I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

Recipes

Strawberry Almond Stuffed French Toast

One of my favorite things is when I discover a new to me blog and I did that recently when I came across Alice’s Savory Sweet Life. Once I stumbled over there I was hooked. I spent a solid hour flipping around the recipes. And then I bought her cookbook. I could not wait to try something so I picked something that jumped out to me which was Alice’s  Strawberry Almond Stuffed French Toast. How could I pass that up?!?!

 

 

It is no secret that I prefer a savory breakfast/brunch more than a sweet one. But… when I have something sweet I go all out. Syrup is my downfall at breakfast. I love it all over pancakes, french toast, and oatmeal so it is no surprise that when I saw this recipe I just knew I would have to make it. It reminded me of a stuffed french toast I had at Stephanie’s  On Newbury when I first moved up to Boston. Nice reminder what a great brunch I had years and years ago when the city was so new to me.

 

 

I made some changes to the original recipe based upon what I had on hand and my on preferences. I swapped out the sour cream for greek yogurt, upped the amount of almond extract, and used a mixture of egg whites and whole eggs instead of using just whole eggs. Also, I mixed the strawberries right into the cream so it would be a consistent flavor and texture throughout the piece of french toast.

This stuffed French toast is so amazing. It is soft, fluffy, sweet, and so delightful. It is very easy to prepare and will satisfy everyone! Now don’t fret if you don’t have a crowd to serve if you are craving it. I individulally wrapped slices of cooked french toast and then froze them. Since then, I have brought slices out to enjoy at a later day and I have just had to let them thaw and have them warmed them in a skillet or toaster oven. yum!!

 

 

Strawberry Almond Stuffed French Toast

*Serves 6-8*

Ingredients

  • 6 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 6 oz greek yogurt
  • 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
  • 1 tablespoon almond extract
  • 8 oz chopped strawberries
  • 2 eggs, 3 egg whites
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 loaf Italian Bread
  • Garnish – 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar and 1/3 cup slivered almonds

Process

  1. Using an electric hand or stand mixer, combine the cream cheese, yogurt, confectioner’s sugar, and almond extract until light and creamy. Fold the strawberries into the mixture. Transfer the cream mixture to a bowl or to a large piping bag.
  2. In a shallow bowl, like a casserole dish, beat the eggs, milk and almond extract together.
  3. Slice the bread into 1″ thick slices. Lay each piece down on a cutting board. While holding each piece down, create a pocket in the slices of bread by almost cutting it in half. (Placing your hand on top of the piece of bread will help keep the bread in place and help you monitor creating a pocket.)
  4. Spoon or pipe out 2 generous tablespoons of the filling inside the pocket of each slice. Gently close each slice of bread to help the filling stay inside.
  5. Over  medium high heat, heat a non-stick skillet to prepare it for the french toast. Immediately prior to putting pieces on the skillet, spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray or put a pat of butter on it.
  6. Once the pan is heated up, dip slices of bread in the egg mixture to coat both sides. Cook each side of the stuffed french toast is golden brown. Repeat this process until all slices are cooked.
  7. To garnish the dish, dust with confectioner’s sugar and slivered almonds or spoon any left over strawberries cream mixture on top of each slice. Serve with maple syrup, if desired.

Quinoa and Brussels Sprouts Salad

Quinoa and Brussels Sprouts Salad is the perfect side for grilled hot dogs, steak, or chicken. It’s flavorful and pairs well with everything. Yum!

Post from 3/29/12, Pictures Updated 10/8/18

Post Contains Affiliate Links. Read my full disclosure HERE

I am going to be one of those people who argue the amazingness that is the brussels sprout. It can be raw in a slaw or cooked and eaten by the bowl full. You can saute it, bake it, or roast it. I don’t remember if I grew up hating them (mom?), but I can tel you now that I love them. I really think that if you hated them growing up you should give them a try again. You rock if you already love  Brussels sprouts as much as me.

…

Read More

Sautéed Green Beans with Lemon and Almonds- SRC

When Price and I were first dating he was working at a place close to Chinatown and we would often meet for lunch in there. We would often go to Chau Chow City down the road from his office. I would always get their “String Bean Szechuan Style” dish. A spicy dish that is so large that it would make up 2 lunches for me. String beans are one of my favorite vegetables so an entire dish centered around them was an obvious winner. And that is why I loved this recipe for Secret Recipe Club this month.

This month I was given Yasmeen’s blog called Wandering Spice. What I loved most about her blos is that she paired a song with each recipe. I think that is adorable. Yasmeen makes such interesting recipes that it was so hard to pick from. It sounds corny but I could see myself making most of them in the summer. I just equate flavorful spicey food for the summer. Strange… I know! So I’m sure I’ll be whipping up something like her lentil + fresh basil orzotto or her Chicken + Phyllo “Ladies Fingers”. I have not really explored cooking with lentils before , although I keep buying bags of them to stack up in the cabinet, so her recipes will definitely help me learn.

 

 

Yasmeen posted a simple Sauteed String Beans with Lemon and Almonds recipe around Thanksgiving and I was hooked once I saw it. I know that string beans are often associated with Thanksgiving but I think that they should be made more often. As long as they are not viciously overcooked and mushy. Please don’t do that to this lovely bean. And with this recipe you won’t do that since it’s quick cooking and very flavorful.

Sauteed Green Beans with Lemon and Almonds

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups fresh green beans, approximately 1 1/3 pounds
  • 2 medium-sized garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/3 cup raw sliced almonds
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • pinch of red pepper flake, optional
  • Extra virgin olive oil, for dressing

Process:

Warm a large skillet over low heat. Gently toast the almond until they are aromatic and light brown, around 2-3 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Wash and trim the cut ends of the beans.
Turn the heat up for the beans. Once the skillet has gotten hot again,add the green beans and 1/4 cup water. Cover the skillet and let steam 2-3 minutes, until beans are just tender.

Add the minced garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper, red pepper flake, and rice vinegar to the beans. Sauté for a 1-2 minutes, until flavours combine and beans are tender (but still crisp). Once done toss in the toasted almonds and dress lightly with olive oil.

Serve immediately or at room temperature.

Secret Recipe Club

Check out my previous Secret Recipe Club Posts:

February: Fried Pickles

December: Shrimp Sriracha Stir Fry

November: Vegetable Enchiladas

October: Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Check out the rest of the reveal day posts!

http://www.inlinkz.com

____________________

Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive. 

Guinness Brat Sandwiches with a Guinness Cheese Sauce

A recent St. Patrick’s Day/Guinness discussion on twitter lead me to making this recipe. I was mentioning to Pricer how I think brats cooked in Guinness in a slow cooker would be good, then maybe I could make a cheese sauce for it. He agreed saying that I would have to test it out for science. I am not one to pass up an opportunity for trying things out in the name of science so off I went to the store.

 

 

While this recipe is great to enjoy for St. Patrick’s Day, it is great for any dinner. I personally think it would be great to enjoy while watching a foodball game since it is hands off cooking, being that the most work is toasting the buns and making the quick cheese sauce right at the end. The Guinness makes the brats and the veggies very flavorful and juicy. Nestle the brats and soft veggies on a toasted roll and drizzle some Guiness Cheese sauce on top… pure perfection.

 

 

Guinness Brat Sandwiches with a Guinness Cheese Sauce

serves 5

Ingredients

  • 1 package of brats, containing 5 links
  • 2 green peppers
  • 2 large onions
  • 1 1/2 14.9 oz cans of Guinness
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 4 oz of white cheddar cheese
  • 5 sub rolls
Process
  1. Cut the peppers and onions into long strips.
  2. Place the peppers and onions in a slow cooker and then place the brats on top. Pour the Guinness onto the brats at well.
  3. Set your slow cooker for 6 hours.
  4. When the grats are all done, remove them and the peppers and onions and set aside.
  5. Strain the liquid from the slow cooker into a measuring cup.
  6. In a skillet, combine butter and flour creating a roux. Slowly add 2 cups of the liquid into the skillet when the flour is golden and the roux is smooth. Continue to wisk the mixture and add in the cheddar cheese.
  7. Place the brats, peppers, and onions on a toasted roll. Drizzle some cheese sauce on top to finish it off.

Chewy Irish Coffee Blondies

These chewy Irish Coffee Blondies are perfect for St. Patrick’s Day. They have a great texture and are loaded up with coffee and whiskey. Enjoy!

Irish Coffee… yes please!

These Irish Coffee Blondies are the dessert to make for any St. Patrick’s Day party. Skip the typical green treat and go for one that is delightfully chewy and loaded up with Irish Coffee flavors. 

…

Read More

Roasted Broccoli- The perfect side

The thing I miss most about our old apartment is our little yard with grill. We had to ditch all the behind for this new place but the one thing we would not give up was grilled broccoli. Since we no longer have a grill we have been roasting it. Sometimes you just need to improvise and change things up to make one of your favorite foods stay with you.  And since we had a gas grill (don’t judge, I have no patience to heat coal up on a nightly basis) I can’t tell the difference. Bliss.

 

I swear that grilled/roasted broccoli is life changing. I had it at a BBQ for the first time and I swear the world stopped for a moment and everything went into slow-mo around me as I inhaled a plate of it. Screw the steak, give me grilled broccoli. Roasting it produces the same crunchy bits on the floral part of the broccoli. The stalk still has some bite to it as well that makes you shudder at the thought of steaming broccoli ever again (unless you downed it in cheese). I’ve had it with some Parmesan cheese sprinkled over it once I’ve taken it out of the oven but swear the best way is just to have it with some lemon juice on it. I love lemon juice on it so I use 1/2 a lemon but you can adjust to your own taste, as well as the amount of juice that comes out of the lemon.

 

Roasted Broccoli

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

  • 2 large crowns of broccoli
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, optional
  • 1 lemon

Process

  1. Preheat the oven to 375. Place a rack just above the center of the oven.
  2. Trim 1/4″ off the bottom stalk of the broccoli. Cut the broccoli into tree like segments.
  3. Add the broccoli to a large bowl. Drizzle the olive oil over the broccoli pieces, mix to coat. Evenly sprinkle the salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper evenly over the broccoli, mix to coat.
  4. Evenly spread the broccoli on a baking sheet.
  5. Roast for 20 minutes, mixing at least once at the half way point.
  6. When you remove the broccoli from the oven, squeeze 1/4-1/2 the lemon over the broccoli immediately.

____________________

Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive. 

Checkered Flag Cake

To celebrate Sunday’s Monday afternoon’s Monday night’s running of the 54th Annual Daytona 500, I made a checkerboard cake to match the checkered flag that is waved at the end of the race. There are 6 main flags (green,  yellow, white, red, black, and checkered) that are used in NASCAR races so I wanted to feature the one that all the drivers are dying to see first as they cross the start/finish line on the last lap. We were so amped for this race. We are excited for any race but the Daytona 500 is the Super Bowl of NASCAR. It is the BIG race. It really kicks off the season and there is a whole week of races leading up to it that we follow diligently. I really hope to make it to Daytona one day but until then celebrating it at home will have to do.

 

 

We originally planned on watching Daytona on Sunday and enjoying a great dinner of Price’s amazing pulled pork and I figure we can end it with this fun checkerboard cake. I was tempted to just make this on my own but I figured the easiest way would be to get the Wilton Checkerboard Cake Pan Set. The set comes with three 9″ cake pans and a divider ring that creates the checkerboard pattern in the cake. The set was affordable at just $15 and really worth it. I think it is a great set but I would LOVE having 2 more rings so I didn’t have to remove it for each layer. I hate washing dishes and I think it would make filling the cakes a little less ‘stressful’ so I could really see that each layer was getting an even amount in each pan.

 

 

I filled the cake pans with large spoonfuls of batter and helped smooth it out with an offset spatula. From that experience I strongly suggest to fill large storage bags or cake decorating bags with the batter to fill the rings. I think that would provide more control to the filling the rings.

 

  

I used the cake recipe that was provided on the Wilton box because it was my first time making this checkerboard cake and I was not sure how much mix I would need for it. I had my go-to standard yellow cake mix recipe ready but I just was a little uneasy about using it since the flour content was so much less than the Wilton recipe so I was not sure it if was a quantity or texture difference. In the end I think it was a bit of both but mainly this was dense cake. I figure it was to make the chocolate portion and the vanilla portion not bleed into each other. I didn’t actually like this cake when we had some because it was so dense, dry but I am including (with a minor adjustment to the baking time) for reference. I know I will try this cake again with different flavor and color combinations so get ready so see more of this checkerboard cake in the future!

  

 

Did you stay up for the crazy Daytona 500? From the 36 hr rain delay to Jimmie Johnson’s Lap 2 wreck (which brought tears to my eyes from his driver’s side hit) to Juan Pablo Montoya’s out of control crash into the jet dryer!!! Never a dull moment and we loved it. But still it got to be really late for a work night after the Montoya crash/red flag delay Pricer crashed and went to bed. I wanted to watch the ending with him so I went to bed shortly after midnight although I was dying to know who won. Plus I was afraid I would yell some profanities if there was another big crash. Which did happen but thankfully I was more composed at 6.30 this morning when we started to watch the end of the race again. I sat in angered disbelief when Kasey Kahne was hit during lap. Oh well! Congrats to Matt Kenseth for his 2nd Daytona 500 win! Can’t wait for next week’s race at Phoenix!

Checkered Flag Cake

*Serves 12*

Ingredients

  • 2 sticks of unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 2/3 cups sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
  • 4 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon of baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups milk
  • 4- 1oz squares of semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Process

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 and spray all 3 pans with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until smooth.
  3. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
  4. Combine the milk and vanilla extract in a measuring cup.
  5. Incorporate 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Add 1/3 of the milk and beat. Continue to alternate the dry and wet ingredients until the cake is complete.
  6. Divide the cake in half to remove the vanilla cake batter portion.
  7. To the remaining batter in the mixer, add the melted chocolate.
  8. Follow the steps below to fill the pans to create the checkerboard patter.
  9. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Rotate half way through the cooking process and remove from oven when a tooth pick is inserted and is clean upon removal.
  10. Once the 3 cakes have completely cooled, place one of the chocolate, vanilla, chocolate layers on a plate or a cake stand. Level off the top of the cake. Add some butter cream frosting to cover the bottom layer.
  11. Add the vanilla, chocolate, vanilla later to the first frosted layer. Trim the cake top as needed to provide a level cake. Cover layer with frosting.
  12. Add the final layer of the cake, trim as needed, and then complete frosting.

To create the checkerboard pattern

  1. Place the batter divider in the first pan and alternate the chocolate batter and the vanilla batter in the rings. Start with the outside ring filling it with chocolate, then do the next ring vanilla, and the center with chocolate again. Carefully remove the divider ring from the cake pan by pulling it straight up. Wash the diver ring prior to using it again.
  2. For the second pan, repeat the same process with a chocolate outer ring, vanilla ring, and then a chocolate center.
  3. For the last pan, make the outer most ring vanilla, then chocolate, then a vanilla center.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

  • 6 oz of semi sweet chocolate
  • 2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups of powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Process

  1. In a small bowl over a double boiler, melt the chocolate. Once the chocolate is evenly melted, remove from the heat and let cool a bit prior to adding to the rest of the buttercream.
  2. Cream together the butter and sugar until very fluffy.
  3. Add the milk and vanilla and beat until completely incorporated.
  4. Add the melted chocolate and mix until evenly incorporated and  fluffy consistency is reached again.

____________________

Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive. 

Fried Pickles

Secret Recipe Club took January off while some rules, groups, organizers were updated. I really missed it that month. I love the fun of finding my blog in the list and seeing what someone picked to make from my recipe index. In this case I hope that Rebecca from A Dash of Thyme is happy to find my blog and see what I made. Pricer and I went through her recipe index several times and had a tough time picking. For a while we planned on doing Grilled Santa Fe Burgers but in the end we decided to make Fried Pickles to go with dinner we were having to celebrate the Daytona 500 (which was pushed to today because of bad weather 🙁 ).

 

 

This reminded us of our trip to Charlotte where we ate amazing fried pickle appetizers with our BBQ. Having the fried pickles last night with our pulled pork and cole slaw was perfect. The wine with dinner didn’t hurt but I’ll stay focused on the food… The pickles were perfectly seasoned allowing an extra level of flavor to them while still letting the pickle shine through. We just had them plain with our dinner but they would be great as party food with some ranch dressing.

 

Fried Pickles

*serves 4*

Ingredients

  • 3 whole kosher dill pickles
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup of pickle juice
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • pinch garlic powder
  • pinch of onion powder
  • pinch of paprika
  • Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
  • Canola oil, for frying

Process

  1. Slice the pickles into 1/4″ thick slices.
  2. In a small bowl, combine the egg and pickle juice.
  3. In a shallow dish, combine the flour, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and ground pepper.  Stir to combine well.
  4. In batches, dip the pickle slices flour mixture, then in the egg mixture, shaking off the excess, and then dredge in the flour mixture to finish.
  5. In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, bring 1-inch of oil to 375 degrees F.  Fry the pickles in batches until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes, flipping half way through.
  6. Transfer the fried pickles to a paper towel lined rack.

Secret Recipe Club

Check out my previous Secret Recipe Club Posts:

December: Shrimp Sriracha Stir Fry

November: Vegetable Enchiladas

October: Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Check out the rest of the reveal day posts!

____________________

Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive. 

Key Lime Trifle

Price and I recently had a party at our place for my birthday. It was centered around a Mexican fiesta theme so I’ll be posting a few recipes from that that works well for a Taco Tuesday dinner, Cinco De Mayo party, or just any great gathering. Enjoy!

You can’t have a party and not make dessert!

But I didn’t want a typical birthday cake, because I like to change things up.

…

Read More

Biscoff Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

This has to be a yummiest and easiest dessert that you can whip up for Valentine’s Day. Perfect for a last minute idea for any occasion really. In total this took me 20 minutes to do and I’m sure someone could do it even faster. I love fast desserts. Mainly because I don’t want anything to take too long and because I would rather eat chips so why would I want to spend a ton of time on something sweet. Whip up a batch up these Biscoff Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries and I swear you will enjoy them. I would not steer you wrong!

 

 

Plus stuffed strawberries are so much better than chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine’s Day. When you get a massive chocolate covered strawberry you have to take at least 2 bites of it and when you do the chocolate cracks and falls off. You instantly rush your hand to your mouth to catch those bits so they don’t fall on your new outfit, all the while looking ridiculous= not sexy.

 

 

Ever since I made my Biscoff Muddy Buddies, I have been thinking of making another treat using Biscoff. I love cheesecake stuffed strawberries, so I figured the next best thing would be to add Biscoff spread to the cheesecake mixture. But I knew I could not just leave it there… Oh no, I had to use Biscoff Cookies as well! I ended up processing the cookies to create crumbs that I could dip the strawberries into. I love the aroma of the cookies as I processed them. Oh killer. It was well worth a wait to get the crumbs on there since these suckers were so good.

Biscoff Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

*Serves 4*

Ingredients

  • 1 lb of large strawberries
  • 4 oz of cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
  • 1/4 cup Biscoff Spread
  • 4 Biscoff Cookies

Process

  1. Cut the top off of each strawberry. Using a paring knife, gently hallow out the center of the strawberry by carefully inserting the knife 1/8″ of an inch from the edge of the strawberry. The point of the knife needs to be angled towards the center of the strawberry. Carefully work the knife around the entire strawberry completing the circular cut. As you remove the knife, gently apply pressure to the pull the core of the strawberry out. Repeat this process until you have cored all the strawberries.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and Biscoff spread until it have a smooth, consistently mixed cheesecake mixture. Put the mixture into a sandwich bag, massage it to a corner of the bag, twist the extra bag in your hand, and then cut a small portion of the tip off the bag.
  3. In a food processor, blend the Biscoff cookies until a fine crumb as been achieved. Put the crumbs in a small bowl for dipping.
  4. To fill the strawberries, insert the tip of the filled bag info the hallow core of the strawberry. Squeeze the bag to force some of the mixture out. As the strawberry begins to fill, slowly pull the bag out of the strawberry allowing more to fill the berry. Fill the berry until some of the cheesecake mixture is out of the strawberry.
  5. Once the strawberries have been filled, gently dip the filled portion into the cookies crumbs.

____________________

Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive. 

Very Berry Sangria

Price and I recently had a party at our place for my birthday. It was centered around a Mexican theme so I’ll be posting a few recipes from that that works well for a fiesta or just a great gathering. Enjoy!

I love sangria so much because it works well year round and with so many different add in’s. You can do citrus, stone fruit, or berries, or an combination in between. I really prefer wine sangria but I have been enjoying red sangria more and more. Most of all I love to serve sangria when people are over. It works well for a crowd since you start with inexpensive wine, add fun fruit to it and it really transforms into a great drink.

 

This red sangria is packed with fruity flavor. All of the different types of berries add so much sweet, bright flavor.  Each of the 4 different types of berries provides a different flavor to the sangria. Then when you add the tequila you get a bit of a kick to it in the end. The seltzer adds a nice bubble to the the whole thing to finish it off.

 

Very Berry Sangria

Serves 12-16 people

Ingredients

  • 4 bottles of red wine
  • 1 pound of strawberries
  • 1 dry pint of blueberries
  • 1 dry pint of blackberries
  • 1 dry pint of raspberries
  • 1/4 cup agave, depending on the wine
  • 3 cups of tequila
  • 1 liter of seltzer, or ginger-ale

Process

  1. Divide the 4 bottles of wine into 2-3 pitchers, depending on the size of pitcher. Fill the pitcher about half way full.
  2. Wash all the fruit. Discard an bruised fruit.
  3. Slice the strawberries.
  4. Add all the fruit to the wine, divide evenly.
  5. Add the agave and tequila. Gently mix the wine to incorporate.
  6. Let chill for at least 2 hours before serving.
  7. Right before serving add the seltzer to the pitchers.

Spinach Salad with Shrimp, Avocado, and Grapefruit with Citrus Vinaigrette

I love salads so much. I really hate that we have the tendency to skip over salads in the winter or automatically go for ones that have cranberries in them or whatever to make them ‘wintery’. They are perfectly fine salads but I wanted to make one that was not something that you would expect to see in winter, but that is in season now.

 

 

Citrus is in season in the winter. As much as we enjoy our lemonades and margaritas in the summer the best season for domestic citrus is the winter. The citrus vinaigrette is light since it is mixed with a light vinegar and some water. I felt that the lime and vinegar combination could result with a tart dressing so I cut it will some water to dilute it. If you prefer a more intense vinegar then don’t add water, but you may like to add a pinch of sugar to balance it out.

 

 

According to Produce Pete Florida avocados are in season now. They are in season from late June to February. Why use a Florida avocado? The texture us much different from a Hass-variety so it can stand up well to being mixed into a salad. They are much firmer compared to Hass avocados, which are great for guacamole.

 

Spinach Salad with Shrimp, Avocado, and Grapefruit with Citrus Vinaigrette 

*serves 2 as a main, serves 4 as a starter*

Spinach Salad with Shrimp, Avocado, and Grapefruit

Ingredients

  • 8 oz of baby spinach
  • 1/2 a Florida avocado
  • 1 large ruby red grapefruit
  • 1/2 pound of shrimp, 36-40’s
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Process

  1. Wash and pat dry the spinach, plate.
  2. Halve the avocado. Remove the peel and then slice thin wedges from the avocado. Layer on the salad evenly.
  3. Peel the grapefruit and then carefully peel the membranes away from the segments. Evenly distribute the segments on the salad.
  4. Rinse and remove the tails from the shrimp. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the shrimp.
  5. Over medium heat, warm the oil in a large skillet. Cook the shrimp, flipping after 2 minutes, cook until evenly pink.
  6. Add the warm shrimp to the salad and then top with some of the citrus vinaigrette.

Citrus Vinaigrette 

Ingredients

  • 2 limes
  • 1 orange
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 2 oz rice vinegar
  • 2 oz water
  • 2 oz extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Process

  1. Squeeze the limes and orange.
  2. Add the garlic, vinegar, water, oil, and salt and pepper.
  3. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated.