Tequila Honey Shrimp with Roasted Lemon Asparagus
Sorry. I know that I have not updated this site in a very long time, but there were the fires, moving, and finally a new job. But despite my feeble excuses, here is a great recipe and a pretty cool photo. As the title suggests, this is a little quick marinade for shrimp (or chicken) roasted in the oven. Any vegetable would do, but asparagus roasts in the oven so nicely. Enjoy!!!
Ingredients:
Marinade: you must eyeball all of this! tequila, honey, lemon, finely diced sweet onion, chopped cilantro, salt, fresh cracked pepper, oil, whisk together (make sure to taste, i didn’t, and my marinade was a little too sweet, it could of used some more lemon, and if I had some I would have used lime, not lemon.
Shrimp, covered in your marinade
Asparagus, covered in oil, salt, fresh pepper, and lemon zest
Roast both in 450 degree oven for about 10-15 mins
Roasted Anaheim Chili Chicken Enchiladas
I get this magazine called “sunset” every month. It highlights travel, food, wine, and gardening in the west. They have a lot of recipes that I get inspiration from, but this time I pretty much stuck right to the recipe rules. I had some chicken that I desperately needed to cook because its time in my fridge was running out, so I grilled it, shredded it, and ran out to my local supermarket to get some fresh green anaheim chilis. This dish is quite quick and easy to make and the roasted chilis give this dish great fragrance and flavor. Not to mention that it is hard to go wrong with a meal that is topped with a heap of cheddar cheese.
Ingredients:
- 2 breasts of chicken- salt, pepper and oil, grilled and shredded
- corn tortillas
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 3-4 Anaheim green chilis chopped
- 3 cups of chicken stock (1 for chili sauce, 2 to dip your tortillas in)
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- shallot
- green onion (for sauce and garnish)
- 2 tblspn of olive oil
- 1 tblspn of butter
(the green onions and shallots were my small addition)
I served the enchiladas with guacamole (avocado, lime, garlic, salt and pepper).
Tuna and Caper Pappardelle Pasta
As Bill and I were walking through Trader Joe’s this evening, we noticed a little dinner idea display with pasta, tuna and capers. We were sold as the pasta was a nice thick Lemon Pepper Pappardelle, the tuna was in oil (like in Italy where we fell in love with it), and I can eat capers by the spoon full. Plus, I was planning on using some left over grape tomatoes in a caper and tuna pasta, so I didn’t have to stray to far from the dinner plan (although I decided not to use the grape tomatoes). I partnered the pasta with a salad that needs nothing else but its 3 major ingredients: arugula, roma tomatoes and parmesan cheese. This was one of the best pastas I have ever had, I love eating pasta without the traditional red sauce. I am all about quick dinners with a lot of flavor, and this plate didn’t disappoint.
Ingredients:
- Lemon Pepper Pappardelle
- Sauce (in order of addition to hot pan): oil, lemon zest, garlic, chopped sweet onion, white wine, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, tuna in oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- important step: when pasta in almost cooked to al dente, add wet pasta to pan so pasta will absorb some of the tasty sauce you have created
- Salad: arugula, roma tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, balsamic vinaigrette dressing
Stuffed Pepper and Spanish Rice
This plate was very delicious with sweet and spicy flavors baked in a whole sweet pepper. I used the leftover grilled chicken I made the other night and chopped it up along with some frozen, peeled and deveined shrimp that were cooked golden in some hot oil. I think frozen shrimp is a necessity in a kitchen, they come all ready to go and take 2 mins to thaw in some warm water. I chopped some older vegetables that I needed to get out of the fridge, sprinkled the whole mixture with some spices, added a little olive oil to bring it all together and then spooned the mixture into the hollowed out pepper. I cheated and the spanish rice is from a box, made by Near East, but quick and delicious. My friend Martha gave me a recipe for this Mexican staple, but it is very time consuming and includes a lot of ingredients. I will try it one day. This dish was easy and you can add any of the flavors or leftovers you want, and plus, peppers are packed with vitamin C.
Ingredients:
- chopped grilled chicken
- chopped grilled shrimp
- finely chopped garlic, zucchini, red onion, and sweet onion
- chopped cauliflower
- salt, pepper, cumin, chili pepper, and crushed red pepper
- olive oil
- whole, hollowed pepper
Just for fun, here is a little jar windowsill treatment that I created recently, utilizing two different types of succulents, lavender, and two pears. The “for rent” sign in the back is quite classy.
Shrimp, Snap Peas, Hummus and Pita
Since I have no job at the moment I have been watching alot of day time tv, along with a mixture of night time stuff that I record on our dvr. I have been able to catch some of the 30 minute meals with Rachel Ray. She is absolutely weird and kind of annoying, but she has some good ideas every once in a while. Her magazine in nice, and a plus because then you don’t have to listen to her voice. Either way, the shrimp recipe is hers (except I added capers and omitted anchovies, only because I didn’t have them), but the hummus and pita I make all the time (I guess I should give the Mediterranean the credit), and the snap peas are, well, if you have been paying attention then you know. But the shrimp was awesome and went very well with the sweet snap peas, and definitely fell into place nicely with the hummus and pita.
Ingredients:
- shrimp, any size
- oil, garlic, chopped capers, worchester sauce and lemon zest
- lemon juice to squeeze at the end
- toasted pita
- hummus (Trader Joe’s)
- finely chopped pepper, salt and pepper
- oil and balsamic vinegar
- snap peas, butter, salt, pepper, feta
Grilled Chicken and Snap Peas
I had bought a big bag of snap peas from costco, and aside from blaching the peas and then putting some salt, pepper and a little butter on them, I had no other ideas. So Siobhan gave me one of her ideas, blanched snap peas with chunky tomato sauce and feta. I just added a simple grilled chicken marinated in virgin oil, garlic, lemon, salt and pepper. Thanks Shiva, it was delicious.
Ingredients:
- chicken breasts
- extra virgin olive oil, lemon (whisk together to emulsify), garlic, salt and pepper
- chunky tomato, chopped onion, capers
- feta cheese
Cheese, Basil and Tomato Pizza
This pizza is very easy and so flavorful. I did want fresh pizza dough, but had to settle for Boboli because the grocery by us is a shithole. I hate Ralphs, its just a crappy store. Any way, there is not much more to say. The pizza is pretty self explanatory from the pictures and the ingredients.
Ingredients:
- pizza crust
- tomato sauce
- sliced tomatoes and onion
- mozzarella chees
- ricotta cheese
- sliced basil
- salt and pepper
Shredded Beef Quesadilla
If you live in California, you have to love mexican food. We make alot of tacos in this household. I had some stewing beef left in the freezer that I wanted to use. I didn’t want to make a stew, it is way to hot for a meal like that. If you know about stewing beef, you can’t just grill it and make kabobs. It must be cooked for long hours at low temps or else the meat is chewy and as I see it, inedible. The beef should just fall apart easily. I browned the meat in oil on high heat, and then added some vege stock from trader joes that has been in my pantry. I also added some ends of fresh veges that I wasn’t going to use. I then seasoned the mixture, along with adding 3 cloves of garlic, cumin and crushed pepper. I cooked the concoction for 3 hrs at 350 in the oven. I drained the meat from the stock and took out the beef. The beef has been in the fridge waiting to become part of a delicious quesadilla.
Ingredients:
- shredded beef
- wheat flour tortillas
- cheddar cheese
- sauted red peppers, mushroom and sweet yellow onion
- frozen corn
- sour cream
- salsa
Salmon Cake with Baby Veggies and Baked Potato
This is a nice alternative to a crab cake or even use this salmon patty in place of a hamburger. The salmon holds up very nice and cooks quick. The veggies are baby zucchini and baby broccoli, a mixture that I use alot. These veggies are lightly coated in oil, and then sprinkled with salt, pepper, and garlic. The potato is easily baked in the oven for an hour or so.
Ingredients:
- salmon cake (salmon; cut into small blocks, mustard, miracle whip, finely chopped red onion and pepper, salt, pepper, egg, and bread crumbs; combine mixture and form into palm sized patties)
- baby zucchini
- baby broccoli
- baked potato
- tomatoes and basil for garnish
Green Curry Shrimp with Coconut Rice
This dinner was created with a little help from Joe, Trader Joe that is. Although traditional green curries have only zucchini and peppers, I decided to add Crimini mushrooms, fresh basil and some celery, too. I love vegetables, (thanks mom!) The rice is made with coconut milk and sugar, using the same rules for liquid to rice proportions that are normally followed.
.Ingredients:
- Trader Joe’s Green Curry Simmer Sauce
- shrimp
- baby zucchini
- peppers
- crimini mushrooms
- celery
- fresh basil
- lime wedge
- rice
- coconut milk
- sugar
