With Spring quickly turning into Summer I wanted to share another asparagus recipe while its still at its best. With trying to eat a healthier diet it helps to have some quick and light recipes in the rotation. Shrimp is a great lean protein source, its quick cooking and full of fat free protein, which is a great alternative to beef, pork, and chicken. Continue reading “Quick Shrimp + Asparagus”
20 minute one-pan Mediterranean shrimp and couscous
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Ahhh January! Mine and many other peoples least favorite month of the whole year! It’s dreary, holiday bills are coming due, and those ten pounds of “holiday merriment” are giving me a nice muffin atop my jeans. Eating better in January is hard because most of us want comfort food, but still want to detox from the holiday gluttony. So this dish is a quick, healthy, and comforting way to serve comfort to your friends or family. Using couscous, spinach, and shrimp makes it quick, and a bit of feta and tomatoes makes it delicious.
Serves 4
1 1/3 Cup whole wheat couscous
¼ Cup Kalamata olives, haved.
1 pound good quality large shrimp, peeled and clean, at whole foods they have some great ones that are cleaned for you!
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, sliced “Goodfella’s” style, if you haven’t seen the movie, you should, but just slice them as thin as possible.
2 handfuls, baby spinach
1 cup diced tomatoes, canned works fine, just use a good San Marzano variety.
½ cup dry white wine
Pinch of dried oregano
2 T fresh Italian parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper
4 oz Feta
1 T olive oil
A few lemon wedges
In a medium skillet or thick bottomed pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat, add shallot and garlic, cook three minutes, add shrimp seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper, when first side turns pick flip and, add tomatoes, oregano, and white wine. Cook for a minute or so then add 1 cup of water and ½ teaspoon of salt, when boiling add olives, couscous and spinach, stir, cover, remove from heat. After five minutes remove cover and top with crumbled feta, you can put it under the broiler at this point to melt the feta (optional but tasty), chopped parsley, and squeeze of lemon, serve! This dish is awesome because not only is it easy, it is cooked and served in the same pan, elegant enough for guests and done in 20 minutes!
Shumai Dumplings
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So I love, love, love dim sum! Often times I catch myself trying to calm my craving by buying pre-made frozen pot stickers, although in a pinch they are fine, they don’t even touch the real deal. I found some thin gyoza wrappers and I’ve had them staring me down in the freezer now for a few weeks, I decided that today was the day to make shumai. Shumai are a delicious version of Asian dumpling, mine are filled with pork, shrimp, and cabbage, but the possibilities are endless! I read a few recipes and found the best to be the Chinese food tutorials, the worst hands down was Alton Brown’s pot sticker recipe that included ketchup and mustard, and one review said they were like “meatloaf” pot stickers. Not what I was after so I tried the more traditional recipe ideas and honestly the results were so good that after cooking three for photo purposes I instantly had to make three more, because I had devoured the first three before I could get all my pics taken! Yeah that good……I would challenge you to try these at your next holiday get together or cocktail party, served in Asian soup spoons they would be a super sexy passed appetizer, WARNING make a lot cuz they won’t last long! Traditional Shumai are steamed but I didn’t have the right gear for that so I cooked them like you would cook any run of the mill pot sticker (oil first, then water, then lid) and they worked out beautifully.
Makes 3 dozen.
[pinny url=”http://74.48.178.175/2013/11/19/shumai-dumplings/” media=”http://74.48.178.175/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/shumai1.jpg” description=”Shumai Dumplings”]
You will need:
36 thin wonton wrappers, I used circular “gyoza” style but square would be fine as well
1 pound ground pork
36 small shrimp, I used 41/50 which were a little large so I cut mine in half, I like big pieces of shrimp cuz they look all pink and pretty when steamed, most recipes called for chopping them up, but I prefer the texture of the bigger pieces.
1 cup coleslaw mix, or shredded cabbage, I used an organic bagged coleslaw that worked great
1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger
3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 8 oz can water chestnuts diced, small
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce, I used this because I hadn’t realized I ran out of sesame oil, it worked great
5 green onions, white parts minced, green parts sliced thin
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
2 Tablespoons dry white wine
Dipping sauce of choice, I used Kikkoman ponzu, a bit of sciracha , black sesame seeds, a little chopped cilantro, and a little fried shallots. You can use what you like, there are plenty of great recipes for pot sticker sauce on the web, find your fav.
In a bowl combine everything but, wrappers, shrimp, and of course dipping sauce. Combine those ingredients well to make sure the seasoning is spread throughout and everything is well incorporated, set aside.
Put a bit of water in a small bowl, place a few wrappers out at a time, with your index finger rub a little water just around the edges of the wrapper, add 1 Tablespoon filling to the center, top with shrimp, 
and then you can either form them by wrapping your thumb and pointer finger around 
or you can pinch them closed the then fold the pinched portion over. 
To cook, use a medium skillet, preferably one with a lid, and heat over medium high, add a little cooking oil of choice, add about 6 shumai at a time, let them cook in oil for a few minutes, then add ½ cup water, cover for a few minutes and watch until water evaporates, let sizzle a minute long and remove, serve hot with sauces of choice! Sorry though, these will totally ruin you for the frozen ones!
15 minute Pad Thai
Have you ever ordered Pad Thai and ended up with a clumpy, soggy, orange mess? I have. This isn’t always the case but I have tried many a bad pad if you know what i’m sayin. There is the most amazing Thai cart downtown and they make great food on the cheap, we are talking $5 for fresh made, authentic food. I can’t always make it down there so I have started experimenting with my own version. Using and utilizing what is best of the season and using a stir fry technique it all comes together fast and with a little practice quite easily. Get familiar with your local Asian market, talk to the shop keep, get to know the products, research and then you can make a fast and easy meal for you and your family that is restaurant quality, without the extra salt, and expense
