Ja cię kocham…

I often find myself wrestling with my cravings and my energy level especially around dinner time.  Currently, my husband and I are a little unconventional in the sense that we eat so stinking late at night.   I get home from work at the earliest around 6:30, which means I normally don’t start cooking until close to 7.  You see, I immediately need to take Noodles out, come in and change into sweat pants.  I cannot relax or start my evening before the sweat pants are on and the make-up (if I have any on) is off.  It just a personal preference.  If I am in my home I must be in comfy clothes.    Needless to say, an early dinner for us is 7:30.  Eeks!

This means that both of us are pooped and don’t feel like cooking and cleaning the dishes.  I mean, come on, most of you (I hope) at 8-8:30 are DONE with dinner and DONE with the dishes.  We even have nights when it’s 9pm and we’re JUST sitting down for dinner.  Scary thought.

This meal is simple, it’s quick, and light.  By 9pm I’m STARVING but do not want to stuff my face with heavy food or put the effort into a large meal.  Now you see where the wrestling comes in??  I’m very hungry but very blah.  These are the evenings that I fantasize about my dream kitchen and dining room with my dream personal chef.  I come home with the candles lit, soft music playing, dinner ready, dishes done.  *Sigh*  Maybe in my next life ;o)

Well this meal is a good as it gets for late night dinners that have to be prepared by you or your spouse.  Light cooking, light meal, light cleanup.

This dish goes great with rice or spaghetti – or on its own!

Baked Shrimp and Mozzarella

Adapted from Annie’s Eats

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes, with juices
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 tbsp. minced fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried basil
1 to 1 1/4 lbs. medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (thawed if frozen)
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 oz. mozzarella cheese (about 2/3 cup, crumbled)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and cook until soft, 3-5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds more.

Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer.  Reduce the heat and let the sauce simmer for 5-10 minutes, until the juices thicken a bit.  Remove the sauce from the heat, and stir in the herbs, shrimp, mozzarella cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer to a baking dish, if desired, add more cheese to top, and bake until the shrimp are cooked through, about 10-12 minutes.

Serve immediately.

The only credit that I can take for this recipe is the basil on top and the steamy photo.  (I forgot to wipe off my camera lens, which has caused the steamy/smoky effect in the picture!)

I came home from work last week to find dinner piping hot on the table.   I plopped right in the chair, gave thanks, and DUG IN!   I am one lucky girl!!  Thank you, Sweetheart!!

What makes me even more lucky is how considerate this meal is because it’s from one of my Weight Watchers magazines.  My amazing talented, smart, and gorgeous sister is getting married next year, and we have to be fitted for our bridesmaids dresses in August.  Yep, I have a deadline.  The flabbie must go!   Needless to say, I have some weight to lose to get back into my running 5-6-7 miles a day, every day college bod (was I nuts???), so starting NOW I have to be careful about what I eat.  I have 3 months.  I can do it.  I hope… ;o)

This meal took as long to prepare as it does to boil your pasta.  Not to bad, huh?  Plus, it involves basic ingredients that most of us have in our cabinets.

Thank you, Jay for this wonderful meal! <3

Jay’s Tuna Pasta

Source: Weight Watchers Magazine, May/June 2009, p. 100

Serves 2

5 points/1.5 cup serving

Ingredients:

3 cups whole wheat pasta
28-oz. can diced tomatoes
4 tsp. olive oil
1 Tbs. minced garlic
2 5-oz cans solid white tuna in water, drained
Salt to taste
Basil, to garnish (optional)
Red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, placed diced tomatoes, oil, and garlic in a large skillet and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in cooked pasta and tuna.

Season with salt, top with basil and red pepper flakes.

It’s that simple!

Holy Moly this dish was AMAZING, and it took me 5 minutes to make!  Can’t ask for anything better than that!  I wanted to involve my husband in my obsession with food.  We both love to cook and love to spend time together so why not do both?  Of course the recipe we pick to cook together is so simple that two people ending up making more of a hassle than one person.  So we decided to make a dance party out of it.  Nothing is better than cooking with your favorite tunes on!

Okay, so with the music on, it took longer to cook, but it was WAY more enjoyable. And by took longer I mean it took 15 minutes!

Everytime I added a spice, I did a dance move in the kitchen.  (If you know me, then you know that I LOVE dancing!)  Any excuse to bust-a-move is worth it!  And you get extra points if you know the song “Bust a Move”.  Hello 1990s!

Side note: If you don’t know it’s by Young MC.  And be ready to shake your booty if you listen to it!

AND if you love Mexican food then you will LOVE this meal.  It’s so yummy!

Chipotle Shrimp Tacos

Source: Cooking Light/My Recipes

(yields 4 servings)

Ingredients:

2  teaspoons  chili powder
1  teaspoon  sugar (or Splenda)
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1/2  teaspoon  ground cumin
1/4  teaspoon  ground chipotle chile powder
32  peeled and deveined large shrimp (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1  teaspoon  olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup onion, chopped
8  (6-inch) white corn tortillas (I used wheat tortillas… it was 4 grams of fiber!)
2  cups  shredded lettuce (I used whole baby spinach)
1  ripe avocado, peeled and cut
3/4  cup  salsa verde
1/4 cup favorite shredded cheese
1/4 cup chopped cilantro for garnish

Directions:

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; add shrimp, tossing to coat.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add garlic and onion.  Saute until fragrant and translucent.

Add shrimp mixture to pan; cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from heat.

Heat tortillas in microwave according to package directions. Place 2 tortillas on each of 4 plates; arrange 4 shrimp on each tortilla. Top each tortilla with 1/4 cup lettuce, 2 avocado slices,  1 1/2 tablespoons salsa, cheese and cilantro.

Fold and enjoy!

This is a Hane family favorite!  Jay and I LOVE this meal.  I mildly adapted it from You on a Diet.  It is healthy, filling, and fabulous!  In addition, it’s almost completely error-proof, which makes me a very happy camper.  (Insert very big smiley face.)  You can use different measurements of each ingredient each time, and it still turns out beautifully in the end.  This means that you can eyeball everything rather than taking the time to measure it out.  My only advice is to make sure that you make enough sauce that it covers the salmon while it marinates.  Other than that, do as you wish to the fish ;o)

The original recipe calls for the sauce to be used soley as a marinade, which is then discarded upon cooking.  Well, I decided to break the rules and pour it over the salmon while I cooked it.  The maple syrup caramelized during the cooking process making it absolutely awesome.   I cannot express to you how much I LOVE this salmon dish.

*PS – I store my ginger root in the freezer.  It lasts much longer, and you can just grate it frozen!

Maple Ginger Salmon

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

2 – 4oz. salmon fillets
1 c. reduced sodium soy sauce
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs. freshly grated ginger root
3 Tbs. scallions
1/4 c. Grade B Maple Syrup
Chives for garnish

Directions:

Place salmon in a large ziplock bag.   Add all ingredients except for the chives to the salmon.  (Or halve the ingredients and use two separate bags for salmon.  Whichever you feel like!)

Seal bag.  Shake well and let marinate for 15 minutes.

Cover a large skillet with cooking spray and place over medium-high heat.  Add salmon, cover with marinade.  Cover and cook for 6 minutes.  Flip and cook for 4 minutes or until both sides are have browned.

Garnish with chives.

I know, I know – what on earth is a balsamic reduction?  When Sarah first told me about this, I had no idea what it was.  It sounded all fancy-schmancy, but I was so happy to find out that it is so easy!  You simply put balsamic vinegar in a sauce pan on low heat until it decreases in half.  So if I put 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar on low heat, I would stop when it reduced to a syrupy 1/4 cup.  That easy, folks!

And what is this forbidden rice I speak of?  Well, friends, it’s purple rice.  Yes, you read correctly – it’s PURPLE RICE.  It’s called the “Forbidden Rice” because once upon a time the Emperors of China grew this rice exclusively to enrich their own health and sustain a long and happy life.  Locals were not privy to this type of rice.  The rice is extremely high in fiber (45% of daily intake per 1/4 cup) and makes for a lovely side dish.  I found my Forbidden Rice at a local Whole Foods store.

I have made countless meals for my husband, but I am so thrilled when it’s a “wow, babe”,  and I get a high-five.  This meal was one of those.  And of course I also added a fruit salad.  I love fruit salads.  I tend to pick up random fruits, cut them up, and serve them!  Works for me.

The meal was colorful, healthy, and EASY!

Pan-Seared Scallops with Balsamic Reduction

Ingredients:

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
8 oz. scallops, thawed
1 pad of butter
1 Tbs. olive oil
salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

Directions:

In a small sauce pan, add vinegar and cook on low heat for about 30 minutes

With about 10 minutes left on vinegar, in a large skillet, add olive oil and butter.  Preheat to medium-high.

Place scallops on plate.  Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and place in skillet.  Cover with lid and cook for 5 minutes.

Stir scallops and cook for another 3-4 minutes until edges are lightly browned.

Serve immediately with vinegar gently poured on top.

Forbidden Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup forbidden rice
1 3/4 cup water
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1 pad butter or spray butter

Directions:

Follow directions to cook rice while adding 1 bouillon cube to rice and water.

Top with butter and serve.

Please excuse the dark photo.  I even got out my ridiculously blinding halogen lamp, and this is how bright it got in my kitchen!  It was night time so I had to improvise as best as I could.

This recipe was inspired by Southern Living that I conveniently found on the My Recipes website.  I made a few changes to fit my lifestyle.  First of all, I get home from work close to 7pm so by that point I am famished and ready to eat.  Needless to say, rather than baking the fish in the oven I opted for a stove top method using a little bit of olive oil and butter in my skillet. I also went easy on the salt and Old Bay seasoning because I can always add more later.  I didn’t want to overpower the fish with cajun flavor, and I have a husband that is not a big fan of salt.

Cajun Catfish

Ingredients:

2  cups  cornmeal
2  teaspoons  salt
1  tablespoon  pepper
2  tablespoons  Cajun or Old Bay seasoning, plus extra for topping
8 (3- to 4-ounce) catfish fillets
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 pad of butter or margarine, melted
Lemon slices, for garnish

Directions:

Add olive oil and butter to large skillet.  Preheat large skillet to medium heat.  Combine first 4 ingredients. Dredge catfish fillets in cornmeal mixture; place fillets in skillet and cover.  Cook until golden brown (about 7 minutes for first side and 4 minutes for second side).   Add remaining cajun spice to top (if desired) and garnish with lemon slices.