Scampi-Style Scallops

Every Wednesday night the kids and I have dinner at my parent's house while my husband plays in his golf leagues.  I get to try out a lot of new recipes that I don't won't interest my husband, while at the same time protecting myself and my kids from my mother's English cooking.  Just kidding mom... kind of.

This week was her turn to cook so she bought scallops and zucchini from the store.  Then she turned the kitchen over to me.  Here's what we had:

INGREDIENTS

1 cup couscous (I substituted angel hair pasta here instead)

1 ¼ lbs. sea scallops

1 lemon

1 clove garlic, pressed

4 zucchini or yellow summer squash (8 oz. each)

1 TBS margarine or butter

1 TBS chopped fresh chives

Salt and pepper

1 medium tomato- diced (another add-on since the garden is just starting to produce our own tomatoes!)

DIRECTIONS

Prepare couscous pasta as label directs.

Meanwhile, pull off and discard muscle from each scallop, rinse to remove sand from crevices.  Pat scallops dry.

From lemon, grate 1 tsp peel and squeeze 2 TBS juice.  In bowl, toss scallops with garlic, ½ tsp peel, ¼ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp coarse black pepper.

With a vegetable peeler, slice each squash lengthwise into thin, long ribbons until you reach core with seeds.  Discard core.  Set aside ribbons.

In a nonstick 12-inch skillet, heat margarine over medium-high heat until melted.  Add scallops and cook 5-6 minutes, until browned and just opaque throughout, turning once.  Transfer scallops to plate.   

Add squash to same skillet.  Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook 2 minutes, stirring once.  Uncover and cook 1 minute or until tender-crisp.  Remove squash from heat, stir in lemon juice and remaining peel.

Lastly, throw another TBS or so of garlic in the pan and saute tomatoes until just tender.  Add back in scallops and heat through.

Spoon vegetable mixture onto 4 plates, top with scallops and sprinkle with chives.  Serve with couscous.

VERDICT

This was delicious!  You could make it a lot healthier skipping the pasta and putting the scallops/tomatoes on top of the zucchini slices, but it's a great filling dish with the pasta as the base.    

Chimicurri Chicken

Instead of using cookbooks or keeping print-outs of recipes I want to try, I keep word files.  My chicken document is 171 pages long.  For real.  This recipe stood out to me because it looked easy and the name was fun.  Here's what it looked like:

INGREDIENTS

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 

3 tablespoons cooking oil 

12 ounces fresh young green beans 

3/4 cup packed Italian parsley 

1 tablespoon cider vinegar 

2 cloves garlic, halved 

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper 

1 lemon, peel and juice

DIRECTIONS

Brush chicken with 1 tablespoon of the oil; sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon each salt and black pepper. On charcoal grill, cook chicken on rack directly over medium coals for 12 to 15 minutes or until no longer pink, turning once halfway through grilling time.

Place beans in microwave-safe 1-1/2-quart dish. Add 1 tablespoon water. Cover with vented plastic wrap. Cook on high 3 minutes; drain.

For Chimichurri sauce, in small food processor bowl combine parsley, the remaining oil, the vinegar, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and red pepper. Process until nearly smooth. Serve chicken and beans topped with Chimichurri sauce, lemon peel, and juice.

VERDICT

I LOVED this sauce.  I'm not sure why it can't be used as a marinade (as a general rule I hate chicken that is cooked plain, no matter what you top it with in the end), but the taste was definitely there when you added it on.

Quick, easy recipe for summer.  Definitely a keeper.

NUTRITION

Servings Per Recipe 4,

• Calories 281,
• Protein (gm) 35,
• Carbohydrate (gm) 8,
• Fat, total (gm) 12,
• Cholesterol (mg) 82,
• Saturated fat (gm) 2,
• Sugar, total (gm) 2,
• Sodium (mg) 376,
• Iron (DV %) 3

Swiss Chard Fritata

 Being a picky eater my recipes usually don't stray far from the realm of chicken, shrimp, and pasta.  This attempt at a fritata (which I'm pretty sure is just a fancy word for quiche) is completely different from anything I've ever made.

It all started with my garden.  Aside from the sections that weren't properly protected against the deer, it's been growing like crazy this year.  Including the swiss chard that I planted.  I only know one recipe that uses swiss chard- the delicious crock pot lasagna.  But who wants to eat lasagna in the middle of summer?

So that's the story.  Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

• 4 large eggs
• 4 large egg whites
• 1/4 cup grated Swiss Cheese
• 1/2 bunch (6 1/2 cups) Swish Chard, washed well
  
• 1 large white onion (2 cups), sliced thin
  
• 2 tsp light butter
• salt and fresh pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400°.

In a medium bowl combine eggs, egg whites, cheese and a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.

Separate the stems from the leaves of the chard. Dice the stem into small pieces. Roll the leaves up and slice into thin ribbons, about an 1/8-inch thick.

Heat a 10-inch skillet on low heat; melt half of the butter and add the onions with a pinch of salt and pepper. Slowly cook the onions, stirring occasionally until the onions become translucent, about 8-10 minutes. Bring the heat up to medium and cook until the onions caramelize. Set the onions aside.

Increase the heat to medium-high, add remaining butter and add the chard stems. Cook about 3-4 minutes. Add the chard leaves to the pan and cook until wilted, about 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Reduce heat to low; pour egg mixture into the skillet and add caramelized onions, salt and pepper and mix well to blend. Reduce heat to low and cook until the edges set, about 6-8 minutes. Once the bottom and edges set, place in the oven and bake until completely set through, about 4-5 minutes.

Remove from the oven and place a dish over the pan; flip onto the plate. Cut into wedges and serve.

VERDICT

So... this was interesting.  I didn't mind the taste.  The appearance left a lot to be desired.  And I'm pretty sure my brand new cast iron skillet is ruined.  This stuff stuck to it like you wouldn't believe.  We soaked the pan for three days and there is STILL stuff stuck to it.

Anyways... it's an interesting dinner choice. I'd love to hear your feedback after you've tried it. 

NUTRTION

Calories: 138.7 
Fat: 5.5 g
Protein: 12.3 g
Carb: 12.7 g
Fiber: 4.9 g
Sugar: 2.1 g

Grilled Zucchini & Eggplant Parmesan

I've never had eggplant parm (is that weird to admit?) but this recipe looked delicious.

INGREDIENTS

1 Eggplant

1 Zucchini

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper- to taste

1 mozzarella ball

1 bunch basil

1 cup prepared tomato sauce

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the grill to medium heat.

Cut the eggplant into 1/2-inch slices (total 12 slices). Cut the zucchini in half crosswise. Cut each half into 1/4/-inch slices (total 8 slices).

Lay the eggplant and zucchini slices on a baking sheet. Brush on both sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Grill until the vegetables are tender, but not overcooked, about 4 minutes per side for the eggplant and 3 minutes per side for the zucchini.

In the last 30 seconds of cooking, divide the mozzarella evenly between the eggplant rounds. Re-close the barbecue lid and cook for additional 30 seconds, or until the mozzarella is melted.

Lay one eggplant round on each of 4 plates. Top each with 2 tbsp tomato sauce. Next, divide half of the basil between the 4 portions.

Top each with one zucchini slice. Continue stacking in this order, ending with an eggplant round and tomato sauce. Spoon any remaining tomato sauce around each stack.

Serve immediately.

VERDICT

I'm not sold on the grilled eggplant.  It was kind of soggy.  But the flavor was good, and it certainly makes a nice presentation.

mojito grilled chicken

I love mojitos.  Especially now that there is fresh mint in my garden (at least there was until the heat wave and lack of rain wiped the patch out) mojitos are the best!  I'll publish that recipe soon, but for now here's a dinner version of the great cocktail.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 medium (1 1/2 pounds) skinless, boneless chicken-breast halves
• 2  limes
• 1 tablespoon(s) olive oil
• 1 medium (3 1/2 pounds) pineapple, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 1/4 cup(s) loosely packed fresh mint leaves, chopped
• Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare outdoor grill for direct grilling on medium, or preheat large ridged grill pan on medium.
2. Meanwhile, with meat mallet, pound chicken (placed between 2 sheets plastic wrap) to an even 1/2-inch thickness.
3. From 1 lime, grate 1 teaspoon peel and squeeze 2 tablespoons juice. Cut remaining lime into 4 wedges; set aside. In small bowl, combine oil, lime peel, and juice. Lightly brush pineapple on both sides with lime mixture; set aside remaining lime mixture in bowl. Place pineapple slices on hot grill rack and cook 10 minutes or until browned on both sides, turning over once.
4. Stir mint into remaining lime mixture and pat onto both sides of chicken. Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper to season both sides. Place chicken on hot grill rack and cook 5 minutes or until chicken is browned on both sides and no longer pink throughout, turning over once. Serve chicken with pineapple and lime wedges.

VERDICT

Too bad that my phone takes such terrible pictures, because this was a beautiful dish.  And delicious!

Brined Shrimp with Mango Salsa

When I first made this recipe I thought it was a Martha Stewart recipe.  Which kind of made sense since it was overly complicated and needlessly fussy.  But I'm ok with Martha being complicated and fussy because most of her stuff is good.

In my junior year in college I lived in a house with seven women.  One had a boyfriend that was slightly older and already had a job.  A real one.  He came to visit one week night and made a Martha Stewart recipe for jungle juice.  I don't remember exactly what it had in it, but the $70 of high-end alcohol was clearly more sophisticated than our amateur recipes.  And it was good.  Ridiculously good.  We got drunk on a Tuesday night.

Ever since then I've been looking for that recipe.  And I've given Martha a wide berth when it comes to her recipes because although they're fussy, they're worth it.

Which led to this recipe:

INGREDIENTS

1 medium mango, diced
2 TBS finely chopped red onion
1 tsp finely chopped jalapeno pepper
2 tsp finely chopped and peeled ginger
juice of 2 limes
2 tsp plus 1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup kosher salt 
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 lbs. raw shrimp, peeled
2 TBS cilantro
1 tsp honey
2 tsp garlic, chopped
1 tsp chopped parsley
1/4 crushed red pepper flakes
2 TBS dry white wine

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the mango, red onion, jalapeño, ginger, lime juice and 2 teaspoons of the olive oil in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days. Season to taste with salt.
2. Stir the salt and brown sugar into 1 quart of cold water until dissolved. Add the shrimp and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil with the chopped cilantro, honey, garlic, parsley, red pepper flakes and wine and set aside.
4. Remove the shrimp from the brine and rinse thoroughly, then pat dry. Toss the shrimp with the marinade. Transfer the shrimp and marinade to a resealable plastic bag and marinate for at least 20 minutes or up to 45 minutes in the refrigerator.
5. Preheat the broiler or a grill. Cook the shrimp until just cooked through, about 1½ minutes per side. Arrange the shrimp on plates and top with the mango salsa and cilantro sprigs. Serve warm or at room temperature.

VERDICT

So now that you've read the directions, you have to agree that it's overly fussy.  The brineing, the marinating, all of the ingredients... it's fussy.  It's also not really worth it.  The shrimp are surprisingly bland. 

And it turns out this wasn't a Martha Stewart recipe after all.  It was Rachel Ray.

You can be fussy and complicated if the taste in the end is worth it.  This wasn't.  And I'm STILL not a fan of Rachel Ray.

Beer Can Chicken

Beer + Chicken = Juicy, moist chicken.

Really.  Try it!

INGREDIENTS

1 4-pound chicken, giblets removed.

4 sprigs thyme

2 TBS olive oil

Freshly ground salt and pepper

1 12-oz beer of choice

DIRECTIONS

Line a baking sheet with tin foil. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

VERDICT