shrimp

Grilled Garlic Lemon Shrimp

May 27, 2020

This post has been compensated by Inmar Intelligence and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #MyMazolaMarinade

Mazola® Corn Oil is a heart-healthy* cooking oil and creates marinades that make great-tasting food because it has a neutral taste that lets the natural flavor of your food stand out. A clinical study showed Mazola Corn Oil reduces cholesterol 2x more than extra virgin olive oil. To learn more about this claim, visit Mazola.com.

These Grilled Garlic Lemon Shrimp come together quickly with a simple marinade. Just a few ingredients, but every bite has so much flavor.

Make Grilled Garlic Lemon Shrimp a wonderfully delicious and healthy part of your dinner. You’re going to love that it comes together to quickly with just a few ingredients- shrimp, Mazola® Corn Oil, garlic, and lemon!

…

Pasta with Shrimp, Corn, Tomatoes, and Zucchini

September 15, 2016

Summertime Pasta- A simple pasta dish with sauteed shrimp, corn, tomatoes, and zucchini. Highlighting the best that summer has to offer in a bowl of pasta.

pasta-with-shrimp-corn-tomatoes-and-zucchini

This is a great simple pasta dinner can come together in about 20 minutes. It features fresh corn, tomatoes, and zucchini that is sauteed together with big plump shrimp. Delish!

…

Shrimp Taco Bowls

May 10, 2016

How addicted to Pinterest are you?

I’m hooked. I love it like a fat kid loves cake. (sup 50 Cent!)

Sure, I love it for checking out Whole30 recipes or pie ones or cocktail ones, but I am currently hooked on house stuff.

I have been looking at everything from lights to garage storage set up and pantry organization to lanai decor. A lot of our house will come complete but there are things that just make more sense for us to do since we can do it more affordably than doing it through the builder. Plus, they have limited options for things, like butt ugly chandeliers for lighting options for the dining room. No thanks!

So pardon my overzealous house related pins, but looking at all this stuff is just too much fun! And it makes me wish I won the lottery. Dang.

Anyway, it’s Taco Tuesday and it’s also National Shrimp Day so I merged the 2 together for this weeks Taco Tuesday recipe post.

Since I’m still doing Whole30, it’s a Whole30 complaint recipe but I swear you would never feel deprived. (I just clarify that for those who think Whole30 is depriving/lame/crazy/whatever!) We made out bowls with cauliflower rice, but if you prefer you can make yours with white rice, brown rice, quiona, or whatever!

It took me about 10 minutes of prep and another 20 minutes for all of it to come together. It’s the perfect week night meal when you are craving some with some fun flavors and is fast to prepare.

Get your eats on with this Taco Shrimp Bowl. You’re gonna love it!!!!

Shrimp Taco Bowls

Makes 4

Ingredients

1 pound shrimp, tails removed
2 Tablepsoon olive oil, divided
1 Tablespoon taco seasoning
1/4 Cup raw pumpkin seeds/pepitas
1 each of green, red, and orange peppers, sliced into 1/2″ wide strips
1-2 yellow onions, cut into 1/2 wide strips (yeild approx 2 Cups)
4 Cups mixed greens
2 Cups cooked rice (I used cauliflower rice)
2 avocados, pitted and thinly sliced
2 Cups sliced grape tomatoes
1/4 Cup chopped cilantro
1 fresh jalapeno, sliced very thinly
1 lime, cut into 8 wedges
your favorite salsa (I used a salsa verde from TJ’s)

Process

Marinate the shrimp by coating with 1 Tablespoon oil and then mixing in the taco seasoning, set aside.
In a dry skillet, add the pepitas. Toast the seeds over medium heat, moving frequently, until golden brown. Set aside.
In the same skillet, heat the remaining oil over high heat. Add the peppers and onion strips. Let sit for 1 minute prior to mixing. Mix to allow all strips to cook evenly, but not too often as you want them to char a bit as well. When compeltely softened, remove and set aside.
Add the shrimp to the skillet. Let cook on 1 side for 2 minutes prior to flipping, again you are aiming for some char, but not over cooking the shrimp. Cook until just opaque/white, approximately another 2 minutes. Do not over cook!
While the shrimp is cooking, begin to assemble the bowls by layering in the cooked rice, greens, and cooked veggies.
Add the shrimp to the bowls when cooked through. Finish topping off the bowls with the 1/2 an avocado, some tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeno slices, and 2 lime wedges per bowl. Enjoy with some of your favorite salsa as well.

Shrimp & Curried Coconut Risotto

October 26, 2015

Is your refrigerator running? Well, you better go get it! ha!

Okay, I have a point with starting with corny joke. I swear.

Our vacuum was acting up so I kept joking around that “Our vacuum sucks since it doesn’t suck” So Price dove into research mode, making me continually joke “But does that vacuum suck?” every time he would tell me about his findings. In the end we bought the Shark Rotator Pro Complete Lift-Away Vacuum (NV552), because we wanted a vacuum that had a hepafilter, had the ability to turn off the roller when on hardwoods, had a lot of attachments, and was relatively affordable (about 1/2 as much as a Dyson).

Since getting it we have been cleaning every inch of our house. It is amazing and horrifying at the same time as we are living in one of those corny infomercials when the people vacuum with their old one and then go over it with a new one to discover everything that was left behind. It’s amazing and horrifying. At the very least I am enjoying Price cleaning every surface in sight with every attachment the vacuum has. Win!!

Highly recommend this Shark vacuum #notsponsored!

Anyway, it’s Secret Recipe Club Reveal Day!!!!! YAY!!!! It’s my 4th year now!!

This month I had Sue’s blog Couscous and Consciousness. She is from New Zealand! So far away, but that is why I love blogging and Secret Recipe Club since it connects everyone from everywhere.

I had a lot of fun going through Sue’s Recipe Index since she had such a wide variety of recipes. We picked out several for considering, including her Salted Caramel Coconut Macaroons, Homemade Ricotta, and Pearl Barley Salad with Pistachios, Fava & Pomegranate (which I still have on my to-do list!). Ultimately, I selected her Shrimp & Curried Coconut Risotto.

I hadn’t made risotto in sooooo long so I was drawn to it. Plus, the combination of the flavors was so enticing. I couldn’t resist.

I’m glad I made this as it was a very satisfying lunch on a cool fall day. It made it really glad that I made a double batch since it made for great leftovers.

Sue’s tips about preparing this dish were spot on, like how you shouldn’t toast the coconut shavings. Sure, it will look pretty, but the contrasting texture from the crisp coconut to the soft risotto just wouldn’t work. I heeded her advice since it made a lot of sense.

So my 2 cents, if you like the flavor of curry then add a bit more. But, of course, this all depends on your curry blend, so just try it out as you go.

Hope everyone has a fantastic Monday! xox

Shrimp & Curried Coconut Risotto

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 Tablespoons butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
grated zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon medium curry powder
3/4 Cups arborio rice
4 Cups chicken stock, hot
1/2 pound fresh shrimp, peeled & uncooked
1/3 cup cream de coconut
generous handful chopped cilantro
toasted shaved coconut and wedges of lime to serve

Process

In a large stock pot, heat the oil and 1 Tablespoon butter in a large frying pan, set over medium heat until te butter is melted and the oil is simmering.
Add the shallot and cook until softened, approximately 2-3 minutes.
Add the garlic and grated lemon zest, cook for another minute
Then add the curry powder, again cooking for another minute before adding the rice.
Add approximately 1/2 Cup of the hot stock, continue stirring until all the liquid is absorbed. Then continue in the same way, adding the stock in ladle full batches, and each time stirring until the liquid is absorbed before adding the next ladle. Continue doing this until the rice has begun to release its starches and becomes “creamy”, but still has a little bite left to it.
Add the shrimp when you have 1 last batch of stock to add. By the time the rice has absorbed the stock the shrimp will be almost done, and will finish off cooking in the final resting time.
Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the rest of the butter and the coconut cream, cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
Stir the cilantro just prior to serving.
Garnish with the coconut shavings and wedges of lime when serving.

Adapted from Couscous & Consciousness

____________________

Check out all the other great Secret Recipe Club posts this month!

And be sure to check out my 4 years of Secret Recipe Club posts!!!!

____________________

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

Whole30: Days 7-9 Recap

February 14, 2015

I am documenting my Whole 30 journey to help me see how far I’ve come and to keep me inspired through the whole process. I’m looking forward to the transformation in how I approach food, cook with it, and enjoy it. Read why taking on this challenging dietary adventure is so important to me HERE.

{Day 7}

Sunday, February 8th

Price had to go into work today to make up time time he had missed from taking Autumn to the Dr on Friday so it was mainly just Autumn and I hanging around. I prepped food for Price but I got to do whatever for my meals. So I basically did whatever, and whenever. Like lunch at 2.30, very unlike me. But sometimes things are just ‘meh’ when it comes to the day and food.

Breakfast

Spaghetti squash with steak and veggies.

I got ta late start to breakfast so I just morphed it into lunch food. I used up the spaghetti squash, TJ’s Cruciferous Crunch mix, mushrooms, and some steak. I didn’t like that I make it into stir fry since once I was done with it it just felt weird to eat it for breakfast so I picked at it and ate the steak and some of the rest.

Lunch

Waffled Hashbrowns with a fried egg and salsa

This made up for my lack luster breakfast. I’m loving my Waffle Wednesday posts so I was excited to make this. I need to make more and more and more of these hashbrowns.

Dinner

Beef Burger Patty with grilled pineapple, guac & cilantro. Side of sweet potato fries.

I was struggling to think of what to make for dinner and ended whipping this up. It worked but I miss buns and ketchup. I think I only use ketchup for burgers and fries which is a vast improvement from when I used to eat it with everything. So I miss it with meals like this. But it was still really, really good.

{Day 8}

Monday, February 9th

We were getting pummeled with snow and daycare was closed so I stayed home with Autumn. It felt great that is was a

Breakast

Potato and veggie hash with 2 fried eggs

Lunch

Shrimp scampi with zoodles and an apple with crunchy almond butter

This lunch felt like a treat but I felt like I needed a treat as I was home yet again with Autumn because of the snow. Shrimp for lunch is such a treat! And it was a very good lunch. I make it scampi style with some oil, garlic, crushed red pepper, and some ghee.

And an apple with almond butter never hurts anyone. So good.

Dinner

Chicken breasts with a kumquat relish on a bed of chard and mashed potatoes (Modified Blue Apron Meal)

This was a winner! We loved it. It was so flavorful and hearty.

I forgot to cancel Blue Apron this week so I just ended up modifying the ingredients to make it Whole30 compliant. I skipped the sugar in the relish recipe and I swapped out the freekah for the mashed potatoes made with vegetable broth. And I made a pan sauce with the drippings in the pan after I cooked the chicken, some veggie broth, and almond flour. I have to make this one again.

{Day 9}

Tuesday, February 10th

Yet another snow day. The MBTA was closed down so I had to work from home (unless I drove in), but daycare was closed so I had Autumn at home, so no real working, besides a conference call. Price had to get in so he drove in. So just me and Autumn again! 🙂

Anyway, I feel that the biggest progress in this process

Breakast

Scrambled eggs with veggies, salsa mixed an an avocado, and pineapple

Price was still home when I made this so I enjoyed the company. Autumn ended up eating quite a bit

Lunch

Chicken with swiss chard mashed potatoes and asparagus

I’m always so glad when I make a lot of food when cooking something as it makes the next meals come together quickly. As in this one as I got to enjoy leftover chicken and mashed potatoes from the night before. I just quickly made some asparagus in a skillet and ta-da, all done!

Dinner

Pork Cutlets with a Beet, Heirloom Carrot, and Hazelnut Salad (Modified Blue Apron Meal)

There was not much to modify about this recipe to make it Whole30 compliant, just ditch the butter and use ghee. Simple! And we ended up with a delicious, filling dinner. Plus, it just meant that I only needed to dirty a pot and a skillet. Next time, if I use prepared beets I’ll only need to dirty a skillet- such a win!!

____________________

I’m glad that I have stuck with Whole30 so far at this point without any slip ups. The strict restrictions have really helped me stay in check with what I was eating while at home, which is when I will most often snack on stuff like Ritz crackers or Goldfish crackers. It’s not about not even having them at home, since I have other similarly tempted things (chocolate pudding, cheese, etc), but more about controlling cravings. yay!

We had some great dinners so the repetitive nature of some of the foods so far is. I’m glad that I forgot to cancel the Blue Apron package as those dinners were fantastic!

Citrus Apple Butter Glazed Grilled Shrimp

June 14, 2014

Yesterday was my office’s bonus day. It’s a fun time to celebrate all the hard work that everyone does while getting some extra dough in the back pocket. There is a presentation to highlight the great things that happened to the firm, and our office specifically. As well, some fun awards are given out to different people and project teams. I received 2 awards but of course missed actually getting them as I had to slip away to pump. Figures!

Between having just recently hit my 5 year anniversary since starting this blog and taking a moment to reflect on my past year professionally and personally, I started to think about this blog and where is has come from and where I want it to go.

I’m so proud of all the recipes, photos, and stories that I have shared over the past 5 years. It’s been so much fun for me to document everything along the way. I’ve enjoyed making drink recipes, recipes for NASCAR races, and getting to rate my favorite breakfast food- eggs benedict! yum!!

While it has been fun I’ve noticed that over time I’ve been sharing more and more about food recipes and that was not my original intent with this blog. I love food. Oh boy I do, but I am more than that and the other sides of me is being left out in the blog recently.

So I’m going to, hopefully, start to blog more about what I have the urge to. Maybe I’ll just share my favorite summer shoes, some fun pictures, a house project, and some random craft that I’m so desperately trying to squeeze back into my crazy schedule. That will be more reflective of me.

I hope that you still come to check out my food posts, this year’s weekly pie posts, but also stop by to read about my way to do a garden planter or how to build a window cornice or my endless love for Sperry’s.

Well, I’m here sharing a great summer time grill recipe. I used Musselman’s Apple Butter in a fun, creative way to great a marinade and glaze for some yummy grilled shrimp. I never would have thought about using apples butter on shrimp but I have to say that the glaze I made for it was so dang good. I was pleasantly surprised!

I mean, I love Musselman’s Apple Butter, but there are just sometimes when you read a recipe and go ‘hmmm, is this really a good idea?!?!’. Let me tell you… in this case it’s a great idea!

I cooked the shrimp on my new grill pan that I placed on my grill. I could have even used the grill pan on my stove and in my oven to cook the shrimp but I couldn’t resist being outside. I used the fish grill pan that is part of the Wilton Armetale Gourmet™ Grillware line. Not only is it cute it is highly functional. It’s great for grilling and then directly serving your food in the same piece, making entertaining a breeze. As well, it keeps your food hot longer on the table. It’s easy to clean and it won’t. Even then it has a lifetime guarantee against breakage.

I could have out the shrimp on skewers but I find that they are pretty difficult to remove from the skewers later on. Using this Fish Griller made cooking a breeze as I was cooking with even heat and I didn’t have to worry about dropping my shrimp through the grill grates. I plan on using this grill pan a lot for batches of grilled vegetables, whole fish, and even inside when it’s crummy out and I still want to grill. Plus, they have one in the shape of a football. OMG! Perfect for tailgating!

Oh man, I just can’t get over how well the shrimp got grill marks from the grill pan. You can even cook the shrimp on a foil lined baking sheet by cooking in a 400 degree oven for 3-5 minutes, each side. But the saddest part about that is that you wouldn’t have these lovely grill marks.

I served my Citrus Apple Butter Glazed Grilled Shrimp with some freekah and grilled vegetables. I added a bit of parsley and red wine vinegar to the cooked freekah to give it some extra flavor. I think lemon juice would be a good alternative to the vinegar.

For the grilled vegetables I cut up some zucchini, red and yellow bell peppers, broccoli, red onion, mushrooms, and a bit of jalapeno. I mixed up some olive oil, water, salt and pepper, and crush garlic, which then poured over the vegetables. A quick mix and then I tossed them on my Vegetable Grill Basket, which was set upon a burner on high on the grill.

Citrus Apple Butter Glazed Grilled Shrimp

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1/2 cup apple butter
1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 Tablespoon lime juice
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 pound uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined (21-25 per pound)

Process

Combine the apple butter, orange juice concentrate, lime juice, and oil.
Add the shrimp to the glaze and let marinade for 30 minutes.
Preheat your grill and grill pan over medium-high heat.
Lay the shrimp onto your hot grill pan. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until slightly opaque.
Flip and cook until opaque throughout, another 3-5 minutes.

Adapted from Musselman’s

____________________

And now the GIVEAWAY!!!!

You can win a large jar of Musselman’s Apple Butter, some recipe cards, and a Grillware Fish Griller!!

To Enter:

*Leave a comment telling me what your favorite things to grill is.

Get extra entries by doing the following:

Tweet: “Perfect for summer grilling! Citrus Apple Butter Glazed Grilled Shrimp {& a BIG GIVEAWAY!!} http://wp.me/pzEAP-4sr #AppleButterSpin“
Follow @Musselmanapple’s on twitter to stay in touch with them.
Like the Musselman’s Facebook page and to stay connected.

Come back and leave a comment each time to get 3 extra entries. If you do everything you should comment 4 times total!

Contest Ends Sunday, June 22nd at Midnight EST.

Good luck but if you don’t win be sure to go to your jam/jelly aisle at your local grocery store and pick up a jar of Musselman’s Apple Butter!

____________________

*This blog contains sponsored content. While I did receive complimentary products from Musselman’s and Armetale, these opinions are entirely my own.

____________________

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

Bang Bang Shrimp

February 22, 2013

I am so ready for this weekend!!! Why?? Well, the Daytona 500 is this weekend!!! I’ve missed watching NASCAR Sprint Cup racing during the off season and this is the race that is kicking off the new season. So, like people who love to cheer on their favorite baseball, football, basketball, etc team I cheer on a driver in hopes that he drives furiously through the field of cars to win the race.

Since we love to watch each race we really like to make an afternoon, or occasional evening, out of it so we’ve decided to pair our snacks with each race. I was inspired by Pam of The Meltaways since she created a series of recipes called NASCAR Nibbles that paired a recipe with each track in the season. I decided to give this a try with our own spin on recipes for each race of the season based upon the regional favorites of each track. Please follow along every Friday for a new Sprint Cup Snacks recipe for the upcoming race that weekend.

To celebrate the start of the season with the Daytona 500, we decided to make a fun seafood dish called Bang Bang Shrimp. It would be a great way enjoy fresh seafood, which is a seaside and boardwalk favorite. Racing on Daytona Beach is what really kicked off racing that we know today since NASCAR formed at a hotel at Daytona Beach in 1948. I wanted to pay homage to the beach and fresh seafood with this Bonefish Grill restaurant favorite. If you go to Daytona you can even visit their Ormond Beach location and have some Bang Bang Shrimp there.

We’ve enjoyed Amanda’s Bang Bang Shrimp several times before. It does take some time to make as you have to coat the shrimp and then let is chill for 20 minutes and then it is best to fry in small batches so the oil does not cool too much with the edition of the chilled shrimp. It is worth it since these are just so fantastic.

The Bang Bang Shrimp has a spicy sauce is perfect with the crunchy fried shrimp. The original recipe calls for the sauce to coat the shrimp but I prefer it to just be drizzled over the shrimp or served beside it for dipping as I like to control the amount of sauce is on the shrimp. No matter how you like to dress the shrimp I think you will love Bang Bang Shrimp.

Bang Bang Shrimp

Ingredients

1 lb. medium shrimp*, peeled and deveined

For the sauce:
1/3 cup mayonnaise
4-5 teaspoons chili garlic sauce, such as Sriracha sauce
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon rice vinegar

For the egg mixture:

1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
pinch each of salt and pepper

For the breading mixture:

½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup panko breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon dried basil

For the sauce:

½ cup mayonnaise
4-5 teaspoons chili garlic sauce, such as Sriracha sauce
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon rice vinegar

For frying:

8 to 12 cups vegetable oil

Process

Combine all ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl; cover and set aside.
Combine beaten egg with milk in shallow bowl; set aside.
Combine flour, panko, salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and basil in another shallow bowl; set aside.
Bread the shrimp by first coating each with the breading mixture. Dip breaded shrimp into the egg and milk mixture, and then back into the breading. Arrange the coated shrimp on a plate and pop them into the fridge for at least 20 minutes. This step will help the breading to stick on the shrimp when they are frying.
Heat oil in deep fryer to 325 degrees F. Use amount of oil required by your fryer.
When oil is hot, fry shrimp 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on rack or paper towels.
When all shrimp has been fried, drop the shrimp into a large bowl. Spoon about ¼ cup of sauce over shrimp and stir gently to coat.

*For larger shrimp, reduce the oil heat just a bit more and cook longer. For example, when I used large shrimp (U-15 shrimp), as pictured, I reduced the temperature of the oil to 320 so that the shrimp could cook longer to thoroughly cook throughout in 3-4 minutes without burning the exterior breading.

____________________

{Sprint Cup Snacks Track Facts}

The Daytona 500 race is the race that really kicks off the new season of NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing. This is the equivalency of the Super Bowl for racing. There is a week of duels prior to the race where drivers are getting back into the grove of things since the season ended in November. This year there is a new car called the Gen 6, which looks more like a stock car compared to the cars in the past recent years.

Racing at Daytona started on the beach back in the early 1900’s and was vital in the development NASCAR. Racers would come near and far to race the road coarse, but as years went on drivers were getting frustrated in the lack of organization in the racing, promotion, and securing sponsors. William France Sr, worked hard in creating and organizing the races in the 30’s and 40’s, which ultimately resulted in the development in NASCAR on February 21, 1948. Racing on the beach came to an end in 1958 because the new raceway was opening in 1959.

Track: 2.5 miles

Shape: tri oval

Banking: 32 degree banking in the oval turns;18 degree banking at the tri-oval

Surface: Asphalt

Race: 200 laps for 500 miles

Restrictor Plate Race

2012 winner: Matt Kenseth

Driver with the most Daytona 500 Wins: Richard Petty won 7 times

Garlic Lemon Shrimp

May 3, 2012

When Price and I first met ages ago he did not like seafood. At all. Well, with the exception of the fried fish dinner from Doug’s Fish Fry from back home. And I think that was only because they have the best cole slaw there. Over the years he has been more adventitious and has expanded his pallet so every now and then we had seafood for dinner. Shrimp was on sale one day so whipped up this super simple, flavorful dinner for us on a whim.

This was so easy to prepare. The prep time was so fast as most of the work was done for me has the shrimp had been de-veined and de-shelled. I only needed to remove the tails before tossing together the rest of the mixture. This could be served with rice or pasta but I decided to not dirty another pot and just enjoy it with french bread. Normally, I would drizzle the bread with extra virgin olive oil but the rest of the dish was so indulgent with butter, oil, and wine so I keep it basic. Besides, the bread would just be dipped into the ‘broth’ anyway. This is very garlicky so this is not a first date kind of meal, enjoy it with someone you love and some wine!

Garlic Lemon Shrimp

Serves 2 as an entree, 4 as an appetizer

Ingredients

1 pound shrimp, medium sized (31-35)
4-6 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons of butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 1/2 large lemons
salt and pepper
1 loaf of french bread

Process

Preheat oven to 425. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Rinse and remove the shell and tails from the shrimp.
In a bowl, mix together the shrimp, garlic, butter, olive oil, wine, oregano, red pepper flake, and the juice of 1 lemon. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Lay out the shrimp mixture on half of the lined baking sheet. Cut the remaining 1/2 lemon into thin slices and lay onto the shrimp.
Slice the french bread into 1/2 thick pieces and lay out on the other half of the baking sheet.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, it is done when the shrimp have all turned pink.
First remove the toasted bread, then carefully pick up the aluminium foil to transfer the shrimp and it’s cooking liquid to a serving dish.

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

January 24, 2012

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

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

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

Shrimp Sriracha Stir Fry

December 26, 2011

This month has just flown by! I can’t believe it is already the end of December, and reveal day for Secret Recipe Club!!! For this month I was given Sarah’s blog, A Taste of Home Cooking. Price is always active in enjoying what I make but more often than not I just cook and he goes with the flow. This time, I decided that he should be able to pick the recipe off of Sarah’s blog. So he scrolled through the several years of posting to find something that we could make together. In the end the Chicken Sriracha Stir Fry recipe won out.

We are both big fans of stir fry’s so this was a great pick for us from Sarah’s blog. Plus it’s very affordable since the majority of the recipe is vegetables. We could have gone with chicken or even tofu, which is so super inexpensive, but we treated ourselves with the shrimp since it was on sale. The marinade and sauce were so flavorful from the Sriracha. I love the spice it provides to a dish, so it being used heavily in this recipe was great for me. In fact, I increased the original amount used since we like it so much, but you can scale it back for what ever you prefer. Just like the fact that I love fish sauce so I used that instead of the oyster sauce in the original recipe- just use what is prefect for you and make this your special stir fry.

The key with any cooking endeavor is to be prepared, but it’s so much more important with something like a stir fry. The longest part of any stir fry meal is the prep. The cooking time is so fast that you can’t try to juggle cutting things as you go. Take your time in the beginning and set up you mise en place for a successful, and fun, cooking experience.

Shrimp Sriracha Stir Fry

*Serves 4-6*

Ingredients

1/2 pound of raw, peeled, deveined shrimp 31-35
1 large onion, sliced
1 green pepper, cut into thin strips
10 oz of sliced mushrooms
1/2 pound of green beans, trim ends off
4 tablespoons cooking oil, I prefer House of Tsang’s Wok Oil
2 tablespoons ginger, grated
3 cloves garlic, minced
rice or noodles, angel hair pasta works just fine

Marinade for shrimp:

1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons Sriracha

Sauce for Stir Fry

1 tablespoon cornstarch
2tablespoons water
1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup fish sauce

Process

Prepare the marinade for the shrimp in a medium sized bowl. Coat the shrimp for at least 30 minutes prior to cooking.
In a separate bowl, prepare the sauce for the stir fry by mixing together the cornstarch, water, Sriracha, soy sauce, fish sauce, and ginger.
In a large wok heat 1 tablespoon of wok oil over high heat, add the onions and green pepper strips. Stir-fry for 5 minutes or until the onuions are translucent and the pepper is tender. Remove to a large bowl.
Let the wok get back up to temperature, then add another 1 tablespoon of wok oil. Add the green beans. After 3 minutes, add 1/4 cup of water and cover for another 3-5 minutes. Once the green beans are tender add them to the bowl of vegetables.
Again, heat the wok back up and add 1 tablespoon of wok oil, then add the mushrooms. Stir fry until they are cooked and soft.
Wipe wok out with wet paper towels. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon wok oil over high heat. Once hot, add the ginger and garlic; after a few seconds, add marinated shrimp. Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes, until shrimp is fully cooked.
Add the rice or noodles to the wok and then pour the sauce in. Mix to prevent sticking and to fully incorporate the sauce into the rice or noodles. Add the vegetables back to the wok just to mix together.

Shrimp Sriracha Stir Fry PDF

Check out my previous Secret Recipe Club Posts:

November: Vegetable Enchiladas

October: Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Check out the rest of the reveal day posts!

Fried Rice

December 6, 2009

Making Chinese food with my Dad has become one of those experiences that leads to great food, dirty dishes, lots of laughs, and full stomaches. One year our bird, Studley, ‘got hungry’ and flew into the bowl of fried rice- no one was happy then. Or we always seem to bring up the time when my brother, Dad, and I made chinese food and the kitchen looked like a nuclear holocaust. Food on the floor, sauces dripping down the cabinets, spills in the fridge, and a sink full of bowls. Of course everything was worth it since the food is always amazing. We have made shrimp with lobster sauce, chicken with cashews, chicken and shrimp chow mien, and, as always, fried rice.

When my Dad came to visit a few weeks ago we planned on making chinese food so he brought up some of the ingredients and his wok. This excited me to no end. It had been so long since I had the fried rice. Sure, you can get fried rice at your local chinese food restaurant, but I have to say that it’s not the same. I find the fried rice from most chinese food places has too much soy sauce for my preference. So that is why it is worth it to take the time to make amazing fried rice.

Fried Rice

3 C. rice

1 C. diced chicken or shrimp or pork

Marinating sauce

1 TBS. cooking Sherry
1 ½ tsp. sugar
1 ½ TBS. Cornstarch
1 ½ TBS. Soy sauce

1 chopped onion (small)

3 eggs

½ tsp. black pepper (optional)

½ C. diced celery

4 Tbs. oil (wok oil is prefered)

diced scallion

soy sauce as much as desired

Marinate the meat in the sauce for 30 minutes to an hour.

Cook 3 cups of rice accordingly.

Add 1 TBS. of oil to a wok on medium heat. Add the eggs into the oil and break them into bite size chunks while scrambling them. Cook until they begin to set. It is very important not to cook them entirely as there will be carry-over cooking. Put the eggs to the side until ready to use them again.Add the rest of the oil to the wok. Add the onions and stir-fry for a minute. Push to one side of the wok when done. Then put the meat and celery in the wok; stir-fry until the meat is beginning to brown. Add the rice, soy sauce, and pepper; Mix that for about 2 minutes/until everything is coated. Then add the diced scallion and the reserved scrambled egg and stir-fry until everything is well mixed.** If you use shrimp add the celery a minute prior to the shrimp because of cooking time.