Shrimp Tacos!

Ok made this a couple of days ago....it was really good.
I'll separate it out into the different parts of the meal to make it easier to follow.

Grilled Shrimp Tacos
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. I would marinate shrimp first, then get the veggies in the oven, then get rice going, then make sour cream sauce. When veggies, rice and sauce are done grill shrimp and heat tortillas.

List of All ingredients needed:

• 3/4 - 1 # Shrimp, cleaned and deveined
• 1 pkg. Soft Tortillas (I used and really liked the new Mission Low Carb ones, they are white and have 11 g. fiber! They were really good.)
• Jasmine Rice
• Chicken or Vegetable Broth (optional for rice)
  
• 1 small can Chipotle Chilies in Adobo
  
• 1 small can Chopped Green Chilies
  
• 1 jar Pico de Gallo (I used Pace, it was surprisingly good)
• 1 small can Corn
  
• 1 bunch Cilantro
  
• 2-3 Limes (for juice and zest)
• 1/2 Red Onion
• 1/2 Sweet Onion
• 1 Zucchini
• Lite Sour Cream
• Cumin
• Coriander Seeds
  
• Sea Salt
  
• Cracked Pepper
• Olive Oil and Canola Oil
  
• Red Wine Vinegar
• Honey
• Sugar
  

Grilled Shrimp
3/4 # Shrimp, cleaned and deveined
1 lrg. Chipotle Chili with 2 Tbs. Adobo (these come in a can w/the adobo sauce)
2 Tbs. Chopped Green Chilies
Honey (a good drizzle over top)
1/2 Tbs. Cumin
Juice from 1/4 lime
Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper (to taste)
Olive Oil (a good drizzle)

Mix all ingredients together from above to marinate shrimp, cover and put back in the fridge. Continue on to make other items below.
Once everything is done, you will either be grilling the shrimp on a grill or grill pan. If its the grill I suggest using skewers. I used the grill pan, which was easier for such a small batch.
Put burner on a little higher than medium and brush grill pan with canola oil. When pan is hot, cook shrimp 2 minutes and flip, cook 1-2 minutes or until cooked. Serve.

Grilled Vegetables
1/2 Red Onion chopped into quarter moons
1/2 Sweet Onion chopped into quarter moons
1 Zucchini chopped into half moons
Red Wine Vinegar(a good drizzle over top)
Honey (a good drizzle over top)
1 Tbs. Corriander Seeds
1 tsp. Cumin
Juice from 1/2 lime
Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper (to taste)
Olive Oil (a good drizzle)

Mix dressing together and pour over vegetables. Spread onto a non-lined baking sheet and roast at400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Mexican Rice
1 C. Jasmine Rice
1 1/2 c. Water or broth (follow package directions)
2 tsp. Cumin
2 cloves Garlic smashed and peeled
Juice and Zest from 1 lime
2 Tbs. Pico de Gallo
1 tsp. Green Chilies (if you want it spicier)
1/4 c. Corn, drained
Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper (to taste)
1 tsp. Olive Oil (optional)
1/4 c. Chopped Cilantro

Mix everything together (except cilantro), cook as package directs. Bring to a boil, stir. Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Take off heat when done and fluff.


Cilantro Lime Sour Cream
1/2 c. Sour Cream
Zest from 1 lime
Juice from 1/4 lime
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. Cracked Pepper
1 tsp. Chopped Cilantro

Mix everything together. Serve.
(can be made ahead)

What's Cooking Tonight: Tom Yum Soup with Pineapple

Ok so I really made this last week, when it was all rainy and cool out. It was so good, I served it with Veggie Egg Rolls and Baked Sweet Potatoes.
I used Eating Well's recipe and then ended up changing it around a bit. I did not have time to find an Asian market so the changes I made might be because I did not have all the right ingredients. The soup originally came out not too spicy and a little bitter, so I added the brown sugar and siracha. This soup does get spicier as time goes on, so keep that in mind when making it.
I aslo added more veggies because I didn't add the shrimp.
I will put my changes to the original in RED.

Tom Yum Soup with Pineapple
6 servings, about 1 1/3 cups each

Active Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 stalk lemongrass, cut into 1-inch pieces (see Tip) (2 Tbs. Lemon Grass Paste)
  
• 2 1/4-inch-thick slices galangal, (see Tip) or ginger (3 1/4-inch-thick slices Ginger)
  
• 6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (8 C. Chicken Broth)
  
• 2 jalapeños, sliced (1 lrg. Serrano Pepper sliced)
  
• 4 Thai lime leaves, (see Tip) or 3 2-inch strips lime zest (3 2-inch pieces lime zest)
  
• 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh pineapple
  
• 1 cup sliced shiitake mushroom caps
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 1 small green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch cubes
  
• 1 small red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce, (see Tip)
• 1 teaspoon sugar (+ 1/4 c. Brown Sugar)
  
• 8 ounces peeled and deveined raw shrimp, (26-30 per pound) (did not use)
  
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 2 scallions, sliced
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• Siracha (to taste)
  

Preparation

1. Gently smash lemongrass and galangal (or ginger) on a cutting board with the side of a knife. Place in a large saucepan with broth, jalapeños and lime leaves (or zest). Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer; cover and cook for 15 minutes. Strain into a bowl. Discard solids.
2. Return the broth to the pan. Add pineapple, mushrooms, tomato, bell pepper, fish sauce and sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Add shrimp and cook until they are pink and just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in lime juice, scallions and cilantro.

Tips & Notes

• Tip: Lemongrass, galangal, Thai lime leaves (sometimes called Kaffir or makrut lime leaves) and fish sauce lend the signature Thai flavors to this soup. If unavailable at your supermarket, find these ingredients at Asian markets.

Nutrition

Per serving: 105 calories; 1 g fat (1 g sat, 0 g mono); 62 mg cholesterol; 11 g carbohydrates; 1 g added sugars; 13 g protein; 1 g fiber; 596 mg sodium; 252 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (58% daily value), Vitamin A (19% dv)

What's Cooking Tonight: Sherry's Sugga-Shack's Shrimp Creole

So as people have heard about my blogging I have gotten more and more recipes to try. Its great! Tonight's dinner is from my friend Sarah, its quick, easy and can be cooked in the crock-pot. For whatever reason I normally have a hard time following a recipe to the 'T' so I will be sure to put in parentheses what I added outside of the original recipe.

Sherry Sugar-Shack's Shrimp Creole
(and I got the name right, this is what I remember Sarah calling it)

Cooking Time: 3 hours 10 minutes (crock pot) or 1 to 2 hours (stove top)

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs. Olive Oil
  
• 1/2 c. diced celery
• 1/2 c. diced green bell pepper
• 1/2 c. diced sweet onion
• 1/2 c. fresh corn (cut off the cob)*
• 2 cloves garlic minced*
• 1 tsp. chili powder (i substituted a pinch of cayenne)*
• 1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
• 1 Tbs. Hot sauce ( I used Tabasco)
  
• 1 Tbs. Worcestershire
• 1 tsp. White Sugar
• 1 tsp. Cumin
  
• 3 Chipotle Chilies diced*
• 2 Tbs. Adobo Sauce (from Chipotle Chili can)*
• Red Pepper Flake*
  
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 1/2 # Shrimp, cleaned/deveined/tail-less (I got away with using 1 #)
• Green Onions, chopped (optional)
  

(*Items I added to recipe)

Directions

Preheat crock pot on high.(If using crock pot)

In fry pan, heat olive oil. Add peppers, onions and celery. Cook until softened. Add Corn, Garlic, and chili powder and saute until caramelized. Remove from heat and pour into crock pot. If not using crock pot add to large pot or dutch oven on stove top. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, hot sauce, Worcestershire, white sugar, cumin, chilies, adobo, red pepper flake salt and pepper.

Stove Top: Mix well and bring to a boil, then reduce to low. Cover and simmer on low for 1-2 hours. One hour will be fine, but it can go longer. Just don't scorch and check on it every now and then.

Crock Pot: Cook for 3 hours on high.

Add shrimp right before you get ready to eat and cook for about 3-4 minutes. Serve over rice. Top with chopped green onions (optional).

It was delicious..thanks Sarah!

What's Cooking Tonight: Basil Pesto Pasta Primavera

Friday night pasta night :) I often make pasta primavera, it's not really a recipe so I don't normally write down what I do but tonight's was really good so I'm writing it down. I typically use whatever I have around. So for tonights recipe I didn't have to go get anything except garlic and butter ( just b/c we're out). The picture shown is not this meal, I can't seem to find my camera cord. This meal is actually very nice looking with all of the colors of the vegetables and beans (red, purplish, green, orange etc..).

Basil Pesto Pasta Primavera

1/2 box Rigati Ziti, cooked al dente
1 Tbs. Olive Oil
3 Tbs. Salted Butter
3-4 large Garlic Cloves, minced
1 Tbs. All Purpose Flour
2-3 Tbs. Whole Milk (a good splash)
2-3 Tbs. Basil Pesto
1/4- 1/2 c. White Wine (I used a chardonnay)
Kosher Salt (to taste)
Cracked Black Pepper (to taste)
Red Pepper Flake (to taste)
Garam Masala ( I used a good sprinkle of this and it was good, but I felt it wasn't needed)
1 can of Dark Kidney Beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 c. Frozen Peas
1/2 c. Frozen Cut Green Beans
1/2 c. Edamame, shelled and cooked
1/2 c. Shredded Carrots
3/4 c. Grape Tomatoes, sliced on the diagonal
1/2 c. Walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

Have all your veggies and pasta prepped and ready to go.
In a large sauce pan melt butter over medium heat. Cook 1-2 minutes. Add garlic and cook until butter begins to brown and garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes more. Sprinkle flour over butter and garlic and wisk in. Cook flour 1-2 minutes until it begins to lightly brown. Wisk in a good splash of milk (I think it would be around 2-3 Tbs.). You don't want it to be super runny, more like a sauce consistency. The flour should make it thicken. Wisk in pesto, and then white wine. Salt and Pepper to taste. Add the rest of the vegetables and the kidney beans. Stir well to coat all of the vegetables. Drizzle with olive oil. Cook 3-4 minutes until all of the vegetables are cooked and heated through. Season to taste with salt, pepper and red pepper flake. Stir in cooked pasta. Cook until heated. Add seasoning and wine as needed. Take off heat and stir in toasted walnuts. Serve.

I served this dish with a salad, I also made pepperoni stuffed shells for Chad since this dish is meatless and almost totally cheese-less besides the pesto.
Happy Friday Everyone :) ~ s

What's Cooking Tonight: Eating Well's Egyptian Edamame Stew

This one may sound a bit out there, but its easy-tasty-and packs protein for those who don't eat meat. I literally was able to throw it together in 30 minutes done. I like that a lot. Just make sure you buy the shelled edamame. It took forever to find at Publix so I just grabbed the first one I found. This was another recipe where I only had to pick up 3 things, so I like it.
I'm serving it over whole wheat cous cous, with a side of fresh corn on the cob.

This is taken directly from Eating Well.com...they go on to explain exactly how this is Egyptian. I for one, know little about what they eat over there:
A riff on the Egyptian classic ful medames, a highly seasoned fava bean mash, this version is made with easier-to-find edamame. Edamame (fresh green soybeans) have been shown to lower LDL cholesterol. They can be found shelled in the freezer section of well-stocked supermarkets.

Egyptian Edamame Stew

4 servings, about 2 cups each

Active Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

• 1 1/2 10-ounce packages frozen shelled edamame, (about 3 cups), thawed
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large zucchini, diced
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, or mint
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add edamame and cook until tender, 4 to 5 minutes or according to package directions. Drain.
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until starting to soften, about 3 minutes. Add zucchini and cook, covered, until the onions are starting to brown, about 3 minutes more. Add garlic, cumin, coriander and cayenne and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes and bring to a boil; reduce heat to a simmer and cook until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the edamame and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes more. Remove from the heat and stir in cilantro (or mint) and lemon juice.

(I LOVE that Eating Well always includes the nutritionals)

Per serving: 257 calories; 8 g fat (1 g sat, 3 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 29 g carbohydrates; 0 g added sugars; 15 g protein; 10 g fiber; 520 mg sodium; 304 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (90% daily value), Vitamin A (35% dv), Iron (25% dv).

1 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 starch, 2 vegetable, 1 very lean meat, 1 fat

ENJOY! ~

What's Cooking Tonight: Cooks Illustrated's Best French Onion Soup

It had been awhile since I've made French Onion soup and I saw online that Cook's Illustrated had updated their recipe. ..so I figured I'd give this new recipe a try. Its such a rich tasting soup and my favorite part about this recipe is the non-active cook time. You actually caramelize the onions in the oven. Yes it does take a long time to make, but if you're going to be around the house anyway it is an easy recipe to do. I recommend it. I made 1/2 a portion since I don't own a 7 qt. pot and it was enough to make 6 ramekin sized bowls full. We tried it last night when it was really for tonight. They say its better the day after. . . I'm looking forward to finding out.

My mother makes a great French Onion Soup and when she serves it it is paired with a Spinach Salad with a Hot Bacon Dressing and homemade croutons. (go for it if you eat meat)

The Best French Onion Soup

From: Cook’s Illustrated

Serves 6

Notes:

For the best flavor, make the soup a day or 2 in advance. Alternatively, the onions can be prepared through step 1, cooled in the pot, and refrigerated for up to 3 days before proceeding with the recipe.
Ingredients:

Soup

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 3 pieces
• 6 large yellow onions (about 4 pounds), halved and cut pole to pole into 1/4-inch-thick slices (Make sure you get Yellow)
• Table salt
• 2 cups water, plus extra for deglazing
• 1/2 cup dry sherry
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (They recommend Swanson Certified Organic Free Range Chicken Broth )
• 2 cups beef broth (They recommend Pacific Beef Broth)
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme , tied with kitchen twine
• 1 bay leaf
• Ground black pepper

Cheese Croutons

• 1 small baguette , cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 8 ounces shredded Gruyère cheese (about 2 1/2 cups)

Directions:

For the soup:

1. Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Generously spray the inside of a heavy-bottomed large (at least 7-quart) Dutch oven with a nonstick cooking spray. Place the butter in the pot and add the onions and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, covered, for 1 hour (the onions will be moist and slightly reduced in volume). Remove the pot from the oven and stir the onions, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot. Return the pot to the oven with the lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until the onions are very soft and golden brown, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours longer, stirring the onions and scraping bottom and sides of pot after 1 hour.
3. Carefully remove pot from oven and place over medium-high heat. Using oven mitts to handle pot, cook onions, stirring frequently and scraping bottom and sides of pot, until the liquid evaporates and the onions brown, 15 to 20 minutes, reducing the heat to medium if the onions are browning too quickly. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the pot bottom is coated with a dark crust, roughly 6 to 8 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary. (Scrape any fond that collects on spoon back into onions.)
4. Stir in 1/4 cup water, scraping the pot bottom to loosen crust, and cook until water evaporates and pot bottom has formed another dark crust, 6 to 8 minutes. Repeat process of deglazing 2 or 3 more times, until onions are very dark brown. Stir in the sherry and cook, stirring frequently, until the sherry evaporates, about 5 minutes.
5. Stir in the broths, 2 cups of water, thyme, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, scraping up any final bits of browned crust on bottom and sides of pot.
6. Increase heat to high and bring to simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove and discard herbs, then season with salt and pepper.

For the croutons:

1. While the soup simmers, arrange the baguette slices in single layer on baking sheet and bake in a 400-degree oven until the bread is dry, crisp, and golden at edges, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

To serve:

1. Adjust oven rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Set individual broiler-safe crocks on baking sheet and fill each with about 1 3/4 cups soup. Top each bowl with 1 or 2 baguette slices (do not overlap slices) and sprinkle evenly with Gruyère. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly around edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

A great blog which I follow off and on featured this recipe and added wonderful step by step pictures. Check it out:
http://www.cookography.com/2008/the-best-french-onion-soup-ever

What's Cooking Tonight: Sesame Noodles and Grilled Fish

After work today I decided to do a little experimenting. I have been craving this Asian-inspired pasta salad for a couple of days. They used to make a version of it at Civilization (a restaurant in Gainesville I used to work for), theirs wasn't always my favorite but it definitely had some shining qualities. I wanted a quick way to get that rich sesame flavor, the light creamy sauce and lots of crunchy veggies without buying a store full of ingredients. All I had to buy for this was the salad dressing, green onions, carrots and sesame oil. I'm sure there is a much more gourmet recipe out there, but this seemed to work out pretty darn well and will now be a part of my regular rotation of recipes :)

Spicy Chilled Sesame Noodles

1/2 box Whole Wheat Linguine
1/4 c. Marzetti All-Natural Asian Ginger Dressing
1/2 c. Sour Cream (low fat)
1/2 tsp. Sesame Oil
1-2 Tbs. Sriracha *to taste
1-2 tsp. Kosher Salt*to taste
1/2 Tbs. Red Pepper Flake *to taste
1 Tbs. Toasted Sesame Seeds
1/4 c. Toasted Slivered Almonds (optional)
1/2 c. Frozen Green Peas
1/2 c. Shredded Carrots (raw)
1/4 c. Green Onions (thinly sliced)

Cook pasta in large salted pot of boiling water 10-11 minutes until al dente. Drain and set aside.
Wisk together the salad dressing, sour cream and sesame oil. Adjust to taste. Add in siracha to taste. In a medium bowl pour dressing mixture over pasta and stir. Toss in frozen peas and carrot shreds. The heat from the pasta makes the peas defrost pretty quickly. Stir in red pepper flake, salt, sesame seeds and almonds. At this point taste it to see if you need to add anything else. Chill in the fridge. Add the green onions just before you serve it. Can be made a couple hours ahead of time. However this gives the noodles more time to soak up the dressing, so if you do make it ahead of time be ready to add 2-4 more Tbs. of salad dressing and red pepper flake to taste.

*Notes: Sriracha is found sometimes at Publix, definitely at Asian supermarkets. Its really good red spicy sauce and has a rooster on the front of the bottle.

ps- if you don't like spicy, the dressing is good without the sriacha and red pepper flake. just not as good in my opinion :)

Enjoy~