Tag Archives: seafood

April 25, 2015 · 3:25 pm

In the Kitchen, Out of the Comfort Zone

wpid-wp-1429987360486.jpegSo this year is all about getting out of my comfort zone. Last year, was all about #domesticgoddess, an ironic hashtag I created for posting tweets and pics about my adventures in the kitchen.  We start eating more fresh, made-from-scratch, healthier meals.  And that meant I had to learn how to cook much better that I had before.  It was fun, and I think we’re a little healthier as a result.  Lately, my focus has been on #thenewjazzercise.  I’ve got 57 classes under my belt as of today! Whoop, whoop!  And now I really look forward to my classes and seeing my new friends at the studio.

This focus has, though, lulled me into some cooking complacency.  I haven’t really been trying anything new.  I’ve still been cooking from scratch, good, healthy meals, but I’ve been mostly just repeating old faves.  So last night, I decided it was time to try something new: mussels.  I’ve had them before at seafood places, but I’ve never made them or even seen anyone else make them.  Publix has these little recipe cards by the seafood counter, and I picked one up.  Sounded easy.  And it was!  It was also super quick. The Publix recipe was for 4 servings, but I was dining solo, so I cut it down for one using the online recipe converter calculator (still bad at math).

Mussels in White Wine with Lemon:

1/2 cup white wine
1/8 cup lemon
3/4 lb mussels
1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 tablespoons parsley

1. Preheat large saute pan on medium-high. Combine wine and lemon juice in pan and bring to boil. Add mussels and cover; cook 6-8 minutes or until mussels open.  Discard mussels that remain closed after cooking (all mine opened).

2. Stir butter into broth until melted. Sprinkle with parsley.

3. Enjoy!

This was a fun, tasty treat for a Friday night, and I’m glad I decided to try something at home that’s usually just a restaurant food for me.  I’m even more pleased that it took less than 15 minutes to make!

Here’s the photographic evidence:

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January 30, 2014 · 8:21 pm

Back to the Kitchen for Argentinian Red Shrimp Arrabbiata

When I posted the picture of this completed meal to FB and Instagram, I’m pretty sure people might’ve actually drooled on their laptop/mobile devices.  I got a lot of request for the recipe.

As you know, if you know me, I learned everything I know about cooking from Google. And most of my new year healthy recipes are on Pinterest. And that’s where this one for Shrimp Arrabbiata came from too (although I am now becoming more daring/confident and I’m not always–gasp!–following a recipe!).

Voila!

Voila!

I highly recommend you make this yourself because it was AMAZING. Trent and I both loved it. Devoured it. And writing about it right now and looking at the pics again just makes me want to make and eat it again. So.

So here’s what you’ll need:

  • 6 ounces fresh linguine (I used the Garden Delight kind for the extra nutrients. Trent thought this would taste terrible. He was wrong.)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used Trader Joe’s Argentinian Red Shrimp because that’s what we had in the freezer.)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Here are the directions:

  1. Cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and keep warm.
  2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle shrimp with salt; add shrimp to pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until shrimp are done. Transfer shrimp to a bowl. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in pan. Add onion, minced garlic, basil, and crushed red pepper to pan; sauté 1 minute. Add tomato paste and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cook 3 minutes or just until sauce begins to thicken. Return shrimp to pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Add parsley to the pan, stirring well to combine. Serve over pasta.

And here’s what it looked like:

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