The past few weeks have been excessively hot.. even for the normally excessively high summer temperatures in Poway.   Case in point – two nights ago at 10:00 pm, I had all the windows and doors open to drop the house temperature to a respectable 8oF.   With temperatures like this, there is just  no way I was going to do any cooking that required more than 5 minutes over a hot stove.  This makes sandwiches an ideal meal. Paired with a side salad, it’s a wonderful way to beat the heat while taking care of nutritional needs.

My weekend grocery shopping follows an established routine.  My boyfriend and I sit down and compile a shopping list that would make my conscientious mother proud: every entry is perfectly reasoned and necessary.  No superfluous items here as we will ensure that our purchases are dictated by our needs and not the evil plot of the marketing machine inside Stater Brothers, Henry’s, Costco and Trader Joe’s.  Yes it takes these many stores to satisfy your weekly food needs: Henry’s for their bulk nuts and cereal, Stater Brothers for the staples, Trader Joe’s for the organic grocery at great prices.. not to mention their kettle corn that I am addicted to, Costco for grapes, tomatoes, coffee and meat. Oh.. and let me not forget North Park Produce – cheapest veggies around – so cheap I feel as if I’m robbing them instead of shopping.

Armed with this carefully rationalized list, we enter Costco and … immediately get seduced by the display items. Forgotten are our decisions to stick to the budget and just get the necessaries because…’wouldn’t those Chinese dumplings make an easy nutritious meal for those rushed evenings’, and “that three-pack industrial strength barbecue grill brush is exactly what we’ve been looking for”, and “oh my goodnees, those roses would look fantastic in the garden!”.   Sometimes, the divergence from the list is quite rewarding.  This weekend, our list consisted of spring salad mix, grapes, chicken breast and salmon. In addition to these necessities, we walked out with cooked cilantro lime shrimp (well… that and a number of other items which will only reveal my foodie shopaholic side).  The cilatro lime shrimp, we reasoned, was quite justifiable as it would solve the challenge of how to have a cooked meal while maintaining a sub 90F in our little sauna of a kitchen.   So dinner was Cilantro Lime Shrimp Sandwhich and Mixed Green Salad.

Ingredients

• 1/4 pound cilantro lime chicken
• 1 slice sourdough bread
• 2 tbs guacamole
• sprigs of greens
• 1 slice lime for garnish

I used homemade guacamole for which there are countless recipes online.  And if you find that even that is too much effort, then Costco also has a Duggar family sized tub for you 🙂 Spread guacamole on bread and layer with mixed green veggies (or your favorite salad blend). Add shrimp and garnish with a twist of lime.

Accompanying this was a side salad comprised of:

• 2 cups mixed greens
• 6 grape tomatoes
• 1/4 of a small onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup cucumbers, sliced
• 2 tbs white balsalmic vinaigrette
• Parmesan-reggiano, shaved
• 2 stalks grilled asparagus

And all this was assembled in less than 20 minutes (including the time to make the salad dressing and guacamole).  Sometimes it’s worth it to throw conscientiousness to the wind.