Tequila Lime Shrimp

I was rummaging through my liquor cabinet and found a lonely bottle of tequila in there with only about 2 tablespoons of goodness left in it.  Who would leave that in there?  That's not even enough for a shot!  That's like leaving a drop of milk in the milk carton and stashing it back into the fridge.

Tequila Lime Shrimp

Ingredients:

• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and de-veined
• 2 tablespoons tequila
• juice of a lime
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic
• 2 tablespoons Smart Balance

Directions:

• Place all the ingredients, except for the Smart Balance, into a plastic zip bag and let marinade in the fridge for about an hour.  (Shrimp is usually naturally salty to begin with, so go lightly on the TSSS.)
• Melt the Smart Balance in a skillet over medium heat.  Remove the shrimp from the marinade and sauté in the skillet, a minute or two on each side.  Transfer the shrimp to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.
• Pour the marinade into the skillet and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer for several minutes until the sauce is reduced by half.
• Plate the shrimp over brown rice and drizzle with the sauce.

Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore

This made the house smell A-MAZING! I'll add some capers towards the end next time.

Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore
Taken from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 12 oz. tomato paste
• 6 oz. sliced mushroom
• 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 rib celery, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt

Directions:

• Place the onions in the bottom of the crockpot.  Layer the chicken over the onions
• In a large bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients.  Pour over the chicken.
• Cook on low for 6 - 8 hours.  (I did 8 hours and it was a bit dry b/c I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  Next time I will probably reduce it to 6 hours.)
• 1/2 hour before the end of cooking time, roughly shred the chicken with two forks, then stir to combine.

Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Spinach and Prosciutto

Using up what's in the fridge.

Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Spinach and Prosciutto


Ingredients:

• 2 1-lb. pork tenderloins, all visible fat removed
• a large handful of big spinach leaves
• 3 oz. thinly-sliced prosciutto
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic
• olive oil

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Spray a baking sheet with olive oil.
• On a cutting board, slice each tenderloin length-wise (like you're unrolling a cinnamon bun) a few times until you get an open rectangle of meat that is about 1/2-inch thick.  
• Arrange half of the spinach in a double-layer on top of the open tenderloin.  Then arrange half of the sliced prosciutto in a single layer on top of the spinach.  Roll the stuffed tenderloin up and lay it seam side down onto the baking sheet.  Repeat with the second tenderloin.
• Sprinkle each stuffed tenderloin with TSSS and TSGG.  Drizzle with olive oil and massage.
• Roast in pre-heated oven for about 40 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees F.  Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before slicing on a diagonal.

Roasted Kale

This recipe came as an accident while I was making kale chips one day.  I overcrowded my pan because I was too lazy to spread the kale out over two pans.  So the leaves ended up crisp in some parts, and chewy in others.  The combo of textures was awesome.  The next time I made this on purpose, I cut way back on the salt, added some garlic, omitted the parmesan and spritzed it with a little lemon juice, which made it even more awesome.

Roasted Kale

Ingredients:

• a giant bunch of kale
• olive oil in a mister
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic
• 1/2 lemon

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Tear the kale into bite-size pieces.  Wash thoroughly and spin dry.
• Place the kale onto a baking sheet.  Mist with olive oil, sprinkle lightly with TSSS and TSGG, and spritz with the juice of 1/2 a lemon.  Toss everything with your hands until evenly coated. 
• Spread the kale out across the sheet, but you don't need a single layer.  It's fine (and actually preferred) if the kale is just mounded on there, that way you'll have some crispy pieces (from the corners and outer edges), and some chewy pieces (from the center and bottoms).
• Roast in pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.  (10 minutes if you prefer it mostly chewy.)

Brussels Sprouts Chips

ETA on 10/18/12:  I've made this numerous times since my initial post, and I've found that low and slow is the way to go.  300 degrees F for 25 - 30 minutes allows for most of the leaves to dry out and get crispy before anything starts to burn.  I left the original recipe as-is, but am including this update at the top.

So y'all know how much I love my kale, and kale chips are one of my fav ways to prepare and eat them.  It was just a matter of time before I'd try "chipping" some other leafy green.  Tonight's "chipping" experiment: brussels sprouts.

I was just going to roast them up for dinner, like I usually do, but these sprouts were huge (~3")!  Much larger than the small 1" - 2" ones I normally buy.  So the big leaves got me thinking about chips.  When I roast them normally, some of the outer leaves always fall off and crisp up anyway, and they're yummy, so why not a whole pan (or two) of them?

I removed the outer leaves of all my brussels sprouts, about halfway into the core.  I put all the "hearts" back in the fridge to roast for another day.  I took all the outer leaves I'd removed, washed and dried them in my salad spinner, and prepped them like I do my kale.  I roasted them for a little less time than kale only because the leaves are smaller than my kale pieces tend to be.

The verdict:  they were yummy, but not as evenly crisp as kale chips, most probably due to the thicker bottom-middle stem parts.  The thinner parts browned before the thicker parts could crisp up.  Also, because brussels sprouts leaves are very curved, the tops tended to also brown before the bottoms.  They were still delicious, though, enough so that I would definitely try this again, maybe tweaking oven temps and cook times to see if I can improve on the "chipness" factor.  Oh yeah, and don't season as liberally as you would kale.

Oh, and the 3-year-old ate a handful and demanded more.  And more.  And more.

Brussels Sprouts Chips

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of large brussels sprouts
• olive oil in a mister
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• grated parmesan

Directions:

• Remove the large outer leaves of the sprouts.  I removed leaves halfway to the core.  (Put the "hearts" back into the fridge for another day.)  Wash the outer leaves and thoroughly dry them in a lettuce spinner or by spreading them onto a few paper towels on your kitchen counter.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray 2 baking sheets lightly with olive oil.
• Spread the sprouts leaves out on the baking sheets in a single layer.  Spray the tops lightly with olive oil.  Sprinkle with Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt (or your other favorite seasoned salt, or just plain kosher salt).  Grate some parmesan over the whole thing, as much or as little as you like.
• Bake for 10 - 12 minutes until the leaves are mostly crispy and some parts are lightly browned. 

Fettuccine with Chicken and Mushrooms

At the local Asian grocery store yesterday I found some gorgeous oyster and trumpet mushrooms.  (I was actually looking for shiitakes, but none were to be found.)  Sprouts had a sale on whole wheat Delallo pasta last week and I'd picked up a bag of fettuccine, so fettuccine with chicken and mushrooms it is.  I LOVE mushrooms, so I put a lot in.  Feel free to use less (or more!).

Fettuccine with Chicken and Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound whole wheat fettuccine noodles
• 1 tablespoon Smart Balance
• 1 pound mushrooms, sliced (I used equal parts oysters and trumpets tonight)
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic
• 1 teaspoon-ish dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon-ish dried oregano
• 1/2 pound chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" pieces
• 1 tablespoon whole wheat flour
• 1/2 lemon

Directions:

• Prepare the pasta to al dente according to package instructions.  Drain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta liquid, and set aside.
• In a large skillet, melt the Smart Balance on medium-high heat and saute the shrooms with the spices and herbs for a few minutes until the shrooms begin to soften.  Add the chicken and continue to saute until cooked through. 
• At this point the shrooms had released about 1 cup of liquid in the skillet, which was perfect.  If your shroom/chicken mixture seems a little dry, add some of the reserved pasta water.  Sprinkle a tablespoon of whole wheat flour into the skillet and stir for a minute.
• Add in the cooked pasta and spritz with the juice of 1/2 a lemon.  Toss and serve.

Shrimp Jambalaya

We spent the day celebrating Mardi Gras at Disneyland, so I felt like throwing together some jambalaya for dinner.  I made it up, so it's totally not authentic, but it was easy and good in a pinch.  If I had chicken or sausage on hand I would have added some.

Shrimp Jambalaya

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• a few dashes of cayenne pepper
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• freshly-cracked black pepper
• 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
• 1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and de-veined

Directions:

• In a large pot, saute the onion, bell pepper and celery with the garlic and all the spices for a few minutes on medium heat until the veggies soften.
• Add in the rice, tomatoes, chicken broth and water.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer, covered for 45 - 50 minutes until the rice is fully cooked.  If the jambalaya is still too liquidy at this point, continue to simmer, uncovered for 5 - 10 minutes until most of the liquid evaporates.
• Add the shrimp and cover the pot.  Cook for another 4 - 5 minutes until the shrimp are just done.  Adjust spices as necessary.
• Stir and serve.

Sautéed Curry Chicken and Veggies

I had an old container of crimini mushrooms and some leftover baggies of spinach and arugula that needed to either be eaten very soon or tossed.  I loathe tossing good food, so I had to figure out what to cook with it all.  And to top it off, hubby asks for something curry.

Solution?  Sauté it all up together and serve over brown rice, of course.  :-)

Sautéed Curry Chicken and Veggies


Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 1 8oz. container of crimini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• Tastefully Simple Onion Onion
• 1 pound chicken tenders, sliced into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon-ish curry powder
• 1 teaspoon-ish cumin powder
• 1/2 baggie baby spinach
• 1.5 baggies arugula
• 1 cup-ish chicken broth (optional)

Directions:

• In a large skillet, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil and sauté the mushrooms with a few dashes of TSSS and TSOO for a minute or two until they begin to soften.
• Add the chicken pieces, some more TSSS and TSOO, the curry powder and cumin powder.  Sauté until cooked through, about 5 minutes.
• Add the spinach and arugula and stir until they are wilted.
• I would have stopped there and served it, but hubby asked for something a little saucy, so I added about a cup of chicken broth and stirred until it came to a boil.
• Serve over brown rice.

Mozzarella, Tomato and Avocado Salad

This was so simple, yet so delicious.  It has 3 of my favorite foods: cheese, lusciously sweet grape tomatoes, and rich creamy avocado.  The original recipe calls for fresh herbs, but I only had dried, so that's what I used.  My local supermarket carries BelGioioso (LOVE!) mozzarella "pearls", which are the perfect size for this dish.

I made just enough for a single serving for me, but this dish is very easily made in medium batches for a family, or big batches for a party.  

Mozzarella, Tomato and Avocado Salad
Taken from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 oz. mozzarella "pearls", drained
• 1 small handful grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 avocado, diced
• juice of 1/2 a small lime
• a couple dashes of salt and black pepper
• a dash of dried basil
• a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

• Toss everything together in a bowl.

You can cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to let everything marinate, or do as I did today (last-minute-like) and eat it right away.

Crispy Baked Chicken Strips

A staple in our house; I just can't believe I haven't posted this yet. (Or maybe I have and am missing something?) I love the parmesan-panko crust.

You can also use this recipe to make crispy baked fish sticks.  Just use slices of red snapper, tilapia, halibut, or even salmon instead of chicken.

Crispy Baked Chicken Strips

Ingredients:

• cooking spray
• 1 pound chicken tenders or boneless, skinless breasts cut up into strips
• a few tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 2 eggs
• water
• whole wheat panko
• shredded parmesan cheese
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.
• Create a dredging station with 3 shallow bowls:  Put a few heaping tablespoons of whole wheat flour in the first bowl.  In the second bowl, whisk the eggs with a couple tablespoons of water.  In the third bowl, combine equal parts whole wheat panko and shredded parmesan (about 3/4 cup each), along with a few dashes of TSSS.
• One by one, dredge each chicken strip into the flour, shake off excess, dip into the egg, let excess drip off, then dredge in the panko/parmesan mixture.  Place in a single layer onto the sprayed baking sheet.
• Bake in pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes until crispy.  (You can flip the strips halfway through the cooking time, but I don't bother.)