Smoky Shrimp Quesadillas with Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges

Happy New Year!

With the new year, comes new goals. My goal is to run three separate races this year, Philadelphia’s Broad Street Run, a half, and a full marathon. With that said, training is essential and time is limited. The girls have full schedules during the week so that gives me an excuse to not exercise as much as I would like to. No more excuses!

Now that I am training it is also important to maintain a diet that will give me the energy and endurance needed to run long distance. I really wanted Mexican for dinner tonight but didn’t want to spoil my efforts to eat consciously. I decided to make shrimp quesadillas and roasted sweet potato wedges. These quesadillas are great because it’s loaded with yummy veggies and just enough cheese to keep the quesadillas together.

Check in every now and then to see how my training is coming along. If you have running goals this year I will be featuring recipes and tips to keep us focused on our goal! We can do this!

Smoky Shrimp Quesadillas

1 pound of large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 dash of cayenne pepper
Salt, pepper, olive oil
1/2 medium red onion, very thinly sliced
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
2 handful of cilantro, loosely chopped
1 avocado or guacamole
Mexican blend cheese (Monterey jack, cheddar, queso)
Line, cut in 4 wedges

Instructions

Coat the shrimp with olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper to taste. Grill the shrimp on a grill pan for about 2-3 minutes on each side until they are pink. Remove from the pan and put in a separate bowl. Add two tortillas to the pan and add the shrimp, onion, tomatoes, cilantro, avocado or guacamole and a little cheese. Fold over and heat both sides until hot with grill marks, about 3 minutes on each side. Repeat with two more tortillas. Squeeze with a lime right before eating. Flavor explosion!

Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges

2 large yams
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Olive oil

Instructions

Peel and cut each sweet potato in 8 equal wedges. Toss them with the remaining ingredients and roast on 450 for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!