small-diced seeded vine-ripened tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon minced fresh hot chile (chiltepe or piquín, habanero, or serrano)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 12 medium (50-70 count) cooked shrimp, deveined, peeled and tails off
• 1 ripe avocado, scooped out with a melon baller
• Cilantro sprigs
• Saltine crackers for serving

In a medium bowl, combine the V-8 juice, ketchup, lime juice, onion, tomatoes, cilantro leaves, chile pepper, salt, and black pepper to taste and mix well.

Add the shrimp and avocado balls. Gently mix with the sauce with folding strokes using a wide, soft spatula.

Refrigerate until needed or serve immediately in shrimp cocktail cups or short or tall glasses. Garnish with cilantro sprigs and saltine crackers.