Healthy Summer Dish

While traveling, I learn a lot about great healthy and delicious food while traveling that I like to prepare for friends during summer dinners that is easy as uno, due, tre!.  Summer is finally here and two things come to mind: stay in shape so I can take it all off at the beach/pool, and can't wait for the Zoom summer cruise to the Mediterranean in September.  I think about our cuisine aboard the SeaDream Yacht and want to share one of the favorite healthy recipes that I learned onboard. 

MEDITERRANEAN SHRIMP IN A SHOT GLASS

Uno - Ingredients and initial preparation:
Shrimp:  20 whole cooked medium size, cleaned, deveined and 20 fine chopped cooked medium size, cleaned, deveined

Guacamole Creme:  2 ripe avocados pitted, 2 garlic cloves fine chopped, 1tbsp creme , 1 tsp lemon juice, salt/pepper (put in blended until consistency is a smooth creme)

Cocktail Sauce:  2 c. mayo, 1 c. cream, 4 tbsp ketchup, 1 tsp paprika, 4 drops sherry and cognac (mix until consistency is smooth)

Gazpacho:  1 garlic clove, 1/2 a red small onion chopped, 1/2 red and 1/2  green pepper chopped, 1 c. seeded peeled chopped cucumber, 3 c. tomato juice, 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp white wine vinegar, 1/2 tsp sea salt, 1/4 tsp ground black pepper, (put in blended until consistency is smooth; chill)

Due - Serve:  
Mix cocktail sauce and chopped shrimp, fill shot glass with 1/3 cocktail sauce mixture, 1/3 guacamole creme and 1/3 cold gazpacho, top with a whole shrimp.

Tre - Enjoy!

Legal Trips to Cuba

A lot of people ask me if we can really run legal trips to Cuba.  My answer is, yes of course U.S. Citizens can travel to Cuba legally. Zoom Vacations has already hosted a few trips to Cuba in the last year alone, permitted by a People-to-People Cultural Exchange license from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, and is offering a third in October of this year. 

This program is an exception to the embargo laws banning U.S. Citizens from traveling to Cuba.  First offered by the Clinton Administration for a brief period, the Obama Administration has allowed the program to once again continue in order to encourage more contact between Americans and citizens of the Communist-ruled island.  

This means that you can now fly from the U.S. mainland directly (most usually from Miami) and can come back the same way, and clear U.S. Customs and Immigrations as if you were flying in from London.  You are also allowed to bring back books, art and music without violating the embargo laws.  Of course, this program of legal travel to Cuba by U.S. Citizens can be withdrawn at any time by the U.S., especially with a change of administration.  

Traveling to Cuba with Zoom Vacations is easy, legal, and educational.  To do it otherwise could mean civil penalties of several thousand dollars and/or criminal prosecution.