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Archive for the ‘Healthy’ Category

Grilled Shrimp

Posted in Basics, Big Green Egg, Dizzy Pig, Healthy, Quick and Easy, Shrimp, tagged , , , , , on March 31, 2009| 2 Comments »

grilledshrimp

My parents just moved to Atlanta a few weeks ago. I went to visit last weekend while Brandon was in Vegas. My dad discovered the Dekalb Farmers Market and told me to bring a cooler so I could stock up. We spent our Sunday there – I was in heaven! If you live near Atlanta I highly recommend that you make a trip to check it out. Their prices are incredible. It’s really not a farmers market in the traditional sense. It started out as a produce stand in the 70’s and has grown into a Whole Foods/Trader Joe’s on steroids. If you’re familiar with Central Market in Texas it’s very similar. I could go on and on but I’ll spare you!

So I returned home yesterday with a trunkful of goods courtesy of my parents! One of the things I chose was the beautiful gulf shrimp you see in the photo above. Brandon had mentioned several times that he’d like to try to grill some of the jumbo shrimp so I thought he’d love these.

We grilled the shrimp tonight and served them with organic yellow grits and sauteed squash and zucchini (all from the Delkab Farmers Market). It was a delicious dinner and a nice change from heavy winter foods.

Grilled Shrimp
(Recipe source Bakin’ and Eggs)

Ingredients:

1 lb jumbo shrimp (16-18 shrimp per pound)
Olive oil
Seasoning of your choice – you could go as simple as olive oil, salt and pepper – we used a combination of The Dizzy Pig Tsunami Spin and Swamp Venom)

Directions:

Peel and devein shrimp, leaving tails on. Coat shrimp with a thin layer of olive oil and seasoning of your choice and let sit for about 30 minutes.

While shrimp is marinating, preheat grill to 400 degrees.

Grill shrimp for about 2-3 minutes per side, until the shrimp curl and are no longer pink. Serve immediately.

Yield: 2-3 servings

grilled-shrimp-plate

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Simple Broiled Mahi Mahi

Posted in Dizzy Pig, Fish, Healthy, Quick and Easy, Seafood, Tried and True, tagged , , , , on March 27, 2009| 5 Comments »

broiledmahi

Brandon is in Vegas for a bachelor party. Anytime he’s out of town I get excited to cook whatever I want for dinner. One of the things I always turn to is fish. When Brandon’s not here to man the grill, I’ve found that broiling fish is a quick and flavorful way to prepare it.

My method is really simple – I brush both sides of the fish with olive oil and then sprinkle it with a seasoning rub. I’ve mentioned this before and will continue to mention that our favorite rubs are from The Dizzy Pig. Tonight I used Tsunami Spin. Broiled fish is also great with Ragin’ River and Shakin’ the Tree. I seriously recommend that you order some rubs from The Dizzy Pig!

This recipe also works great with salmon. Another tip, line your baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup (especially if you’re preparing salmon because of the skin).

Simple Broiled Mahi Mahi
(Recipe source Bakin’ and Eggs)

Ingredients:

Fish fillets (recommended: Mahi Mahi or Salmon), as many as you’d like to prepare
Olive oil
Seasoning rub (preferred: The Dizzy Pig)
Lemon wedges

Directions:

Arrange oven rack so it’s about 4 inches from the broiler. Preheat broiler on high. Prepare a baking sheet with cooking spray (or line with foil and spray with cooking spray for easy cleanup – I highly recommend you do this).

Rinse fish under cool water and pat dry. Brush both sides with olive oil. Sprinkle rub on both sides to coat evenly. Place fish fillets on baking sheet and squeeze a little lemon juice over them.

Broil on high for about 8 minutes (for Mahi or Salmon) or until internal temperature reaches 140-150 (depends on your desired doneness). Cooking time will vary based on the thickness of your fish fillet. Fish should flake easily when done. Tip: make sure you have your exhaust fan on while broiling. The fish may smoke.

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Indian Spiced Chicken Burgers

Posted in Big Green Egg, Chicken/Poultry, Ethnic, Healthy, Sandwiches, tagged , , , , on March 12, 2009| 13 Comments »

indianchickenburgersday

I saw this recipe on Savory Spicy Sweet and sent the link to Brandon to see if he was interested (I do this often when I’m reading recipes online). His answer was a resounding “YES!” so I added it to the dinner menu this week. He’s been looking forward to it all week asking me when I was going to make the naan so we could have this for dinner. This is a relatively simple and quick dinner if you either buy naan or make your dough the night before.

The recipe calls these burgers but we made ours more slider/meatball size. They were the perfect size for lining up on the naan. The chicken mixture had a lot of flavor and the yogurt sauce was delicious. I really recommend you try these for something a little different.

Brandon took one bite and said “this is something I could eat a lot.” I got lots of “mmms” during dinner and he’s excited about leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Indian Spiced Chicken Burgers
(Adapted from Savory Spicy Sweet, originally from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast)

Ingredients:

FOR THE CHICKEN BURGERS
1 lb ground chicken
2 green onions, diced
2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated or finely diced (forgot this at the grocery and used about a teaspoon of dried ground ginger)
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1-2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
6-8 pieces of naan
1 cucumber, sliced thinly (optional)
fresh cilantro (optional)

FOR THE YOGURT SAUCE
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2-1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
coarse salt and ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

Mix together everything above from the ground chicken through the salt and pepper. Put mixture aside and let rest for at least 10 minutes, up to 30 minutes.

Preheat the grill to 400 degrees. Combine ingredients for the yogurt sauce. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Form the chicken mixture into about 8 patties. Grill patties about 5 minutes per side or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. You can also cook these on the stove top by heating olive oil in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat and cooking 3-4 minutes per side. Again, until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.

Arrange 2 chicken patties on a piece of naan and top with yogurt sauce. Serve with sliced cucumbers and cilantro if desired.

Yield: 3-4 servings

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Grilled Chicken Salad

Posted in Big Green Egg, Chicken/Poultry, Dizzy Pig, Healthy, One Dish, Quick and Easy, Salad, Tried and True, tagged , , , , , on March 10, 2009| 4 Comments »

chickensalad

Grilled chicken salad is a versatile basic that’s a staple in our spring/summer dinner rotation. It’s  an easy, light entree that you can adapt to whatever your tastes are and what you have on hand. We love to top ours with avocado, toasted pecans, tomatoes and fresh fruit. You can whip up a homemade honey mustard in no time and it tastes far better than anything you’ll get out of a bottle. We enjoyed this dinner out on our deck tonight – one of the first nights that it has been warm enough to eat outside!

Grilled Chicken Salad
(Recipe source Bakin’ and Eggs)

Ingredients:

FOR THE SALAD:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp olive oil
Grill rub of your choice (we love all of The Dizzy Pig rubs and used Jamaican Firewalk on this)
Lettuce of your choice (I used a bag of field greens)
1/4 cup pecans, toasted
4 strawberries, sliced
1 small tomato, diced
1 avocado, sliced

FOR THE DRESSING:
3 tbsp dijon mustard
2-3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp low-fat mayo
1-2 tbsp plain yogurt
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp apple cider or rice wine vinegar

Directions:

Preheat grill to 400 degrees.

Trim chicken breasts of any fat. Rub both sides with olive oil and coat with grill rub. Spray grill grates with cooking spray. Grill chicken approximately 6 minutes on each side or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

In the meantime, make your dressing by whisking all the ingredients together. Adjust to meet your taste (adding more of any ingredient if desired).

Plate salad, top with sliced grilled chicken and drizzle dressing on top.

Yield: 2 servings

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Spicy Thai Noodle Bowl with Tofu

Posted in Asian, Ethnic, Healthy, One Dish, Pasta, Quick and Easy, Soups and Stews, Tofu/Tempeh, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , on March 6, 2009| 3 Comments »

One of our favorite vegetarian meals is red coconut curry with tofu. When I saw this recipe on A Year in the Kitchen I thought it would be a fun version to try.

This recipe was originally titled “Spicy Thai Coconut Tofu Soup” but ours ended up being more noodle bowl than soup. It wasn’t very brothy (which was tasty anyway).

I made a few modifications to the original recipe so I’m going to post my version of the recipe. This definitely fits the quick and easy category and it’s very filling and tasty.

Spicy Thai Noodle Bowl with Tofu
(Recipe adapted from A Year in the Kitchen)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, finely diced (about 1/2 a cup)
3-4 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/2-1 tsp crushed red pepper
4 cups chicken stock (can use vegetable stock to make this meal vegetarian)
1 15 oz can light coconut milk
2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup sliced white or baby bello mushrooms
1 cup sliced snap peas
1/2 package thin rice noodles
1 tbsp hot red curry paste
1-2 tbsp fish sauce (optional, can sub soy sauce)
2 tsp honey
1 block extra firm tofu, diced
Directions:
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, ginger and crushed red pepper and saute for about 1 minute until fragrant. Stir frequently and watch it closely. Don’t let your garlic and red pepper burn.
Add chicken broth, coconut milk and carrots and mushrooms and bring to a gentle boil. Cook for about 10 minutes or until carrots are tender.
Add all the remaining ingredients and cook for another 10 minutes.
I served this in bowls with soy sauce and red chili sauce (like Sriracha) on the table so we could season to taste.

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White Chicken Chili

Posted in Chicken/Poultry, Healthy, Soups and Stews, Tried and True, tagged , , , on February 18, 2009| 13 Comments »

chickenchili

My mother in law shared this recipe with me a few years ago and I always make it several times during the winter. It’s delicious, healthy and hearty. This recipe makes a generous amount – the leftovers reheat well and the chili freezes well.

White Chicken Chili
(Recipe source my mother in law)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2-4 cloves garlic, minced (to taste)
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 (4 oz) cans diced green chilies
2 lbs diced chicken breasts (about 4)
2 (15 oz) cans great northern beans, divided
2 (15 oz) cans white shoepeg corn
2 (14 oz) cans chicken broth
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp parsley flakes
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp jalapeno, diced
1 bay leaf

Directions:

Saute onion, bell pepper and chilies in olive oil over medium to medium-high heat in a large stock pot for about 5 minutes. Add in diced chicken and garlic and saute about 5 more minutes, until chicken is no longer pink.

Drain corn and beans. Puree one can of beans in a food processor or blender. Add all of the remaining ingredients to the bot and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Discard bay leaf before serving. Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese and hot sauce (if desired). I usually make cornbread too.

Yield: 3 quarts, plus 1 1/2 cups

* Note, you can use already cooked chicken (rotisserie, leftover roasted, etc) and skip the chicken cooking stage – just let the onions cook a little longer before adding rest of ingredients.

* Another note, I think this could be done in the crockpot (I’ve never tried it though) by placing chicken breasts in crockpot whole and covering it with the rest of the ingredients. Cook on low for about 8 hours. Shred chicken with two forks before serving.

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Easy Schnitzel (Parmesan Crusted Chicken)

Posted in Chicken/Poultry, Healthy, Quick and Easy, tagged on February 10, 2009| Leave a Comment »

schnitzel

A few years ago I came across this recipe in Cooking Light for Easy Schnitzel. The name is a little strange but it’s essentially just parmesan crusted chicken breasts. I make it a couple of times a year and it’s always a hit. It’s pretty simple and quick.

When I make this I only use two chicken breasts but make the full amount for the dredging mixture. I usually just eyeball the flour and breadcrumb amounts and I like to use a mixture of panko and traditional breadcrumbs. I like to serve it with parmesan cous cous and a vegetable or salad.

Unfortunately, Cooking Light is really strict about bloggers posting their recipes so I’m going to have to send you off to their site to get the recipe.

Easy Schnitzel

*Please note that this can be prepared completely in the skillet without having to finish it in the oven. Just increase your cooking time to 4-5 minutes per side and remove from heat when internal temperature has reached 160 degrees.

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