Sweet-and-Sour Shrimp

Wow.. what a delicious, flavor packed recipe! I couldn't get enough of it!

The recipe is actually for the grill, but when I made our menu for this week, I apparently didn't pay attention to the forecast for this week. We have had so much rain lately! I'm so tired of it - give me sunshine! Because I wasn't able to use the grill tonight, I altered the recipe slightly.

I mixed together the ingredients for the sauce as directed and brought it to a boil on the stove. Meanwhile, I sprinkled a little salt and pepper on the shrimp and sauteed them in some olive oil on the stove. I then added the green pepper and mushrooms and sauteed them for a few minutes, and in the last minute or so added some pineapple chunks. Next, I poured in the sauce that I've had heating up all along. I mixed everything together and, you guessed it, topped some brown rice with the shrimp mixture. We must like brown rice in this house! Hey, at least it is healthy for you!

I loved the sauce! You could taste each individual flavor in the sauce... the barbecue sauce, pineapple, lemon juice, soy sauce, ground ginger... all of it. Each flavor could be picked out, but at the same time it all blended together wonderfully. A very delicious meal! Give it a try sometime!

Sweet-and-Sour Skewered Shrimp
Taste of Home: Backyard Grilling
Published by Reiman Media Group, Inc. in 2006.

Yield: 6 servings

1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup pineapple reserves
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
30 large fresh shrimp (about 2 pounds), shelled and deveined
1 to 2 large green peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, halved

1. Combine the barbecue sauce, preserves, lemon juice, soy sauce and ginger in a small saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat; cool. Set aside 1/2 cup for basting. Place remaining sauce in a large resealable plastic bag; add shrimp. Seal bag; refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Drain and discard marinade, Thread shrimp, green peppers and mushrooms alternately on metal or soaked bamboo skewers. Grill, uncovered, over medium-hot heat for 2 minutes on each side. Brush with reserved sauce. Continue grilling for 4-8 minutes or until shrimp are pink throughout, turning and basting several times.

Blackened Chicken

What a fantastic recipe! To quote the cookbook, "This spicy standout packs a one-two punch of flavor." Agreed!

I've mentioned before how much I love cooking on the grill. You just can't beat the smell of charcoal burning and the wonderful flavor food can only get from coming off a grill! This chicken was no exception! It was so juicy and flavorful. The combination of spices sprinkled over the chicken was delicious! You probably won't have to spend much money on this dinner, because the majority of the ingredients are spices that you most likely already have in your kitchen.

I was a little skeptical at first about the white sauce pairing with the spicy chicken, but it was perfect! The cool sauce was a nice contrast to the spicy flavors and paired wonderful together. I just made some brown rice to go with the chicken. Overall, a flavorful, healthy meal! I will definitely keep this one in mind next time I want a tasty, easy-to-fix dinner on the grill!

Blackened Chicken
Taste of Home: Backyard Grilling
Published by Reiman Media Group, Inc. in 2006.

Yield: 4 servings

1 tablespoon paprika
4 teaspoons sugar, divided
1-1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1-1/2 to 2 teaspoons pepper, divided
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1-1/3 cups mayonnaise
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1. In a small bowl, combine paprika, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, garlic powder, thyme, lemon-pepper, cayenne and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon pepper; sprinkle over both sides of chicken. Set aside. In another bowl, combine mayonnaise, water, vinegar and remaining sugar, salt and pepper; cover and chill 1 cup for serving. Save remaining sauce for basting.
2. Grill chicken, covered, over indirect medium heat for 4-5 minutes on each side or until juices run clear, basting frequently with remaining sauce. Serve with reserved sauce.

Baked Shrimp with Feta and Tomato

I was really happy with how this recipe turned out! It was very simple to follow and there was really very little that went into it.

I also made some brown rice and topped that with the shrimp/tomato mixture. This had a terrific flavor! I MAY have added a little extra red pepper flakes to the dish. It was pretty spicy! My mouth was definitely burning by the end of the meal, but it was terrific paired with the flavor of the shrimp and everything else.

I really don't have a whole lot to say about this recipe. It was easy, healthy, delicious... what more can you ask for? :-) Give it a try!

Baked Shrimp with Feta and Tomato

1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 1/2 lbs shrimp (peeled and deveined)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (crushed)
3/4 tsp dried oregano
salt (taste)
1/4 cup fresh parsley (chopped)
3/4 cup dry vermouth
14 1/2 oz diced tomatoes
4 oz feta (crumbled)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Put the butter and garlic into a large skillet, and place over medium-high heat. Once the butter has melted and the garlic begins to sizzle, stir in the shrimp, red pepper flakes, and oregano. Cook until the shrimp are firm and opaque, about 5 minutes. Season with salt, then stir in the chopped parsley, and pour into a casserole dish.
3. Pour vermouth into the skillet, and simmer until reduced by half. Add chopped tomatoes and continue cooking until heated through. Spoon tomato mixture on top of the shrimp and sprinkle with crumbled feta cheese.
4. Bake in preheated oven until the cheese softens and turns golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Pasta with Tuna and Tomato Sauce

Do you ever get to the end of the month and try to put together a dinner based on whatever you have left in your cupboards? Cue Pasta with Tuna and Tomato Sauce!

While I was planning out our menu for this week, I searched through our cabinets to find ingredients I could use without having to buy much at the grocery store. I happened to have two cans of tuna, a can of diced tomatoes and some pasta and thought that that sounded like a yummy meal! I came across this recipe which used those ingredients plus a few spices. It was really good! My husband and I both thought that it could have used more chili powder than what the recipe called for. But it was still quite tasty! An enjoyable, light, flavorful meal!

Enjoy!

Pasta with Tuna and Tomato Sauce

Total time: 30 minutes

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
400g can chopped tomatoes with herbs
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp sugar
500g pkt pasta bows
100g can tuna, drained
handful of basil leaves, optional

1. Heat the oil in a pan, throw in the onion and cook for a couple of minutes. Stir in the garlic, tomatoes, chili and sugar. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Give it a good stir, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to packet instructions. Flake the tuna into the sauce and heat through. Drain the pasta, return to the pan and stir in the sauce and basil leaves if you have any. Serve with a generous grinding of pepper.

Greek Pizza

I hope you guys aren't tired of me posting pizza recipes, because they are so much fun to make and so delicious!!

I totally fell in love with this pizza! I had picked out a recipe, but modified it slightly. The original recipe was to cook the pizza on the grill, which I was super excited about. I recently bought a pizza pan for the grill and have been anxiously waiting to use it. However, the night that I made this pizza, the clouds decided to roll in and it started raining about 20 minutes before I was going to start the grill. Geesh! The radar didn't look promising, and I had already made the dough, so I ended up fixing the pizza in the oven.

This pizza was so incredible! It was so full of flavor and all of the ingredients paired so perfect together. As I said, I modified the recipe some to make it my own, so the directions that I list below will be what I personally did based off of the recipe. One thing I changed that I thought added a lot of flavor was making the balsamic reduction to be drizzled on top of the pizza. Amazing!! This pizza was quite delicious and I highly recommend you make it yourself very soon!!

Greek Pizza
modified from Pizza on the Grill, Greek-Style

pizza dough
4 plum tomatoes, sliced thin
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 ounces (about 3/4 cup) grated mozzarella cheese
4 cups packed baby spinach
1/4 cup coarsely chopped kalamata olives
2 ounces crumbed feta (about 1/2 cup)
1 cup balsamic vinaigrette

1. Fix pizza dough according to directions in link. After baking pizza dough at 475°F for 5 minutes, reduce heat to 425°F.
2. Bring balsamic vinaigrette to a boil and then immediately reduce heat to simmer. Simmer and stir frequently until thickened.
3. Lay sliced tomatoes on a baking sheet. Mix 1 tablespoon of the oil with the minced garlic. Drizzle oil over tomatoes; set aside. Toss baby spinach with remaining tablespoon of olive oil.
4. After baking the pizza dough for 5 minutes, remove from oven and top pizza dough with tomatoes (pour any remaining garlicky tomato liquid onto salad greens), spinach, olives, mozzarella cheese and feta cheese. Drizzle balsamic reduction over the pizza. Bake at 425°F for 10-15 minutes.

Easy Crunchy Mustard-Baked Salmon

I honestly don't have a whole lot to say tonight about this recipe. Don't get me wrong, it was very good! It just didn't knock my socks off or anything like that.

I love salmon, so I assumed I would like this recipe. The Dijon mustard added a nice flavor to the fish, and the crunchy top added another dynamic to the dish that was enjoyable.

I didn't use the broiler, as the recipe directed. I'm not sure where this stems from, but I have weird feelings about using the broiler. Maybe I had a bad experience that I already blocked out of my memory. Anyways, instead of using the broiler, I preheated the oven to 425°F and baked the salmon (with the topping on top of the salmon) for about 12-15 minutes. I also didn't spread butter on the bottom of the salmon and cook it in a skillet. I just mixed the topping mixture together, spread it on top, and put it in the oven to bake. And it turned out great!

It was a very easy, healthy (and yummy) recipe, so if that is what you're looking for then you should definitely give this a try!

Easy Crunchy Mustard-Baked Salmon

Total time: 15 minutes  Yield: 2 servings

2 slices high quality white sandwich bread, crusts removed, torn into rough chunks
2 boneless skinless salmon filets, about 6 ounces each
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for the salmon
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1. Preheat the broiler to high and adjust rack to 6 inches below the element. Pulse bread in the bowl of a food processor until coarse crumbs are created, about 10 to 12 one-second pulses. Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, 1 tablespoon butter, both mustards, and thyme, pinching the mixture together so the butter is incorporated and the mixture sticks together. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Spread the bottom of each fillet of salmon with a thin layer of butter. Preheat a medium skillet over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add salmon buttered-side down and cook without moving until a nice crust has formed, about 2 minutes. Pile the crumbs on the salmon, then transfer to the broiler. Broil until the crumbs are crunchy and browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Polpette {Meatballs}

Oh my goodness, y'all... these meatballs were SO GOOD! Whether you just want an amazingly delicious meal for your family or want to impress some guests, you have got to try these meatballs!

This is the first time I have ever baked meatballs in the oven. I can't believe I have been missing out on this! It was so easy, and the meatballs came out perfect! I mixed and rolled out the meatballs between work and the gym, and then just put them in the fridge. That way, after we got back from the gym, all that had to be done was throw the meatballs in the oven and boil the noodles. You could even fix the meatballs the night before if you needed a quick dinner the next day!

I still got the Sweet Italian Johnsonville sausage, but I purchased the 16 oz package of already ground sausage rather than the links. They had such a fantastic flavor to them! Oh man! My husband made the comment that spaghetti and meatballs can be a little boring, but that there was nothing boring about this dish!!! As you can see above, I got a picture of just the meatballs, and then after I topped them with the spaghetti sauce and a little basil. I just got a jar of the spaghetti sauce that we normally get, and heated that up on the stove while the noodles were boiling and the meatballs were baking in the oven. Super easy and super delicious!!!

Polpette {Meatballs}

1 egg - beaten
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano - grated
1/4 cup onion - minced
1 clove garlic - minced
1 - 19.76 ounce package sweet Italian Johnsonville sausages - castings removed

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg, bread crumbs, milk, Parmigiano Reggiano, onion and garlic. Mix to combine.
2. Add sausage to the bread crumb mixture and mix well.
3. Spray a rimmed cooking sheet with cooking spray. using a cookie scooper, scoop out 24 meatballs onto cooking sheet. Shape into balls with your hands.
4. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.

Chicken Broccoli Rice and Cheese Casserole

Hey y'all! I can't believe it has been a week since my last post. I'm sure you thought I had fallen off the face of the earth or something! We were lucky enough to get away for the weekend with some friends and go to the beach (YAY!). Since the weather has been warming up, I've been dying to get to the beach - it was wonderful! Warm sun, cold drinks, toes in the sand and the sound of the waves crashing - love it!!

I actually made this casserole a couple nights ago, but it has just been one of those weeks and I haven't gotten around to posting it yet. It is a terrific casserole! It is something that is VERY easy to put together and leaves you with leftovers for other nights during the week when you don't feel like cooking. I know casseroles can be kind of boring, but as far as casseroles go, this one is great! It has a really good flavor to it. I usually don't like to eat leftovers, but this actually still tastes just as good on the second night as it did on the first!

Enjoy!

Chicken Broccoli Rice and Cheese Casserole

Prep time: 20 minutes  Cook time: 30 minutes  Yield: 6 servings

1 1/2 cups canned chicken, drained
3 cups cooked rice (1 cup cooked)
2 cups frozen chopped broccoli
1 (8 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
1 (8 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup chopped onion
6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

1. Drain 2 cans of chicken breast meat (You can substitute home boiled chicken - just chop it small).
2. Boil broccoli till tender; drain.
3. Boil rice. (You can substitute a packet of broccoli cheese rice mix such as Lipton's. Depending on amount of rice you want, might want to make two packets.)
4. Melt margarine in large frying pan. Saute onions till glassy. Add both soups and stir well. Add cheese and mix till melted. Remove from heat.
5. Lightly grease a 13 x 9 glass dish.
6. Spread rice evenly over bottom of dish.
7. Spread broccoli over rice layer.
8. Pour 1/3 of cheese sauce over the broccoli and rice and spread evenly.
9. Spread chicken on top of cheese sauce and top with remaining sauce.
10. If desired, sprinkle more shredded cheese on top.
11. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.

Sweet 'n' Tangy Pork Chops

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I would be posting more quick and easy recipes because my husband and I are doing an 8 week boot camp through the gym and we don't get home until 7:15pm. This was a perfect quick and easy recipe for tonight! (This will also be a quick and easy post because I'm tired! Haha!) :-)

You could definitely taste the contrasting sweet and tangy flavors in this dish. Neither was too overpowering over the other - perfectly balanced, in my opinion! I did add a little extra crushed red pepper flakes than what the recipe calls for. (Who am I??? I used to hate hot/spicy food! I guess all of this cooking has been broadening my taste in food!) The fresh, uncooked peppers added an enjoyable dynamic to the dish. I came close to going against the cookbook and sauteing the peppers, but I'm so glad I didn't do that! The fresh taste and little crunch they added to the dinner was great. We just made some brown rice to go with the pork chops, which was an excellent side dish to all of these different flavors in the pork and sauce. Quite a delicious and enjoyable meal!

Sweet 'n' Tangy Pork Chops
Taste of Home: Everyday Light Meals
Published by Reiman Media Group, LLC. in 2010.

Prep/Total time: 25 minutes  Yield: 4 servings

1/4 cup sherry or chicken broth
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
4 boneless pork loin chops (4 ounces each)
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup diced green pepper
1/4 cup diced sweet red pepper

1. In a bowl, combine the sherry or broth, brown sugar, soy sauce and red pepper flakes; set aside. In a large nonstick skillet, brown pork chops in oil. Top with sauce. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until meat juices run clear.
2. Combine the cornstarch and water until smooth; add to the skillet. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Garnish with diced peppers.

Spicy Mussels with Angel Hair

I have passed over this recipe many times and finally decided to make it this week. It was a lot more tasty than I was expecting it to be!

I went to pick up the mussels, but they were sold out, so I got clams instead. I've never had clams before, so I wasn't sure what to expect as far as texture and flavor goes. They were great! They had a lot more flavor to them than I thought they would. Very delicious! They tasted wonderful mixed in with the spicy pasta.

That pasta really had quite a kick to it! My lips were tingling by the end of the dinner. It tasted terrific though! Everything paired together really well and I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious it all was. This is a quick meal that can be easily fixed on a weeknight, but is also elegant enough to serve for company on the weekend!

The clams I got at Harris Teeter looked like they had already been cleaned mostly, so I just let them soak in some water for about 15 minutes to get out any little bit of sand that was left. The cookbook does say this in the notes though: "To clean mussels, scrub them using a firm brush and rinse well in cold water. Pull out any fibers that extend from within the shells. If any mussels are open, tap them on the counter and wait a few seconds; discard any that do not close."

Enjoy!

Spicy Mussels with Angel Hair
Pampered Chef Make it Fresh Make it Healthy
Published by The Pampered Chef, Ltd. in 2011.

Prep time: 15 minutes  Total time: 25 minutes  Yield: 4 servings

8 oz uncooked angel hair pasta
1 medium onion
1 large chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1 tbsp canola oil
4 garlic cloves, pressed
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp dried oregano
2 pints grape tomatoes
3/4 cup unsalted chicken stock
20 fresh mussels, cleaned
2 tbsp salted butter
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided

1. Cook pasta according to package directions at the low end of the recommended time, omitting salt and oil. Drain and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, finely chop onion and chipotle pepper using Food Chopper. Combine oil, pressed garlic, chili powder and oregano in [12-in] Skillet. Cook over medium heat 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Add onion and chipotle pepper; cook 2-3 minutes or until onion is softened. Add tomatoes and stock. Cover and cook 4-6 minutes or until tomatoes begin to soften. Crush tomatoes using Mix 'N Masher.
3. Add mussels, butter and salt to Skillet; toss to coat using Chef's Tongs. Cover and simmer 2-3 minutes or until mussels are open. [Discard any mussels that do not open.] Remove mussels from Skillet; set aside. Add pasta and 1/2 cup of the cilantro to Skillet. Cook and stir 1 minute or until pasta is hot.
4. Divide pasta mixture evenly among serving bowls. Top with mussels and sprinkle with remaining cilantro. Serve immediately.