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Posts Tagged ‘quick’

Seared Tuna with Wasabi Aioli

Posted in Asian, Ethnic, Fish, Quick and Easy, Seafood, Special Occasion, Tried and True, tagged , , , , on April 6, 2009| 11 Comments »

tunaWe stumbled upon this recipe a few years ago while looking for a new way to prepare tuna. It has become part of the regular rotation and is our standby recipe for tuna steaks. The wasabi aoli is definitely what makes this dish. You can adjust the amount of wasabi you use to taste – we love the burn!

Try this recipe soon! We serve the tuna with stir fry veggies and sushi rice.

Seared Tuna with Wasabi Aoli
(Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit)

Ingredients:

2 tuna steaks
Soy sauce
1 tbsp olive oil (or sesame or canola oil)
1 tbsp wasabi powder (can be found in the Asian section of grocery store)
1 tbsp water
1/4 cup mayonnaise (I always use light)

Directions:

Place tuna steaks in a dish and pour a couple tablespoons of soy sauce over them. Let marinate for about 30 minutes at room temperature, turning once.

Mix together wasabi powder and water and then whisk in mayonnaise. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Pat tuna dry. Heat a medium skillet to medium-high. Heat oil. Sear tuna steaks for about 45 seconds per side for rare.

Serve with wasabi aoli.

Yield: 2 servings

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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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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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Brie and Apricot Chicken with Almonds

Posted in Cheese, Chicken/Poultry, Quick and Easy, Tried and True, tagged , , on February 23, 2009| 8 Comments »

briechicken

I came across this recipe last year when I had leftover brie and chicken breasts in the fridge. It was a good find! The flavor is great – what’s not to love about warm melty brie, apricot preserves and crunchy almonds? It’s also a fairly simple recipe that comes together quickly. Brandon requested this to be on the menu last week and I was happy to oblige.

Brie and Apricot Chicken with Almonds
(Recipe source cooksrecipes.com – originally from National Chicken Council)

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Extra virgin olive oil
6-8 slices of brie
4 tbsp apricot preserves (we prefer Bon Mamon)
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken between two sheets of wax paper or in a gallon bag and gently pound to 1/4-inch thickness.

Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium to medium-high heat. Add chicken and saute for about 3 minutes per side, until golden colored.

Remove chicken from pan and place in a greased baking dish. Spread 2 tbsp of preserves on chicken  (I usually don’t measure – just smear it on) and cover with slices of brie. Sprinkle almonds on top.

Cook for about 6-7 minutes until cheese is melted. At this point, I usually turn on the broiler for a minute to get the cheese to get a little more melted and bubbly.

Yield: 2 servings

* Tip – if you don’t have almonds on hand or don’t want to buy a whole bag of sliced almonds buy frozen green beans and almonds (I like Green Giant). Serve the green beans with your dinner and use the almonds for the chicken (they come in a separate packet in the box).

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Nutella Croissants

Posted in Breakfast/Brunch, Chocolate, Quick and Easy, tagged , on February 23, 2009| 5 Comments »

nutellacroissants2

Brandon is a huge Nutella fan. I saw this recipe for Nutella Croissants a few weeks ago and sent the link to Brandon. He pretty much demanded that I get the ingredients for it the next time I was at the grocery.

This is a very easy recipe and a very yummy treat for breakfast or dessert. We had them for breakfast this morning with fresh fruit and cafe au lait. Gotta love Sunday mornings!

nutellacroissants

Nutella Croissants
(Recipe source Vintage Victuals)

Ingredients:

Nutella
Refrigerated croissants (any size, just follow cooking directions on tube)

Directions:

Preheat oven as directed on the tube of croissants.

Pop the tube and unroll the dough. Place a dollop of Nutella in the middle of the wide half of the croissant. Roll up the dough, starting at the wide end and rolling towards the small end. Place on a cookie sheet.

Follow baking instrutions on your tube of croissants. Remove from oven when golden brown.

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Greek Pasta

Posted in Chicken/Poultry, Ethnic, Greek, One Dish, Pasta, Quick and Easy, Tomato, tagged , , , , on December 1, 2008| 2 Comments »

Greek Pasta

We love anything with Greek flavors and have tried several variations of Greek pasta. Usually we find that something seems to be lacking but I think we’ve finally found one to stick with. This was delicious and came together really quickly. The flavor was great and you can definitely play around with the ingredients and try different substitutions. For example, I forgot to buy kalamata olives at the store and we had green in the fridge. Rather than omit olives, I decided to throw the green in and it worked great.

Greek Pasta
(Loosely adapted from Mediterranean Pasta in Minutes, Tyler Florence)

Ingredients:
1/2 box of penne pasta (or your choice)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into strips
1/2 cup sweet onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 8 1/2 oz can quartered artichoke hearts in water
1/3 kalamata or green olives, pitted and halved
1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (divided into 1/4 and 1/4)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Follow cooking instructions on box for pasta.

Heat a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat (depending on your oven). Add olive oil and heat until shimmery. Add chicken strips and cook until they start to brown, about 5 minutes. Add diced onion and garlic and saute for about 3 more minutes, until onion begins to look translucsent. Add in artichoke hearts, olives, diced tomatoes, basil and oregano. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Reduce heat and cook on low until heated through. Stir in 1/4 of feta cheese and remove from heat.

Place cooked pasta in a large bowl. Pour chicken mixture over pasta. Top plated dishes with remaining feta cheese.

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