"Whoa. This is GREAT."

Those were the exact words out of my husband's mouth upon putting the first bite of this dish in his mouth. I had to agree with him. This dish is also every easy to put together. I actually used pre-cookied frozen shrimp (that I unthawed before cooking obviously) and that made it even easier! Just delicious - no other way to describe it! This will definitely make its way into our meal rotations. Thanks to my friend Lindsay for this one!

Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi with Orzo

1 Cup uncooked orzo

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1/2 Teaspoon divided salt

7 Teaspoons divided butter

1 1/2 Pound peeled deveined jumbo shrimp

1 -2 dashes garlic powder

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 Teaspoon black pepper

14 1/2 Ounces chicken broth

1 tsp for topping grated Parmesan cheese

Spray a small sauce pan with cooking spray. Add the orzo, stirring frequently until slightly toasted. Pour in the chicken broth. Cook until almost all of the broth is absorbed. Place orzo in a medium bowl. Stir in parsley and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cover and keep warm.

While orzo cooks, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle shrimp with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add half of shrimp to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Transfer shrimp to a plate. Melt 1 teaspoon butter in pan. Add remaining shrimp to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Transfer to plate.

Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in pan. Add garlic powder to pan; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in shrimp, juice, and pepper; cook 1 minute or until shrimp are done. Stir the orzo back into the skillet. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Super shrimp

And super simple!

I don't cook with fish or seafood a lot, but I'm trying to get better. Lately I've ventured into shrimp, making my own version of paella about a month and 1/2 ago (the synthesization of 3 different recipes) and then about 2 weeks ago I made this dish that I found on MyRecipes.com. The best part about this recipe was not only that it was easy, but that it had simple tastes that altogether were fantastic together. This will definitely continue to make it on the meal rotation at our house.

Lemon-Shrimp Couscous Risotto
(from MyRecipes.com)

2 1/2 cups water
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped green onions
1 cup uncooked couscous
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 ounces medium shrimp, cooked and peeled
1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Simmer 2 1/2 cups water and broth; keep warm. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Sauté onions 2 minutes. Add couscous. Cook 2 minutes; stir constantly. Stir in 1 cup broth mixture, rind, salt, and pepper; cook, stirring constantly, until liquid is nearly absorbed.

Add remaining broth mixture, 1/2 cup at a time; stir constantly until each portion is absorbed before adding next. Add shrimp. Cook 2 minutes; stir constantly. Remove from heat; stir in cheese and parsley.

Parchment Paper Cooking

Lately I have been fascinated by a few shows I've caught on the Food Network where the FN star is using parchment paper as a cooking method - namely for fish. I saw this on Rachael Ray's show first and then shortly after on a Giada episode. I wanted to try it for myself, but wasn't super keen on either of the flavor palates of the recipes on those two shows.

So I turned to myrecipes.com, one of my favorite sites, and found this great recipe! I made it for dinner guests this weekend. We had our best friends over to celebrate one couple's recent engagemet. I thought the parchment paper idea was kind of fun to see everyone open up their individual packages of fish!

The only change I made to the recipe was to use green beans instead of asparagus (I made asparagus the last time we had a dinner party with these friends, so I wanted to mix it up!), and fresh rosemary instead of tarragon since there was no tarragon at my local market.

I apologize for the lack of a picture, when we have company I seem to becom absent minded when it comes to picture taking!

Steamed Salmon and Asparagus in Parchment
(from MyRecipes.com)

1 1/2 pounds small new potatoes
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced
4 salmon fillets (about 6 ounces each)
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
4 scallions, trimmed and sliced
4 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 lemons, halved

Preheat oven to 400° F. Place a piece of parchment paper on a 13-by-12-inch baking sheet. Put the potatoes on the sheet and season with 1 teaspoon of the salt and ½ teaspoon of the pepper. Distribute the butter over the potatoes. Roast in top of oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until done. Meanwhile, lay out 4 sheets of parchment (at least 13 by 13 inches) and place 1 fillet on each. Top with the asparagus, scallions, and tarragon. Drizzle with the oil and season with the remaining salt and pepper. Top each fillet with a lemon half, after first squeezing on the juice. Pull the sides of the paper over each fillet, folding several times to seal. Fold and twist the ends to form rectangular parcels. Place them on a sheet pan. Bake on lower rack of over for 20 to 25 minutes while the potatoes finish cooking. Place a salmon parcel on each plate and cut open. Serve with the potatoes.

Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon

My husband and I are embarking on a healthier eating for 2009 trek fueled by my desire to lose a few pounds and his cholesterol results coming back a wee bit too high for his doctor's liking.

Fish is one of the recommended foods on his list so the other day I picked up a nice salmon filet that was on sale at the market. I used this recipe from my most recent Taste of Home magazine. The only change I made was to not use butter in the first part of the recipe and just substitute it with olive oil instead (in turn I used less olive oil later in the recipe). Olive oil is on my husband's approved lists of foods so I knew that would be alright. I also used reduced sodium soy sauce in this recipe. All in all this came out quite tasty and I can't wait to make it again!

Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon

(from Taste of Home Magazine)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tsp butter (I replaced with olive oil)

1 tsp honey

1 tablespoon olive oil (I reduced this a bit)

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 tablespoon soy sauce (I used reduced sodium)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 salmon filet

In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook and stir brown sugar, butter, and honey until melted. Remove from heat; whisk in the oil, mustard, soy sauce, salt, & pepper. Cool for 5 minutes.

Place salmon in foil-lined baking pan; brush with brown sugar mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily with fork.

Something's fishy....

....in a good way of course!

This week the mood struck me that I was really in the mood for fish, tilapia to be exact. I still have not done a lot of cooking of any kind of fish, at least relative to other meats, so I really needed a good recipe. I visited some of my favorite recipe sites but nothing was grabbing me so I googled and came upon a recipe from Whole Foods which is a store I tend not to ever shop at because of the prices but, this recipe sounded delicious, and easy. And it was, on both accounts! And to boot, Whole Foods has an excellent recipe site. I found a bunch I want to make in the future!

My husband and I really liked how this came out but both agreed next time I will either cut down on the lemon zest or the lemon juice, it was a tad too overpowering for us, but still very tasty. Alongside I made parmesan roasted cauliflower, an Ina Garten recipe. Might as well make it a parmesan kind of night, right? Served with a salad, this was a very satisfying meal indeed!

Broiled Tilapia with Yogurt and Parmesan Cheese

(from Whole Foods)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 tablespoons low fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Greek style yogurt or sour cream (I used sour cream)
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
Juice and zest of one small lemon (about 2 tablespoons juice)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 (6 to 8 ounce) farm-raised tilapia fillets

Combine 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese with remaining ingredients (except fish). Coat fillets with mixture and place in baking dish or shallow platter and let marinate for 15–20 minutes. Preheat broiler.

Place fillets on a foil-lined broiler pan. Spoon a few tablespoons marinade on top and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. Broil 4–6 inches from heat for 5–8 minutes or until topping is lightly browned. The fish is ready when it flakes easily with a fork.

Parmesan-Roasted Cauliflower

(from "Barefoot Contessa at Home")

1 large head cauliflower

3 tablespoons good olive oil

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup freshly grated Gruyere cheese (I omitted and used extra Parmesan)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Remove outer green leaves from cauliflower and cut the head into florets, discarding stems. Place florets on sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Toss well. Bake for 30 minutes, tossing once, until cauliflower is tender and starts to brown. Sprinkle with Parmesan and Gruyere and bake for 1 to 2 minutes, just until cheese melts. Season to taste and serve hot or warm.

Feeling crabby

Crabby for crabcakes that is! Last weekend (yes it has taken me a week to get an update up here) I made some lovely crabcakes via this recipe from Cooking Light. My husband and I love crab but rarely have it but the mood struck me and don't you think that Myrecipes.com sent me a crab cake recipe via it's "daily dish" e-mail. Can we say: Perfect?


Of course I de-Cooking Lighted the recipe a little (yeah, I made that term up...I like it) by adding some mayo. I didn't add much but felt I needed a little more of something to hold the patties together a bit better.


The original recipe also called for diced pimentos which I nixed and diced up some roasted red peppers instead - small of course - so my husband would eat them. As I mentioned before, he will eat onions and peppers as long as he can't see them (*Robin rolls her eyes*).


End result? Yummy crabcakes of course which left us feeling anything but crabby! I served them alongside some steamed broccoli and carrots and some couscous tossed in olive oil. This recipe is definitely going in my pile of keepers!


Crab Cakes with Remoulade
(from MyRecipes.com)


Crab cakes:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/2 pound lump crabmeat, shell pieces removed
1/4 cup diced roasted red peppers
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg

Rémoulade:
1/3 cup low-fat mayonnaise
2 teaspoons 2% reduced-fat milk
1 teaspoon capers, chopped
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 small garlic clove, minced


To prepare crab cakes, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

Combine breadcrumbs, onions, crabmeat, and pimiento in a medium bowl. Combine mustard, juice, salt, and egg, stirring with a whisk. Add egg mixture to crab mixture, tossing gently to combine. Divide crab mixture into 4 equal portions, shaping each into a 1-inch-thick patty.

Add crab cakes to skillet; cook 2 minutes. Turn cakes; reduce heat to medium. Cook 3 minutes or until golden brown.

To prepare rémoulade, combine mayonnaise and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Serve with crab cakes.

Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 crab cake and 2 tablespoons rémoulade)

Grill + Salmon = Love!

Another week's gone by since I've made a blog entry. Free time right now is a hot commodity and one I can't seem to get my hands on. So here I am, catching up on things.

This past week we made some salmon on the grill, the reason we had salmon is actually a little humorous. I bribed my husband to come pick me up from work because I didn't feel like taking the bus home. Mind you, I only live 10 minutes from where I work but sometimes a little extra movitation to have him come pick me up doesn't hurt. Case in point, I promised him that if he did come get me we'd stop at the store and pick up some salmon to make for dinner. I was already prepared with a quick, easy grill recipe I found on myrecipes.com, yes, I'm a planner at heart.

My husband was excited he got to use the new jumbo turner I got him from Pampered Chef - it's perfect for fish. Me, I was excited to have some fish for dinner because let's face it, despite my "bribe" - I was really the one in the mood for salmon that night!

All in all, I was really happy with how this came out, the rub did not overpower the salmon at all and instead only enhanced its flavor. I served it along some couscous tossed in some olive oil, and some steamed carrots. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Brown Sugar Grilled Salmon

(from myrecipes.com)

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup paprika

1/4 cup kosher salt

2 tablespoons dried thyme

1 (2-pound) salmon fillet, cut into portions

Combine first 4 ingredients. Rub spice mixture over all sides of salmon; let stand 10 minutes.
Grill salmon over medium-high heat 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Chili Rubbed Tilapia

Let me just make a confession.

I've never really cooked fish unless it was a meal from Super Suppers. I love to cook my own meals but I always like to have a couple of Super Suppers dinners on hand for those long days when I just don't feel like cooking and usually those meals that I do buy are fish because for some reason I've been apprehensive about cooking fish. And we love fish so it's ashame I don't really make it.

The other night, however, while in the supermarket making a quick run for a few things I needed for the week the mood struck me for fish so I bought some tilapia.

I got it home, and mind you, I was home alone that night as my husband was away on business and now I've decided that I'm making myself fish for dinner merely because I felt like it. Yes, an odd craving to have!

I immediately came online when I got home to look for some inspiration how to season/cook it and I found a recipe for a chili rubbed tilapia that sounded good - and it was - despite the horrid picture in which my fish kind of fell apart and my camera went blurry on me. I would definitely make this again.

Quick, easy, delicious....I think I can handle this fish thing!

Chili Rubbed Tilapia
(from FoodNetwork.com)

2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound tilapia, Pacific sole or other firm white fish fillets
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Combine chili powder, garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt on a plate. Dredge fillets in the spice mixture to coat. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the fish and cook until just opaque in the center, gently turning halfway, 5 to 7 minutes total. Divide among 4 plates. Immediately add lemon juice.

Eat to the Beat!! Another Blog Challenge!

Last week after completeing my first blog challenge, I started to look for others and stumbled upon the Eat to the Beat challenge hosted by Elly of Elly Says Opa - you pick a song or a band or lyrics and relate it to a recipe.

I started really listening to songs on the radio and let's face it, most songs have a common theme of love. As I listened more I realized that so many of these love songs had another common word in them besides the word love: heart.

Think of it, there's a band named Heart. There's also "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion, "Cross My Heart" by George Strait, "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler, "Unbreak My Heart" by Toni Braxton, "Heartbreaker" by Mariah Carey, "Open Your Heart to Me" by Madonna, etc. Obviously I could carry on about songs with the word heart in the title, nevermind the word heart in the lyrics - I'm sure there are thousands of those!

So while I hadn't chosen one particular song, the common thread of the word "heart" in so many songs, and song titles (and even one band name!) led me to making a heart healthy main dish.

First I had to do some research on heart healthy foods and was easily able to find a great list on WebMD. The first food on that list is salmon. Salmon immediately struck a chord with me because I haven't had salmon in a long time. However, I really didn't want to just make a boring piece of salmon so I started searching for ideas. On Martha Stewart's food site I found a recipe for salmon cakes that piqued my interest but, per usual, I wanted to make some of my own modifications to it.

To help the cakes stick together, instead of using breadcrumbs in the mixture itself, I used oatmeal which is also on WebMD's heart healthy foods list. The recipe already called for some finely diced red bell pepper (on WebMD's list again) but I decided to add another veggie from the list - carrots. So, in the salmon cakes alone, I had 4 heart-healthy ingredients that you can Eat to the Beat with!

Check out the results and eat your heart out! I was really pleased with how these came out in the end - a nice crunchiness on the outside of the cakes and lots of great flavor inside. I served the salmon cakes atop some orzo tossed in olive oil and pepper. Unfortunately I was so consumed with the blog challenge that I hadn't put any thought into a side dish at all. Oops! Luckily this entry is about the salmon cakes!

Salmon Cakes
(inspired by Salmon Cakes recipe on MarthaStewart.com)



2 - 6oz pouches of salmon (I used Bumble Bee which was already de-boned)
1 small red bell pepper (or half of a large pepper), seeded and finely chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped carrots
¼ cup grated onion
3 large egg whites
1 large egg
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of ground ginger
½ cup quick cooking oats
½ cup bread crumbs
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

In a bowl, combine salmon, bell pepper, onion, egg, egg whites, mustard, paprika, celery salt, pepper, and ginger, and oatmeal. Using hands, combine well.

Pour bread crumbs into a shallow bowl. Form salmon mixture into 8 three-inch patties. Coat patties in bread crumbs; place on prepared baking sheet. Cook for 15 minutes and flip cakes and return to oven another 15 minutes (for a total 30 minutes of cook time). Serve warm.

Crab, Carrots, Christmas...I guess I like the letter "C"

I mentioned in an earlier post how Christmas Eve isn't a huge food affair in my family. It's mostly centered around Meat Pie but I always serve at least one other food item on that night. Usually it's a "standalone" - in other words, it's not something that needs an additional side dish of any sort.


In my adventures for looking for something different to make for the "standalone" (in the past when my parents' hosted my mother would make meatballs or lasagna or something to that effect), I wanted something a little different and stumbled upon this Crab Quiche recipe. I asked some friends what they thought and they were so-so about the idea and, so was I. When I think quiche I tend to think breakfast so I pondered some other ideas that were given to me (thanks, Janine, you always have the best ideas). But I just couldn't get over this crab quiche obsession I had, so, I just sucked it up and made it and I was pretty happy with the result - this would obviously make probably an even better brunch menu item. I found the recipe on allrecipes.com but made a some moderations (which is how it appears below). If anything, it needed a tad more seasoning, but now I at least know for next time. Also, I think next time I will add another egg or two and just up the cook time for a bit. The pie plate seemed as though it could have been "fuller." (p.s. I have to laugh at the picture below, for some reason I cut 2 slices....one is like "baby slice" hahaha).


Crab Quiche
(from allrecipes.com)

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 6 oz can lump crab meat
1 cup shredded mozzarella
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon celery salt
½ teaspoon onion powder
Pinch of cinnamon
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

In a medium bowl, beat together eggs, mayonnaise, flour, and milk until thoroughly blended. Stir in crab, cheese, and onion. Spread into pie shell.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.




So there's my "first C." My second C is my recipe for Catalina Carrots which is my own creation that I've made several times. I told my mother I'd make a side dish for Christmas day since she had made a 2nd meat pie for Christmas Eve so I volunteered to bring the carrots.


Catalina Carrots

2lbs baby carrots boiled to "al dente" state
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup Catalina salad dressing
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

Saute minced garlic in olive oil on medium heat until slightly browned. Add carrots and toss thoroughly in olive oil.

After sauteeing carrots for 5-10 minutes, add Italian seasoning and Catalina dressing. Turn heat to a medium-low setting and continue to saute carrots for about 5 minutes. Add brown sugar and saute for another 10 minutes or so until carrots soften up a bit. Serve hot.