De-lightful Pasta and Shrimp

This great idea came from a lack of planning.  You know the drill at dinner time, right?  Trying to figure out what to fix with what you have, because you forgot to thaw that slab of meat you actually had plans for!  So what else would take just a few minutes to de-ice, besides shrimp?  I had it. It was easy. Now what to do with it?  Continuing with my healthy dinners, I, of course, had to add a ton of veggies.  After putting this recipe into the nutrition calculator at Spark People, I couldn't believe at how nutritious this is!  Of course, I allow for variations, just because not everyone is going to have all of these ingredients on hand.  Besides, if you can cook seasonally that is always better.  I just happened to have these veggies on hand pretty much at all times now.   Remember, this is pasta, veggies, and shrimp.  There isn't a creamy or cheesy sauce here!  But I could give you hints on how to make one, if you wanted.  Of course you don't, or do you?

2 lbs large cooked shrimp
2 tbsp Olive Oil
3 tsp Garlic, minced 
1 tbsp  fresh Rosemary, finely chopped (or 1 1/2 tsp dried)
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Capers, drained and chopped
2 Lemon  zested, and sliced thinly
.25 tsp Pepper
1 Red Onion medium (2-1/2" dia) sliced
1 cup cauliflower florets, crumbled
1 cup Kale, chopped
2 large Carrots peeled and chopped

Penne Rigate Plus Multi grain 1 14.5 oz box, or your favorite high fiber or whole wheat pasta
1 tbs garlic
1 tbs salted butter
1 tbs fresh rosemary chopped (or 1 1/2 tsp dried)
lemon zest

Tips

The lemons cooked in the oven will mostly dissolve except the rinds which need to be removed before serving. Serve with a small salad to complete a quick meal.

Directions

Cook the pasta according to directions on the box. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine oil, pepper, salt, capers, garlic, and rosemary together. On a baking sheet combine onion, shrimp, kale, cauliflower, lemon, and carrots. Drizzle the oil and herb mixture over the shrimp and veggies. Toss to coat and bake for 15 minutes or until the shrimp is hot and the veggies are softened. Drain pasta, keeping 1/2 cup of liquid. ***If making cream sauce, read instructions below before continuing, if not, continue on my friend.   In the pan stir the pasta, 1/2 cup of pasta water, butter, garlic, rosemary, and lemon zest. When the shrimp is done remove from oven. Remove lemon peels. Pour the shrimp and veggie mixture into the pasta. Stir and serve.

Serving Size: makes 8 ~1 1/2 cup servings

 

I could change this recipe five ways and still come out with a light shrimp and pasta with lemon and rosemary loaded with veggies.  It's all about starting somewhere in the kitchen.  If you wanted you could pan roast the shrimp separate from the veggies.  Just rub the oil mixture on the shrimp only and bake.  Meanwhile you cook the veggies stove top in a pan sprayed with non stick spray.  In this method, your veggies would be tender and your shrimp crisp.
Since I didn't use an excess of liquid here, there is not really a sauce.  Some would be astonished to have pasta without a sauce.  But those people are just prudes, because really in my kitchen, there are no rules.  This pasta dish is also good cold, with a splash of balsamic vinegar.  I know weird, but it works. 

Now for those who need that cream sauce.  Maybe you just want the warm comfort food found in the rich and creamy, or you just want to feel like your cheating.  Either way, I will oblige.

For the sauce, you will need one 8-oz block reduced fat cream cheese and either 1/4 cup vegetable broth or skim milk.  In a sauce pan combine the cream cheese and broth/milk, stirring until the cream cheese is melted.  Stir the lemon zest, rosemary, garlic, and butter into the cream cheese sauce.  When pasta is done, drain, and stir in the shrimp and veggie mixture and the cream sauce.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

Thanks!  Happy cooking!

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 8
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 345.8

• Total Fat: 7.7 g
• Cholesterol: 222.2 mg
• Sodium: 663.7 mg
• Total Carbs: 39.5 g
• Dietary Fiber: 5.4 g
• Protein: 32.3 g

Spicy, healthy goodness!  O.k. sooo since I have decided to keep track of the odd ball things I cook, I thought it may be a good idea to let my husband pick what "flavor" dinner will be.  He doesn't get to pick every night, just the ones when I'm at a mental block.  It's almost like Chopped from Food Network.  Start out with little to nothing, maybe a few things that seem like they will never go together and Whah la!  Dinner!  It's like magic, but without the blaring lights and t.v. cameras in your face.  I just have hungry teenagers walking around complaining they are "STAAAARRRVVIINGG!"  Like the world will end if they don't eat soon.

So here's the scoop with this one.  I have several items here that could be a main dish with a side and a salad or you could do like I did.  Just dump it all on one plate.  It's all going to the same place anyway.  Right?

Now with keeping to being healthy, I really am trying to manage portions!  I took two large chicken breasts that were boneless and skinless and cut each breast into 4 pieces.  I pretty much cut the breast into half, thickness and length.  Each piece was about the size of a deck of cards or slightly smaller. The thin size will cook quicker than a big chunk of meat.

Chicken

1 can rotel (I used Mexican style hy-vee brand because that's what was on sale)
2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 8 pieces
Cajun seasoning


Sprinkle a small amount of Cajun seasoning on each piece of chicken.  Spray a saute pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Heat the pan on medium heat, adding the chicken breast when the pan is completely warm.  You can hold your hand a few inches from the bottom of your pan, and if you feel the heat, the pan should be ready.  You are wanting to sear the meat to seal in the juices.  Sear each side of the chicken until golden in color.  If you try to flip your chicken and if feels like it's sticking, let it be.  It's not ready to flip.  If you have to sear the chicken in 2 batches, like I did, that's ok.  Just set the seared chicken on a separate clean plate while you are searing the second batch.  Once all chicken is seared, turn the pan to low and place all of the chicken in the pan.  Pour the rotel over the chicken, cover, and simmer about 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. 

Sweet potatoes and Black beans

Some may think this an odd combo.  Don't knock it until you try it!

1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 small to medium sweet potatoes
1 tsp minced jarred jalapenos
1/2 tsp cinnamon
zest from 1 small lime
juice from 1/2 small lime

Peirce sweet potatoes and cook in the microwave until semi soft.  Should be easy to pierce, but firm enough to still handle.  I cooked mine for 6 minutes, but everyones microwave is different.  Let slightly cool.  Peel, then dice the potatoes into bite sized pieces.  In a sauce pan over med-low heat, add the beans 1/2 cup water and sweet potato's.  Heat for about 5 or so minutes, stirring occasionally.  You just want to warm the beans and heat the potatoes as well.  Add the jalapenos, cinnamon, lime zest and juice.  Stir and continue to heat for about 5 minutes.  Be careful not to let it stick. Serve warm.

Pickled peppers and onions

red, yellow, or orange peppers chopped to equal 1 cup (I used mini peppers because they are sweet and that's what I had)
1/2 small red onion diced fine
1/4 cup cilantro finely chopped
2 tsp sugar
1 1/12 tsp cider vinegar
2 tsp water


Put peppers, onions, and cilantro in a small bowl.  Mix sugar, vinegar and water together in a separate bowl until the sugar dissolves.  Pour over the pepper and onion mixture and stir.  Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  

Home Made tortilla chips *baked*

flour tortillas
cumin
sweet smoked paprika
cayenne powder
salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Cut the tortillas into 8ths.  Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray.  Place the cut tortillas in a single layer on the cookie sheet.  Spray lightly with cooking spray.  Sprinkle a small amount of each seasoning over the tortillas.  With your hands, toss the tortillas around to coat both sides with the seasoning.  Straighten them back out to a single layer and bake 10 minutes.  Let cool  or serve right out of the oven warm.
 I did not measure out the seasonings here because I regretfully "eye balled it".  I know I sometimes revert back to doing that.  I"m sorry, it's unintentional.  Basically think of this: equal amounts of spices.  Not too much or it will be way too spicy.  I lightly dust the powder over them.  O.k. so in reality this is how I did it.  I have those large spice containers you buy at Sam's Club.  On the side with the small holes, I opened the top, held my spice container at an upper angle and squeezed towards the tortillas.  So the spices lightly float down onto the tortillas.  I know, I know, such an exact science.  But it works.  Just don't squeeze hard, or you might be wearing the spices! 

Now for my fabulous looking picture, I layered 1 cup of each shredded romaine lettuce and spinach on the bottom, then added 3/4 cup of the sweet potato and black bean mixture, then sliced a chicken breast into thin slices and placed that on top.  I spooned 1/4 cup of the juices and tomato mixture from the chicken, over the chicken and let the sauce drizzle down.  I added 1 tablespoon of avocado and 1 tablespoon of Greek yogurt.  Lastly I added 2 tablespoons of the pepper onion mixture.  Place "chips" on the side.  There you have it!  Dinner is served!  And this, I will make again!   A piece of advice, if you are not into nice and spicy with a little heat, you can always forgo the Cajun seasoning on the chicken OR substitute canned diced tomatoes for the rotel to cut back on the spice factor.  My husband thought this was too spicy.  I thought it was perfect.

4,3,2,1 Salad

I call this quick, easy, and healthy salad 4, 3, 2, 1 because of the ingredients.  I made a healthy stir fry for dinner, but I was also wanting something kind of cold.  So I thought about doing an Asia inspired slaw.  Well, this slaw, or salad, could be a meal in it's self if you add any kind of grilled meats, or shredded rotisserie chicken, or even nuts.  In fact, tomorrows lunch will be 2 cups of this salad with 1/4 cup of stir fried chicken.  Yum!  The dressing is very light.  Light in flavor and most important calories!  You can always add a little more olive oil, even whisk in some Dijon mustard to make it more of a creamy dressing.  If you do either of those I would increase the garlic and ginger by 1/4 to 1/2 tsp each, depending on how much you add.  
Like I've said before, I am really trying to write down my recipes so I can make the yummy things again, and also to know what I can do to improve next time.  I only let this sit in the refrigerator, dressed, for about 1 1/2 hours.  I think the flavor may improve if it sits longer.  That I will find out tomorrow when I have the left overs.

 

Here's the recipe!

 

4 c. shredded cabbage

3 c. shredded kale (curly)

2 c. shredded red cabbage

1 large carrot shredded

1/2 c. dried cranberries

1/4 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp ginger paste

1-11oz can mandarin oranges, drained reserving juice

2 Tbs raspberry balsamic vinegar

2 Tbs olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

 

 

In a small bowl whisk the mandarin juice, garlic, ginger, balsamic vinegar and olive oil until combined.  In a large bowl combine the 4, 3, 2, 1 ingredients with the cranberries and mandarin oranges. Pour the dressing over them.  Toss to combine.  Refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.   It is very light in flavor, but this combo of veggies, mandarins, and cranberries go well together.  You can use any balsamic vinegar that you have.  I just happen to like the raspberry one for my salads.  I hope you enjoy!  Don't hesitate to let me know if you make any changes!  If you want to go super simple, instead of making your own dressing, you can sub in a cup of Asian Vinaigrette, bottled dressing.

Enjoy! 



Warmth From Within

It's a new year and I have the same resolutions nearly every year.  I, like millions hope for financial stability and overall heath and happiness.  I actually woke early today to hit the gym.  I didn't work out hard, but at least I worked out.  I  did keep my resolution last year of not drinking soda.  Yay me!  I had one, yes one, soda last year!  Even then, I was an unwilling participant.  I attended the "picnic" my husbands work has annually for the employees, and they did not offer another choice of beverage.  Not even water. 
So with the healthy new year, I decided I needed to start keeping track of recipes I make.  I don't mean finding the cookbook they came from, or the website I stumbled upon.  I mean when I whip something up at home.  I always never actually measure my ingredients.  For the most part, I don't always remember what I put in it.  It makes things interesting when someone asks for the recipe! 
So in keeping with my resolutions, here is my recipe for Ginger Carrot Soup.

 

1lb large carrots peeled, trimmed, and chopped

1 large onion chopped (about a cup)

2 large celery stalks trimmed and chopped

1 med-large sweet potato peeled and chopped

1 med-large russet potato, peeled and chopped

1 32oz box vegetable broth

1 cup water* (only use to thin soup if needed)

1 tsp garlic paste or minced garlic

1- 2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated (I used my micro plane)

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbs salted butter

1 tbs olive oil

 

optional toppings

 

In a dutch oven, combine the olive oil and butter over med heat, until the butter is melted.  Add the carrots, onion, celery, sweet potato, and garlic.  In a separate pan, bring some water to a boil and add the russet potato.  Boil until potato is fork tender. Drain, cover and set aside.  Occasionally stir the veggie mixture, and cook until the carrots and sweet potato are starting to become tender, but still firm in the center.  Add the broth, salt and pepper and grated ginger.  Stir the mixture, bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low.  Cook veggie mixture for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally until fork tender.

With an emulsion blender, blend the soup smooth.  If the soup is thicker than you like, add the water and blend.  If the soup is not thick enough, add the cooked russet potato and blend.  In the picture I had added the water and blended, then added the russet potato without blending.  My soup was really thick and now had chucks of potato. 

Since I have a vegetarian pescetarian in my house,  I had to make it without meat.  As for the rest of us, I had cooked two sweet italian turkey sausages without casings.  I crumbled 2 tbs of cooked meat on the top of my soup and added a few croutons.  You could add cheese to the top if you like.  I'm pretty versitle.  I almosted added a little lime, so it could be ginger lime carrot soup, but I felt my husband might not even try it if I did.  He's not as adventurous as I am.  Since I thought of him, that is where the sausages came into play.  Be nice, I realize now how that read, but he doesn't like eating veggies much, so I had to man this up somehow.

Be creative!  Add stuff!  If you do, tell me what you added and how it turned out.  If you wanted more of a sweeter version you can always add 2 tablespoons of honey or brown sugar.  Anyhow, this turned out exactly how my tastebuds were hoping.  I hope you like it.



 



Time-Anyone

Everyday I think of all of the things I have to do and wonder will I ever find the time?  I have decided the answer will always be no.  One of the things that I want to do, is this blogg.  Between my real job and my hobby job and trying to take care of the family, I seem to loose all my me time.  I skim over others who have blogged and shared links on facebook, just dreaming that someday I can do that too.  For the ones who know me personally, knowI love to cook and bake and try new things.  I would love to post all of my crazy ideas, or my tweeking of recipes I like, to share with others.  I will try t figure ut at leastone day a week I cando this.  Maybe it will have to be on Sundays.  We shall see.  Anyway I will try to post some pictures of cupcakes I made for a friends step-mom's suprise 60th b-day.  At least they were trying for it to be a suprise!

Because I love it!

I went to Hoosier Homemade the other day to enter another contest.  I know, I know-but hey, they are fun and you learn about new products, people or just some cool Shtuff!  So I really wanted to win(fingers crossed I do) the year membership to MyCakeSchool  or click here to visit http://www.mycakeschool.com/  I saw some pretty adorable things!  I had to make the chick that looked so adorable.  And by looking a little further, I learned a fun new technique for feathers.  So my wheels started turning, why not combine the two.  This was a quick throw together that just made me happy.  What can I say, it's cute!  And I owe it all to Hoosier Homemade and MyCakeSchool.  THANKS!
Don't forget to visit them!

 http://hoosierhomemade.com/chick-cupcakes-for-easter-cupcake-tuesday/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=hoosierhomemade

Where's the Time Gone???

Well I wanted to blog on a regular basis, but that went out the window now didn't it.  I do have some wonderful things coming up and have been really busy.  WOW is about all I can say to my cake creations.  I have been making them non-stop it seems.  I even entered a contest at MIZZOU, where I got to meet Duff Goldman from Ace of Cakes!!  How great is that!  I am also working with a local flower shop-Gibney Simms, to make the food for a wine tasting.  That's right, they sell wine!  What a better place for a man to pick up a little somethin' somethin' for his sweetheart!  Grab some wonderful flowers and a bottle of wine, and there you have a great evening ahead of you! 
I also just had a House Party, with Philly's new Cooking Cream!  Can I say awsome!!!  This stuff is so versatile it's unbelievable!  You can make sauces, casseroles, soups, salads, appetizers-the list goes on and on!  Get creative and have fun.  There are four flavors and the are all wonderful.  the Santa Fe got rave reviews at the house party.  It can be a little spicy!  I will post some great pictures later.  And I promise to try to keep up on this.   I've actually had requests at my House Party to do a blog or a tutorial for those who are limited with cooking skills or ideas.  I believe I might just do that!
See ya later folks-real soon!!!