Veggies Galore

I've come to the realization we just don't eat enough veggies. I personally could eat veggies all day every day. In fact if I didn't like a good, juicy burger every now and some crunchy bacon from time to time, I could almost be a vegetarian. But my husband, well he's another story. He would eat nothing but meat, bread, potatoes, and pasta if he didn't have a loving wife that insisted he eat other things that are good for him. I don't always bother making all the veggies I like because I would be the only one eating them. But I've become pretty creative at incorporating some veggies into our meals. He's much more willing to eat vegetables if they're in something rather than just piled on a plate screaming "I'm a veggie, I'm good for you!". Ok, so they don't really scream at you but they might as well as far as he's concerned. So tonight for dinner I crammed as many vegetables into our dinner as possible. I made a really yummy veggie rice pilaf to go along with our spicy Cajun shrimp which I just sauteed in some olive oil and garlic, and sprinkled with Cajun spice mix. We also had some steamed yellow squash and broccoli (for me) and corn on the cob (for him). Such a great dinner!

Veggie Rice Pilaf

1/4 large red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 large green bell pepper,chopped
1/4 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1 large clove garlic, pressed or minced
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup brown rice
salt and pepper

Begin by cooking the rice and set aside. Then finely chop all the vegetables. Heat a skillet over medium heat with about 2 Tbsp olive oil. Add chopped veggies to the pan and saute 2-3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth and let simmer another 3 minutes or so. Add the pressed garlic and stir. Last, stir in the cooked rice, remaining broth, salt, and pepper. Let cook another 3-5 minutes until some of the broth is absorbed. Serve warm.

Low Country Boil

You can't really get more simple or more rustic than this dish. Traditionally, a low country boil is done outside on a hot summer day, in a huge pot over a burner. Once everything is done, the water is drained and the contents of the pot are poured out onto a large table covered in newspaper where everyone serves themselves. I never really liked that part of it because all I could think about was the ink from the newspaper getting on my food. But anyway, I love the simplicity and unpretentiousness of this dish. The key to this dish is really the timing. You have to know just when to add all the ingredients to ensure everything is done at the same time. Unfortunately I overcooked the potatoes a little tonight and they came out sort of mushy. My husband and I still enjoyed it though. While this is normally a dish for a large crowd, I made it on a somewhat smaller scale and it's still a great meal for 2.

Low Country Boil

-5-6 medium red potatoes, quartered (you could also use small red potatoes and leave them whole. It actually works better with the smaller ones.)
-4-6 small ears of corn
-1 lb cleaned, deveined shrimp with tails
-2 links Cajun smoked sausage, sliced diagonally
-2 Tbsp Old Bay seasoning
-1/4 cup salt

softened butter, sliced lemons, and Cajun Spice mix for serving

Begin by boiling 8 qts of water in a stock pot. Add the salt and Old Bay seasoning. Add potatoes and cook for about 10-12 min. Next, add the sausage and corn on the cob. Cook about 7 minutes and then add the shrimp. Boil another 3-5 min just until the shrimp are pink and heated through. Drain water and pour the contents of the pot onto a platter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and 2 Tbsp Cajun Spice Mix or additional Old Bay seasoning. Serve with lemon wedges and softened butter.

Shrimp Pasta

If you can't tell from these last two posts, seafood was on sale at the store this week. While I'm not always the biggest fan of seafood, I do love shrimp. Fried, steamed, grilled, all kinds. It's a good thing I love it because I've got a ton of it in my freezer right now. I thought a simple pasta dish would be good for dinner tonight and what better way to use up some of my shrimp. I thought I would throw some spinach in there for good measure, too. So that's how I came up with this easy and delicious dish. Dinner was ready in about 20 minutes. This is a perfect example of a quick and easy dinner with basic ingredients, and just goes to show that dinner doesn't have to be hard!

Shrimp Pasta with a lemon butter sauce
(for 2)

10-12 small shrimp, defrosted if frozen
4 oz vermicelli pasta
1/2 a lemon
1 cup baby spinach, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)
1 tsp dried parsley

Begin by chopping the spinach and placing it in a serving bowl. Boil water and cook pasta until al dente (about 5 min for vermicelli). Drain the pasta and place in the bowl on top of the spinach. The warm pasta will help the spinach to wilt down a little. In a non-stick skillet, melt the butter. Add garlic and juice of half a lemon. Cook the garlic 1-2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the butter over the pasta and spinach and toss to combine. Toss the shrimp in the same skillet and cook about 3 min or until pink. Place the shrimp on top of the pasta and sprinkle with parsley. Squeeze additional lemon juice over the shrimp if desired. Serve warm.

Blackened Grouper

No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. That is really fish in my blog. I have said many times that I'm not a fan of fish. But my husband really likes it. Whenever we go to restaurants, he often gets fish and usually convinces me to try a bite. Most of the time I think it's good, depending on how it's prepared, but wouldn't order it off the menu just for myself. It's just not one of my favorite meals. I really do want to like fish because I know it's so good for you. So, I decided I'd give it another try and make this blackened grouper since that's one of my husband's favorite dishes. It was actually pretty good. Again, not my favorite meal ever but definitely something I can eat. I really enjoyed the Cajun spice seasoning that I made to go on it. It provided great flavor to the fish.

Blackened Grouper

4 grouper fillets
2-3 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp Cajun Spice Mix (recipe follows)

Melt the butter in a large non-stick pan. Season both sides of the fillets with the spice mix. Place the fish in the hot pan and cook for about 4 minutes on each side or until fish begins to flake. Serve with lemon wedges if desired.

Cajun Spice Mix

Ingredients

3 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons ground red pepper
2 tablespoons dried thyme
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar

Preparation

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

*The remaining spice mix can be stored in an airtight container to use in other recipes.

Source for the Cajun Spice Mix: Cooking Light

Spicin' It Up

I ran across this recipe a week or so ago. I had a few shrimp left in the freezer that I needed to use up so I decided to give it a try tonight. It was good but REALLY spicy! I will admit I coughed and sneezed my head off trying to cook the ginger and red pepper flakes. Even my husband was coughing and he was in the other room. LOL! I made a couple alterations based on the recipe reviews and it was still very hot. So, if you like spicy, you'll like this one. I served it over rice and with some steamed broccoli. It was an easy and fairly healthy dinner.

Honey Ginger Shrimp

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes (I only use 1/2 a tsp and it was very spicy)
  
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 1/4 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 pound medium shrimp - peeled and deveined
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the olive oil and red pepper flakes in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, ginger and honey; cook and stir until fragrant. Add the shrimp, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring as needed, until shrimp are pink and opaque. Deglaze the pan with chicken broth. Serve immediately.

Original Source: Allrecipes

Spicy Shrimp Tacos

A few years ago when we were in New Orleans, Louisiana, we had the best shrimp tacos at this little restaurant in the French Quarter. It was spicy, blackened shrimp and rice inside a tortilla with salsa, lettuce and tomato. Well tonight I made my version of a spicy shrimp taco. I didn't have any blackening seasoning so instead I "kicked it up a notch" with Emeril's Bayou Blast .
It's a quick meal that's great for summer since you don't have to heat up your whole kitchen by turning on your oven. They turned out really great!

Spicy Shrimp Tacos for 2

1/2 lb small frozen shrimp-defrosted and tails removed (you could also use fresh)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 white onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp Emeril's Bayou Blast
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
4 tortillas
1 bag white or brown Minute Rice
1/4 cup chicken broth

Cook rice as directed on the package and set aside. Heat olive oil in a skillet over med/hi heat. Add chopped onion and garlic and cook for 3-4 min. Add shrimp and Bayou Blast seasoning, tossing with shrimp to coat. Cook 3-5 min or until shrimp are pink and heated through. Add chicken broth to deglaze the pan and also to add moisture so the rice doesn't dry out. Add cooked rice to the pan. Add salt and pepper and stir to combine all ingredients.

Serve on warm tortillas with salsa, lettuce, or your favorite taco ingredients.

*You may want to taste the rice when it's combined with the shrimp to be sure it has enough spice for your taste.