Shrimp Taco Salad

Well, it's been a while...was on a road trip of sorts due to back to back weddings in the south (which were both beautiful - more on that later).  So this week it's been quick, easy and healthy dinners.  Last night was shrimp taco salad - sans the chips!  Here is how I threw it together - feel free to add/remove anything to your liking and use as much or as little of each ingredient as you want. 

Shrimp Taco Salad 

In a large bowl combine lettuce (I used romaine and mesclun mix), tomato, scallions, red pepper, salsa (I used black bean and corn), avocado*, roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and shredded colby-jack cheese. 
*make sure to salt the avocado before adding

Peel and devein shrimp.  Rinse and season with taco mix or chili seasoning [while in Charleston, I purchased a mix of seasoning from my favorite vendor in the market entitled "This sh** is hot!" so that is what I used].   Heat pan with a little oil on medium heat.  Add shrimp and cook until done. 

Toss salad with some olive oil and red wine vinegar and dish into individual servings.  Place cooked shrimp on top and dig in!

Pesto Roasted Potatoes

This week my market had baby rainbow potatoes - white, red and purple.  I loved how all the colors were combined into one bag, so I to try them.  I was planning to roast them with just a little oil, salt and pepper, but then decided to make use of my basil plant and make some pesto to coat the potatoes. Wow, what a great idea.  Anyone that likes pesto should try this - you may use  store-bought pesto, but homemade always tastes better and is much healthier!

Pesto Roasted Potatoes
serves 4
Ingredients
1 24 oz bag of baby potatoes
1/4 cup fresh basil
1 clove garlic
2 teaspoons pine nuts
2 tablespoons olive oil
parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400.  Wash, dry and cut the potatoes into halves or quarters, depending on size so that they are all similar sized-pieces.
Put potatoes in a large bowl, add a tablespoon of olive oil and a liberal amount of salt and pepper; mix well.
In a mini food processor, chop basil, garlic, pine nuts and remaining oil; mix in with potatoes.  Grate parmesan cheese into the bowl and mix.
Place potatoes on a foil-lined jelly roll pan sprayed with Pam.  Roast for 20 minutes, take out of oven and turn potatoes over to cook evenly.  Roast another 10-20 minutes until tender. 

Mediterranean Pasta

I always have a lot of veggies in the house.  Both my husband and I love vegetables.  To save time during the week, I will often cook them ahead of time (either by roasting or sauteing) so they are ready to heat up and use in salads, sandwiches, omelets and pasta.  This week I had  eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes which I thought would be a perfect pasta combination.  Throw in some olives and feta, and you got yourself what I call Mediterranean Pasta.

Mediterranean Pasta 
serves 4 
Olive oil
1/2-1 eggplant, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
Salt and pepper
Red pepper flakes to taste
1/2 cup Greek olives, pitted and halved
2 tablespoons pine nuts
2-3 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
Herbs - I used fresh basil and parsley, but oregano and dill would be good too
8 oz pasta (I used multigrain penne)
Crumbled or shredded cheese - I think feta would be best, but I used fresh mozzarella since it is what I had on hand.

Heat oil in pan.  Add eggplant and zucchini; add salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and saute. Add a little more oil or even some water to keep the pan from drying out.  Cover.
When soft, add olives, pine nuts, tomatoes and a little more salt.  Mix in with other veggies.  Add some herbs.  
[This part can be done ahead of time and kept refrigerated for a couple days until you are ready to prepare the pasta.  Reheat in pan while pasta is cooking].
Bring large pot of water to boil.  Add pasta and cook al dente according to package directions.  Drain pasta, but reserve a ladle or two of the pasta water to add to the sauce if needed. 
Add pasta to pan with the veggies. Stir to combine, adding some pasta water if needed to thin out the sauce.  Add cheese and combine.

Best of all, this dish is mega-healthy.  The vegetable-pasta ratio is about half and half.

Scallops with Asian Slaw

After stuffing myself at Easter dinner (there was a dessert buffet!), I wanted something extremely light last night.  I had gotten some scallops at the market, but wasn't sure how I was going to prepare them.  All I knew was that I wasn't looking for a heavy sauce with lots of butter - I wanted to stick to a healthy recipe.   I found this recipe on Epicurious (if you can't tell by now one of my favorite websites) and thought it looked like the perfect thing.  Since I was serving this as the main meal and not just an appetizer, I decided to throw in some buckwheat noodles to the slaw to give it some more body.   And while the scallops with the cilantro sauce were very tasty, I will probably find myself going back to this recipe more for the slaw than anything else.   

Scallops with Cilantro Sauce and Asian Slaw

adapted from Epicurious

1 large carrot, cut into julienne
1/3 lb daikon radish, peeled and cut into julienne
1 unpeeled Granny Smith apple, cut into julienne
1 red pepper, cut into julienne
1 scallion, cut into julienne (with a knife)
3 tablespoons rice vinegar (not seasoned)
1 tablespoon thai red chili sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
handful of chopped cocktail peanuts
6oz thin buckwheat (soba) noodles
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 to 2 teaspoons minced fresh serrano chile
1 teaspoon Asian fish sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 lb sea scallops, tough muscle discarded from each

Either by hand or using a mandoline, julienne the veggies.  I used my grater attachment on the food processor and except for the red pepper and scallions, they came out fine.  The pepper I did by hand and the scallion I cut into thin rings.  

Toss together carrot, radish, pepper, apple, scallion, vinegar, chili sauce, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Let stand, tossing occasionally, 15 minutes to soften. 

In the meantime, cook the noodles and rinse with cold water and drain well.  Add noodles and peanuts to slaw.

Stir together cilantro, lime juice, serrano chile, fish sauce, 3 tablespoons oil, and remaining 1/2 tablespoon sugar, or to taste.

Pat scallops dry. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Heat remaining tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, and sauté scallops, turning over once, until golden and just cooked through, about 4 minutes total.

Divide among plates and top with scallops. Drizzle with cilantro sauce. 

Again, I thought the scallops and sauce were good, but the serrano chile was extremely hot.  If you don't like heat, I would omit the chile.  This dish would also be good with shrimp or with just the slaw (with or without the noodles) as a side dish.

Veggie Burgers

When you hear veggie burger, what do you picture?  A flimsy frozen patty that tastes like  cardboard?  Well think again....

While I do eat premade veggie burgers for the convenience factor, nothing beats this homemade version.  I found this recipe online after watching Guy's Big Bite on Food Network.  The episode was highlighting his sister's vegetarian recipes and this burger looked so good I had to try it.  Don't let the lengthy list of ingredients turn you away; I only used spices I had on hand.  Also, feel free to add or take out anything you wish.  Be creative! 

Morgan's Veggie Patties 

(my version)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons diced red onion
2 tablespoons diced red bell peppers
2 tablespoons diced black olives

2 teaspoons diced jalapeno
1 tablespoon diced artichoke
4 ounces black beans, drained
4 ounces chickpeas, drained
4 ounces white beans, drained
6 ounces rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons seasoned bread crumbs

salt & pepper
1 egg

In a medium saute pan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, red onion and red pepper.  Saute until translucent.  Remove and cool.

Add all ingredients to food processor with metal blade.  Pulse until combined.  Scrape the sides of the bowl, pulse again.  If the mixture is too sticky and wet, add more oats until it is a good texture.  Form mixture into 4-5 patties, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  (Any unused patties may be frozen in individual foil packets for further use).

In the same saute pan add 1 tablespoon olive oil, and cook patties 2 to 3 minutes per side. 

I tend to go heavy on the garnishes, but the burger is very flavorful on its own.  This time I made a spicy mayo to accompany my burger and sweet potato fries on the side.

Spicy Mayo

3-4 tablespoons lowfat mayo

1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce (or any hot sauce)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together and chill so flavors combine. 

Add more mayo or hot sauce to reach desired spicyness.