Roasted Shrimp Cocktail

January 12, 2012 by · 6 Comments

When I go to or have a party it’s nice to have a few lighter options to eat along with the not so healthy. Don’t get me wrong, I am all about the crab and taco dips, but it’s always nice to have options. One of my favorite healthier options is shrimp cocktail.

Did you know that shrimp is:

  • Very low in calories
  • A great source of healthy fats such as Omega 3′s and very low in saturated fats
  • High in protein (which will help to keep you full), iron and B-12 vitamins
  • Still ok to eat despite being a source of cholesterol.  Apparently the good fats and good cholesterol (HDL) in shrimp combat the bad Cholesterol (LDL.)  You probably just don’t want to eat too many of them.

This recipe by Ina Garten is great because the roasted shrimp takes on a slightly different sweet flavor. You could probably season it however you like, but I really liked Ina’s simplicity with some good olive oil, salt and pepper. I added the garlic because, well, I love garlic, but you could certainly leave it out.  You also will want to serve it alongside some spicy cocktail sauce.

So if you think it’s time to lay off the seven layer dip, try this wonderful twist on shrimp cocktail. It’s delish!

Enjoy!

Roasted Shrimp Cocktail
 
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Recipe type: Appetizer

Ingredients
  • 2 pounds (12 to 15-count) shrimp (peeled and deveined)
  • 1 tablespoon good olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 cloves garlic – minced

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  2. Place shrimp on a sheet pan with the remaining ingredients. Toss to coat and spread into one even layer.
  3. Roast for 8-10 minutes until they are fully cooked through and firm. Let cool and serve with cocktail sauce

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Spiced Pecans with Cinnamon and Sea Salt

December 22, 2011 by · 8 Comments

This recipe is from a work friend of mine.  Chris brought these to the potluck and it was one of the items that was gone quickly.  They were so good I just had to make them at home.  So thanks Chris for the recipe and tips on making these – they turned out great!

The holidays and our little holiday party made me think about how thankful I am for my work friends.  We are all only in the office on Wednesdays so we typically only see each other once a week, but when we do we all enjoy catching up and working together.  We all eat lunch together and it’s a nice day in the office.

One of the things that is always kind of sad (with my co-workers) is that everyone lives on opposite ends of the area.  We work right in the center of what is called the Research Triangle in Raleigh and we live on opposite sides of that big circle.  So, I have never met many of my co-workers’ families and we never really get to hang out after work because we all have families and kids and everything that goes with that.  Chris and his wife have the cutest little girl but I have only ever seen her on Facebook.  Maybe we will have to have a family picnic next year….ok, I will get right on that:-).

So anyways, these pecans will be a new tradition for my holiday baking.  There are a few things that make this recipe different.  First of all, the sea salt complements the spice and the sugar so well.  You can definitely taste it and I love the flavor….

Speaking of sweet and salty, did anyone see Parks and Recreation (my favorite show right now) where Leslie mixed sugar and salt together and called it saltgur?  That was brilliant….and definitely on point.

Anyways, back to these pecans…I also liked that they are made with egg whites and not with butter.  You absolutely don’t even need the butter for these.  You could make these vegan by using an egg substitute and I am sure they would be just as good!  This recipe could not be any easier.  The pans cleaned up really easy and there was really only two bowls that required very easy cleanup.  Plus, they taste awesome.  I had to pack them up quickly or I thought I might eat too many!

So if you are looking for a nice little nibbler for Christmas or New Years go buy a pound of pecans and make these.

Enjoy!

 

Spiced Pecans with Cinnamon and Sea Salt
 
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Recipe type: Appetizer

Ingredients
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt (the recipe calls for ¼ teaspoon, but I added a bit)
  • 1 egg (discard the yolk)
  • 1 lb pecans

Instructions
  1. Whip the egg white until foamy and then add the pecans. Mix until all of the nuts are coated.
  2. Combine sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add this to the pecans and stir until the pecans are evenly coated with this sugar mixture.
  3. Very lightly grease two baking sheets and evenly distribute the pecans between the two pans. Spread the pecans out and bake for 1 hour. Stir every 15-20 minutes ensuring that they do not burn. Let cool.
  4. Enjoy!

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Mahi Mahi with Pineapple Jalapeno Salsa

December 7, 2011 by · 6 Comments


 

****Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Athenos – I just linked up my Htipiti – Feta and Pepperoncini Dip. Lots of yummy stuff!*****

With the holidays coming up I am trying to keep our dinners light and somewhat fresh this month.  We have had grilled chicken, veggie omelets and this mahi mahi. My goal for this month is when I am not eating cookies or cake I am eating something healthy. It’s called balance, people:-).

We also have a birthday.  My oldest, Ella, turns eight today and I just can’t believe it.  Eight is kind of not so little anymore.

Eight means two more years and she is in double digits (and she has reminded me of that a few times.)  Eight means that she wants to redecorate her room with peace signs and glitter and not teddy bears and bows.  Eight means she is almost halfway through elementary school, when it feels like she just started.  It means if I am wearing something that she doesn’t like she will tell me what I should wear instead (and there is a good chance I will take her advice.)  Eight also means sleepovers, which is probably the most scary item in this list…especially when it is SIX girls at my house.  Seriously, I am stressing.

So, you can see why I am posting recipes like this in the middle of December.  I need some lightness in my life.  I also need to make it to the gym at least four days a week, which is tough right now.

The shining star of this recipe is the pineapple salsa.  The Mahi is a great fish, but this salsa is such a great recipe.  If you have never had pineapple salsa change that right now.  Make this.  If you like sweet heat this is probably the best sweet heat you will ever taste.   We had veggie burritos earlier in the day on Sunday and Jim threw some in his burrito and he said the salsa was awesome in it.  You could also just eat it with some chips – cause it’s salsa and that’s what you do with salsa.

If you have read this blog for any period of time, you probably know that I am a huge fan of Trader Joe’s.  Well, they have the best pineapple and they are usually 2.99, which is a great price.  If you have an Aldi’s I think you can usually get them really inexpensively there, too.  Did you know that Aldi’s and Trader Joe’s are owned by the same company? TJ’s also has great and reasonably priced frozen fish which is where this Mahi is from. I think Aldi’s has good frozen fish, too….it’s all making sense now:-).

Pineapple is also great to add to a stir fry.  Amazing, really.

So try this salsa today.  Add a ton of jalapeno and – Enjoy!

Mahi Mahi with Pineapple Jalapeno Salsa
 
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Recipe type: Main

Ingredients
  • 1 lb Mahi Mahi
  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • 1 Tablespoon EVOO
  • ½ lemon
  • 2 cups pineapple diced
  • ½ red onion diced
  • 1 good handful cilantro
  • 2-3 jalapenos seeded and diced
  • a good squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon of Teriyaki sauce (optional)
  • Salt to taste
  • Sriracha (optional)

Instructions
  1. Heat butter and EVOO in a skillet over medum high heat. Pat fish dry and salt and pepper on both sides. Place fillets in the skillet and cook about 3 minutes on each side.
  2. Remove fish from pan and squeeze lemon juice in with the butter and cook for one more minute. Spoon butter over fish if desired.
  3. For salsa add pineapple through Teriyaki sauce and mix until combined. Add salt to taste.
  4. Spoon salsa over fish. Drizzle with Sriracha if desired.
  5. Enjoy!

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Thai Fresh Summer Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce

November 7, 2011 by · 5 Comments

My girls are visiting their grandparents up in Maryland this week, so Jim and I have the place to ourselves. The funny thing is, we really haven’t done anything different than we usually do. I thought we might try some different meals this weekend, but we really didn’t. I just couldn’t think of anything to cook that my kids wouldn’t eat. We realized this weekend that we are really pretty content doing the things we typically do when the kids are around. We go on walks with our dog, sit on our deck and grill, run errands or other little outings…. and that is exactly what we ended up doing this weekend. They also eat pretty much anything that we serve, too so I really can’t complain on the food front, either. I did enjoy having a clean house and not having to break up little silly arguments all weekend, but that was really about it.

The one food flavor that my kids don’t do well however, is spicy. I decided that today I would attempt to recreate one of my favorite restaurant meals – Spicy Thai Basil Chicken. I don’t know about you, but I can’t have a respectable Thai meal and not have some type of a roll. So, I decided to make Thai Fresh Summer Rolls to go along with my Basil Chicken.

I didn’t really take into account how long it would take me to put everything together and I will say that I definitely got a workout tonight in the kitchen.  Neither dish takes all that long by itself, but when you make them at the same time, it does take a little while. There’s a lot of chopping and soaking and trekking outside to my herb garden. I was just finishing up when Jim came in the door and I didn’t have the table set like I had originally planned. Oh well, luckily Jim is great in the kitchen (sometimes even better than I am) so we worked together and got dinner on the table pretty quickly.

Both dishes were absolutely amazing so it was definitely worth all of the chopping and wrapping and grinding. Tonight I am going to share with you my recipe for the Summer Rolls and Peanut Sauce. These honestly tasted exactly like any roll that you would get in a restaurant. I made these vegetarian, but you could add some cooked chicken or shrimp  and they would be great. The sauce was awesome and had a bit of heat to it and a great peanut flavor. Once you have all of your food chopped and noodles soaked, they are really easy to assemble. The rice paper was really easy to work with and extremely forgiving. I was a little bit worried that they would be hard to wrap and I probably didn’t roll them as tight as I should have but they still looked and tasted great.

I definitely urge you to give these a try. They are pretty healthy and the fresh taste is awesome. I used the Thai Basil from my garden, however, if you don’t have access to Thai Basil you could also use  Cilantro, Mint or Italian Basil and any of these would be a fine substitute. I do love the flavor of the Thai Basil though and the plant in my herb garden is still going pretty strong, so I am going to use it until it kicks the bucket. You can buy the spring roll wrappers at some grocery stores in the Asian Foods section, but I got mine at the huge Asian market not too far from my house (which is a really fun place to go by the way.)  I  figured out how to put the rolls together myself, however the peanut sauce is from Steamy Kitchen.  She also has a spring roll recipe there which sounds fabulous and it has shrimp, mango and mint in it.  See, you can really change these up with lots of different flavors.

Enjoy these tonight! And then when you are done you can take the kids and the dog for a walk:-)

5.0 from 1 reviews

Thai Fresh Summer Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce
 
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Recipe type: Appetizer

Ingredients
  • Summer Rolls
  • 8 Spring Roll Wrappers
  • 1 Carrot cut into matchsticks
  • 1 Cucumber cut into matchsticks
  • ½ cup Thai Basil cut in a chiffonade
  • 2 oz rice vermicelli or bean threads
  • rice vinegar
  • Peanut Dipping Sauce
  • 2 tsp cooking oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic, crushed in garlic press
  • 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
  • 3 tbsp sweet chili sauce
  • 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
  • ½ cup water
  • 3 tbsp chunky peanut butter

Instructions
  1. For the spring rolls….
  2. Have all of your veggies prepped and dried thoroughly.
  3. Soak vermicelli in hot water for 15 minutes. Drain and then dry noodles on a paper towel. Toss with a few splashes of the rice vinegar.
  4. To assemble spring rolls soak the wrapper in warm water for 3-5 seconds. Lay flat on your work surface and cover the lower third with some of the vermicelli, carrots, cucumber and basil. Fold the filling over once so it is completely nestled in the wrapper and then fold each of the ends in (like you are rolling up a burrito.) Then roll the rest of the way as tight as you can without tearing the wrapper. Let finished rolls sit, seam side down on a plate.
  5. Serve with spicy peanut sauce.
  6. To make the peanut sauce, heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook garlic and ginger until fragrant and then add remaining ingredients. Cook until thickened and then cool in the refrigerator before serving.

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Easy Crab Meat Dip

October 5, 2011 by · 4 Comments

This recipe is one of my party staples and one that my mom always made for parties. It is soooo yummy and people gobble it up. You can use canned lump crab meat or you can get the more expensive kind from the seafood counter. I usually just buy the canned, because quite honestly I don’t think this recipe needs anything more and I would hate to spend a whole lot more for the good stuff. I save that for my hot crab meat dip that I will share on here soon.

You can also make this healthier by using fat-free or lower fat cream cheese and you won’t notice a huge difference. For a full-blown celebration I would use the full fat, but for a smaller get together where I want to save some calories I will very often use the lower fat varieties.

I just have one rule with this dip. No skimming off the top! I have seen many people skim the crab off the top and that is a huge no-no. Party foul – big time. You must scoop the dip up with equal portions of crab, cocktail sauce and cream cheese.

Speaking of parties and food – has anyone watched The Chew? I have been taping it and keeping up with the episodes, but so far it’s pretty good. Like any new show, it will definitely grow into it’s own. So far I like it a lot!

Easy Crab Meat Dip
 
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This is a great easy dip for your next party! I serve this with Triscuits or Wheat Thins.
Author:
Recipe type: Appetizer

Ingredients
  • 1 8oz block of cream cheese – softened
  • 2 tablespoons of minced green onion
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
  • ½ tsp lemon juice
  • 1 12 oz jar of cocktail sauce (or you can make your own)
  • 1 can of lump crab meat – drained (I sometimes double this)
  • 1 tsp dried parsley flakes
  • Old Bay Seasoning

Instructions
  1. In a bowl combine the first five ingredients. Spread into a pie plate.
  2. Top the cream cheese mixture with cocktail sauce and then sprinkle the crab meat on top. Sprinkle dried parsley and Old Bay (optional) over top.

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