Tag Archives: easy

Jumbo Shrimp South Beach Approved

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I’m on a quest to find flavorful dishes that are easy on my waistline, and came across this shrimp recipe on the Epicurious website.  The shrimp are grilled and served alongside a chile, cilantro and lime dipping sauce.

Peppers in the food processorMy Latin market, Baja Ranch, didn’t have red Anaheim chiles (what’s up with that??!!!) but the green ones worked great.  I piled the peppers with fresh chunks of ginger, cilantro, a serious amount of garlic cloves, fish sauce and a couple tablespoons of oil into my food processor and a few pulses later, the dipping sauce was done.Asian slaw  Several reviews suggested using half as much fish sauce as the recipe called for, so I went with this plan.

Another great suggestion in the reviews was to serve the shrimp alongside an Asian slaw.  I snagged this recipe from Epicurious, as well.  The snap peas and red pepper really jazzed it up, and this was super easy to make.

Asian Slaw with Peanuts
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons oriental sesame oil
1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 teaspoons soy sauce

6 cups thinly sliced Napa cabbage
6 green onions, very thinly sliced
6 ounces snow peas, stringed, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 cup roasted peanuts

Whisk first 5 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Season with salt and pepper.  Mix cabbage and remaining ingredients in large bowl. Toss with enough dressing to coat. Season with salt and pepper.

Jalapeno poppers

I was at a party a few years ago and had these jalapeno poppers for the first time.  Friends of ours were hosting a dinner to benefit the organization my husband works for, Lake Avenue Community Foundation, and … talk about the “hostess with the most-est” … Robin knows how to do DO IT RIGHT!  She and her close friend Jackie have a fun blog … check it out here.  These poppers are absolutely delicious, and totally work if you’re going low-carb.  Slice jalapeno peppers lengthwise, remove the membrane and seeds, place a slice of good quality dry salami in the pepper, spread cream cheese on top of salami, and top with grated sharp cheddar.  (I used reduced-fat cream cheese and cheddar.)  Grill on a barbecue until the pepper is soft, charred a little, and the cream cheese is gooey and delicious.  These taste even better if you cook in a smoker rather than BBQ, so if you have one, definitely use it!

A Night at the Bowl

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FigsIs there anything more wonderful than a night at the Hollywood Bowl?  Last night we joined several friends for an evening under the stars to hear The Brian Setzer Orchestra.  Although I’m a big fan of Brian’s, I was most excited to see Leslie Spencer making her debut at the Bowl.  Go Les!

You never can be sure if there will be an opening at a picnic table, so we decided upon a simple tapas dinner.  My colleague Sonya had generously shared with me a bowl of figs from her tree, and I found an idea for them on one of my favorite food blogs, A Feast for the Eyes.  I wrapped each fig with a slice of proscuitto, with a dab of brie cheese tucked inside, then placed them on a skewer.  I finished them by placing on the grill for a short time, so the cheese would soften a bit.  Delicious and so very easy!  Thanks, foodiewife, for a great idea.

Having spent half the day meeting with a new client and at a property inspection, I didn’t have a whole lot of time for food prep before hopping on the shuttle for the Bowl, so I decided to keep it simple and made goat cheese crostinis.  I thinly sliced a baguette, drizzled each piece with olive oil, and toasted the crostinis in the oven.  Fortunately I had a few toppings on hand from recent canning experiments, including: tomato basil marmalade, pickled fennel with orange zest (both from Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc cookbook), and rosemary onion confit (The Pickled Pantry by Andrea Chesman).