roasted shrimp with feta and tomatoes

Dropped off a bit there, didn’t I? Yeah…. I can explain. New job. Busy spring season for the hobby-job. Not enough hours in the day and tired, tired most of the time. I’ve still been cooking – but it hasn’t been anything overly inspired and – even if it was – I probably lacked the energy to worry about presentation and pictures.

This, though… this was worth the effort. Both in cooking (don’t worry – there’s really not much effort needed for this one)… and shooting… and blogging.

Somehow, I often manage to forget how much I love shrimp. And though it’d be nice to live near a coast and have easy access to fresh goods, I’ve learned to be okay with picking up a bag of frozen at the supermarket.

This one comes together quickly – 30-45 minutes from the start of prep to having a yummy, healthy meal on the table. Gotta love that! Be sure to serve it with some good, crusty bread so that you can soak up all the tasty sauce. Yummmmm.

Roasted Shrimp with Feta and Tomatoes
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup white onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
12 ounces shrimp, peeled, deveined & tails off
4 large roma tomatoes, cut into eighths
3 tablespoons dried parsley
1 tablespoon dried chives
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Heat olive oil in an oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute for 3-4 minutes until softened. Add garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes. Pour in canned tomatoes and simmer for 5-7 minutes until sauce has reduced slightly.

Add shrimp, tomatoes, parsley, chives and s&p and stir to combine. Remove from heat.

Top with feta and place skillet in preheated oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes until mixture is bubbly and cheese has begun to melt. Remove from oven and serve with warm, crusty bread.

cabbage

My German roots run deep, so when cabbage popped up as our Culinary Capers ingredient of the week, the answer came quickly to me… sweet and sour red cabbage! To this point, I’ve always gotten it from a jar – but, really, how hard could it be, right? No really… three ingredients… 20-30 minutes on the stove… EASY.

I paired this with pork schnitzel, egg, and roasted potatoes for a wonderful dinner on a cold Sunday night. Comfort food at its finest!

I have to apologize for the last shot… it was late (and dark) and I was hungry. So, I didn’t drag out my super-special light. And I didn’t realize until after we’d started eating that there was an awful lot of yellow going on there. But… it was still pretty awesome. So, take my word for it and go make yourself some cabbage!

Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage
(recipe from Simply Recipes)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 2-pound red cabbage, thinly sliced (about 12 cups)
6 Tbsp sugar
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add cabbage and sauté until slightly wilted, about 5 minutes. Add sugar, toss to coat evenly. Add vinegar. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover, simmer until cabbage is tender, stirring often, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (serves 6-8)

roasted butternut squash with brown rice & pepitas

I got an exciting note recently from my friends over at Oh! Nuts. They offered to send me more of their product to try out and, considering how pleased I was with the last round of items I received from them, I immediately said yes! True to their usual great customer service, there was a box on my doorstep within just a couple of days… I love that!

One of the items I chose (raw pepitas) felt like a perfect fit for a speedy fall lunch that we enjoyed this weekend. I paired roasted butternut squash with brown and wild rice, a bit of crumbled goat cheese, and toasted pepitas.

This dish was a huge hit in our house, filled with wonderful fall flavor and accented beautifully with the beautiful, crunchy pepitas from Oh! Nuts. I think I may make this again for Thanksgiving!

I can’t wait to use the pepitas in a few other recipes (coming soon!)… and to share with you the other great sample I received from them (which I hope to share within the next week or two). If you’re looking for great nut products or dried fruits… chocolates or candies… even gift baskets… please head over to the Oh! Nuts website and take a look around. They’ve got some crazy good stuff!

Roasted Butternut Squash with Brown Rice & Pepitas
1/2 butternut squash, peeled and diced
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper
2 cups cooked brown and wild rice*
3 tablespoons crumbled goat cheese
1/4 cup pepitas, toasted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Place squash on a baking sheet and toss with olive oil to coat. Season with salt and pepper and roast for 7-12 minutes, turning once, until tender.

Remove squash from oven and gently combine in a large bowl with the remainder of the ingredients. Adjust seasonings to taste. Serve warm. (Makes 2 meal-sized servings or 4 side servings.)

*Though you can certainly make rice the conventional way (or use leftovers if you have them), I took the easy way out and used a convenient bag of microwavable ready rice… done in 90 seconds! What can I say? I had to get back to my episode of House Hunters.

culinary capers – squash

I had a great time with this week’s mystery ingredient – squash is PERFECT for this time of year! So many options! Make this one soon…

Roasted Vegetables & Chickpeas
(adapted from BHG)
1/2 pound carrots, peeled and cut in 2-inch pieces
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut in chunks
1/2 large red onion, peeled, halved, and cut in 1-inch wedges
1/2 pound red potatoes, cut in cubes
1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut in 2-inch pieces
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 16-oz. can chick peas (garbanzos), rinsed and drained
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1.5 teaspoons dried rosemary, crushed
2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3-4 tablespoons pine nuts

Position an oven rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Place all vegetables, garlic, and chickpeas in a large shallow roasting pan.

In a small bowl combine the oil, rosemary, brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Drizzle over vegetables; toss well to coat.

Roast, uncovered, about 45 minutes or until vegetables are lightly browned and tender, stirring twice. Sprinkle in pine nuts 10 minutes prior to removing from oven.

long time no see?

Three months? It’s been too long, friends. I apologize for being so quiet. Our summer has been busy… there’s been work, a bit of an unplanned dining room remodel, oppressive summer temps, and trying to get a new little business off the ground. But, we’re still alive and kicking… and I’m ready to try to get back on the food blogging wagon!

First up… a quick and easy dinner (though it does require turning on your oven). Easy, tasty, and pretty darn good for you. Make it even healthier by omitting the heavy cream… but I like what it adds to the dish.

Stuffed Peppers with Tomato Cream Sauce
2 whole green bell peppers
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound ground turkey
1 14.5 oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes (undrained)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 cups cooked rice (I use Uncle Ben’s Roasted Garlic Ready Rice for convenience)
salt and pepper to taste
4 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Slice the peppers from top to bottom and remove the ribs and seeds. Set the peppers aside.

In a skillet over medium heat, add olive oil, chopped onion and garlic, sauteing until soft – about 5 minutes.

Add ground turkey to the skillet to brown, seasoning with Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. Cook turkey completely, approximately 10 minutes to brown, stirring occasionally.

While turkey is cooking, mix the can of tomatoes with the heavy cream in a small saucepan and warm over low heat.

Stir the cooked rice into turkey mixture, then spoon in all of the tomatoes (and a little sauce) from tomato cream sauce, mixing to coat everything. Turn off heat.

Divide the turkey mixture evenly between the four peppers halves, mounding the filling up as needed. Place the stuffed peppers in an 8×8 baking dish. Spoon the remaining tomato cream sauce over the tops of each pepper and top each with 1 tablespoon of cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes, then cover with foil and bake for 30 more.

ranch dip revised

I’ve been trying to find ways to learn to like cottage cheese. The going has been slow… and it occurred to me today that my two successful ventures have involved one key ingredient… ranch dressing. The first – subbing out part of my ranch dressing in my salad with cottage cheese. The second – this dip.

Oh sure, it probably not the healthiest thing, but it’s certainly better for me than a straight ranch diet, so I’ll take it. And, as opposed to classic ranch dip, this version is actually low in calories/fat and high in protein! That means you can have a treat later without the guilt!

Ranch Dip
1 16-oz container 2% or fat free cottage cheese
2 tablespoons skim milk
1 packet Hidden Valley ranch dip mix

Combine cottage cheese and milk in a food processor or blender and mix until creamy. Stir in the packet of ranch dip and thin with more milk until dip reaches desired consistency. Refrigerate at least 2 hours to allow flavors to meld. Serve with dippers of your choice.

neglected

A sure sign that I’ve not been spending enough time in the kitchen? Sprouting garlic. I guess I need to get to work!

What’s your favorite recipe using garlic?

there’s an app for that!

Looking for an easy appetizer? Head over to this week’s post at The Fat Girl’s Guide to Living for a great Brie Bruschetta!

updates, memes, and cauliflower

Wow. It’s been an insanely busy week! Every time I tried to get by here to update, some more urgent (but much less entertaining) need would rear its ugly head. I’ve got some catching up to do!

Since my last entry was to announce Homegrown Gourmet #6 (Breakfast!) and photos/recipes were decidedly absent, I figure I owe you all a little more than just a general housekeeping post. So, hang tight until the end and I’ll share with you a fabulous, and fabulously easy, roasted cauliflower recipe.

First, though… an update!

Remember the Chop! Chop! Chicken Pockets that I made for Ben’s Food for Plastic challenge? I won! And I won Tupperware! It arrived not too long ago and I spent the next several days agonizing over what I’d put in my pretty new airtight containers.

I’ve got some bread flour living in the big cannister, powdered sugar in the next, quinoa in the third, and steel cut oats in the little guy. (Please disregard the seriously overripe bananas in the background, but keep an eye out for the yummy dish they turned into!)

Thanks, Ben, for a great prize! And, for all of you jealous of my new Tupperware, pull out your best recipe and enter Ben’s second Food for Plastic Challenge – A Taste of Spring!

On to the memes!

I’ve watched the memes making their rounds among my favorite food blogs. I’ve hoped that someone would tag me. And then… it happened! Dana over at Proof of the Pudding tagged me to tell readers 5 random things about myself… so, here goes nothin’!

1. I’m a print geek by profession. I’ve worked in various print-related capacities over the years in corporate, government, and commercial environments.
2. I’m left-handed, but I do lots of things (like using a mouse and using scissors) just like right-handed people.
3. I hate humid environments. Funny, then, that I live in NC.
4. My husband I don’t have any kids… but we do have a dog, Payne, and a cat, Hatch.
5. Three places on the planet that I love: the beaches of the Gulf Coast (particularly Fort Walton Beach and Destin, FL) in the spring; Nashville, TN; and Sedona, AZ.

Now… the five bloggers that I’m tagging:
Aran at Cannelle et Vanille
Polliwoggy at Memoirs of a Polliwogg
Deb at Deb’s Key West Wine and Gardening
Sunny and/or Sid at Big Boys Oven
Anna at Cookie Madness

And now… the cauliflower!

I love, love, love cauliflower and I love this recipe because it makes my life really easy! A little chopping, a little seasoning, into the oven and… viola! Yummy side dish happiness. (I’ve also been known to eat it as a meal when my husband’s out of town – but that’s a whole other story.)

Roasted Cauliflower
1 head cauliflower, trimmed into florets
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean-up.

Place florets in a single layer on the cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat evenly. Sprinkle with garlic, salt, and pepper.

Roast 20-25 minutes until tender, crispy and golden, turning once. Devour.

Mélange? Mélange!

I asked my mom tonight why we never ate Brussels sprouts when I was a kid. She says that I didn’t like them.

Hmmm. I don’t remember not liking Brussels sprouts – in fact, I don’t even remember trying them. So, I have to take her word on it. Thankfully, this is another one of those instances in which it appears my tastes have matured and generally improved over time because, as an adult, I love Brussels sprouts.

I also love the many things I can do with these little green beauties. You can steam, roast, and sauté them. You can cook them whole, or quartered. You can even shred them. It’s all good. And this recipe? This recipe is GOOD.

How can it not be good when it starts out with all of these good things?

It just gets better from there. Fifteen minutes later, you’ve got a beautiful, and tasty mélange (that’s a fancy French way of saying mixture of foods).

Braised Potato and Brussels Sprouts Mélange
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup red potatoes (approximately 6), quartered
3/4 cup onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups Brussels sprouts, halved
1 cup red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2″ squares
1/4 cup chicken stock
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 tablespoons parmesan or asiago cheese, grated

Heat oil in a large nonstick pan over medium high heat. Add potatoes and sauté 5-6 minutes until brown on all cut sides. Add onion and bell pepper and continue to cook until onion is soft. Add Brussels sprouts and chicken stock. Cover, reduce heat slightly, and cook 7-8 minutes, until potatoes and Brussels sprouts are just tender. Season with parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with cheese before serving. (serves two)