I mentioned I’m working with Spice to Meet You, a monthly home delivery spice service, and I was super fortunate to shoot some cooking demos for them! The first installment (do you recognize that kitchen??) is on California Summer Spice Shrimp Salad. Head on over to Spice to Meet You for the full recipe!
Making a vegetable to go along with dinner for my meat-and-potatoes-loving BF is often a real challenge. He’s just not a fan of most things green. And when I asked him last night, “Do you like edamame?” he made a face. But um… then I tricked him. Haha! Tricking someone into eating vegetables. I’ll be a great mom someday.
This salad has lots of good stuff in it but it’s so fresh and sweet tasting, the best of the best ingredients are all but hidden.
It should also be noted that fresh corn would be WAY better in this salad than frozen. But it is obviously not corn season yet so this will have to do.
On the menu:
Edamame, corn, and avocado salad
Serves 2
1/2 cup frozen, shelled edamame
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 small avocado, cubed
3 Tbsp red onion, diced
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp red wine vinegar
In a small saucepan, add corn and edamame and cover with water. Add a pinch of kosher salt. Bring water to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Cook for approximately 8 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and let cool.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, and lime juice. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. In a small serving bowl, add cooled corn and edamame, red onion, cubed avocado, and dressing. Toss to combine.
I love any meal I can throw in one pot in the middle of the day and serve with pride 6 hours later after 15 minutes of prep. Some cooks might dispute this claim, but I’m gonna go ahead and say it’s hard to mess up a pork shoulder, so this is also a dish that takes zero skill to master. If you don’t have a slow cooker, just throw this in a roasting pan in your oven at 250 degrees for the same amount of time. You might want to baste it mid-cook so it doesn’t dry out, though.
On the menu:
Slow Cooker Chipotle Pork Tacos
Serves 2
3 lb pork shoulder, bone out
3 roasted chipotles*
3 large cloves of garlic, peeled and halved
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
6 oz. beer (I used Miller High Life because I had a leftover in the fridge, but a dark beer will work best for this)
6 – 8 corn tortillas
6 sprigs cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup red onion, roughly chopped
1/2 lime, cut into wedges
Add pork shoulder, chipotles, garlic, spices and beer to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 2 – 3 hours or until the meat is easily pulled apart with two forks. (NOTE: If cooking in the oven, baste at 1 and 2 hours).
Heat up tortillas between 2 damp paper towels in the microwave for a minute or two. Top with pulled pork, cilantro, onion, and a squeeze of lime. Plate alongside another wedge of lime.
*NOTE: I like these to have just a tiny hint of spiciness so I throw the chipotle peppers into the slow cooker whole and just let the flavor seep into the pork, and then fish the whole peppers out before serving. If you like these spicier, you can dice up the peppers and throw them into the slow cooker. That way you can serve them up along with the pork for a real kick in the pants.
This is a super healthy, easy peasy meal that comes together in 20 minutes and will satisfy your sushi craving without all those fancy sushi kits and chopsticks. Try and avoid purchasing bluefin tuna! It’s overfished and is considered endangered.
On the menu:
Seared tuna sushi bowls
Serves 2
3/4 cup sushi rice, rinsed
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2/3 pound sushi grade tuna
1/2 cucumber, seeded and chopped
1 avocado, cubed
3 scallions, sliced
1 small sheet nori, thinly sliced
1 tsp sesame seeds
2 tsp soy sauce
Put the rice in a saucepan with 1 cup of water and a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook until the rice is tender and all of the liquid is absorbed, about 10 – 15 minutes.
While the rice cooks, put a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Rub the tuna all over with the oil and sprinkle with salt. When the pan is very hot, add the tuna and sear on each side (including the edges) for around 3 minutes per side. The fish will be raw in the middle. Transfer meat to a cutting board and let it rest for at least 4 minutes before thinly slicing.
Once the rice is cooked, divide it between 2 bowls and top with tuna. Sprinkle with cucumber, avocado, scallions, and nori. Add soy sauce and sesame seeds and serve.
Did you ever have one of those days where you’re a food blogger and you make something really delicious and then you and your dinner guests devour it and you realize you forgot to take a picture of it? Don’t you just hate when that happens? I made this dish, and was so super proud of it, and as I was cleaning the plates off The BF said, “You forgot to take a picture… huh?” Rest assured, friends, this dish is beautiful and tastes just as good. You won’t regret making it. Pinky promise.
On the menu:
Avocado shrimp salad
Serves 4
3 Tbsp red onion, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 pound shrimp, cleaned and tails removed, cooked and diced
2 avocados, ripened
1 lime, juiced
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup alfalfa sprouts
Combine red onion, cilantro, shrimp, lime juice, and salt in a plastic bowl.
Cut avocados in half, careful to keep the skin intact. Remove pit. Scrape out the flesh, leaving a thin layer of flesh on the skin. Mix the avocado insides with the rest of the fillings, careful not to mash it too much [the salad is better if you leave the avocado a little chunky].
Divide the sprouts up between the 4 avocado shells and then fill each shell with 1/4 of the salad. Chill for at least an hour before serving.
Sometimes I have mundane things for dinner, and I think, is this worth posting? But if this grabs you:
… then maybe you might be interested in my hum-drum dinner. I am currently obsessed with everything to do with this green fruit, and I find myself ordering anything on a menu that has avocado in it. They have the good kind of fat (I know, right? Good fat?! Yes, please!), they add gorgeous color to any dish (okay, not ANY dish), and they have such a brilliant, smooth, creamy texture that I could just bathe in them.
But I won’t.
That would be weird.
Anyway… tonight for dinner I created a burger-less version of my favorite burger: swiss cheese, bacon, and avocado. This is amazing on a ground beef patty, but I used sliced smoked turkey (on sale at my local grocery) and it was divine. Way better than the spoiled potato salad I had for lunch…
…I don’t want to talk about it.
Are you an avocado lover? Here are a few more ideas of what to do with this peerless pitted pod of perfection.
… Sliced up and wedged between scrambled eggs and mozzarella in a tortilla for breakfast
… In the standard guacamole with salty chips and margaritas (avocado, chopped red onion, lime juice, and cilantro – easy as pie!)
… Blended with powdered sugar and lemon juice as frosting for a yellow or white cake (seriously!)
… Sliced up on toast with a sprinkle of lemon juice and coarse kosher salt
… Cut into chunks, add chunks of honey dew, sprinkle with lime juice, and use as a salsa for white fish or sauteed scallops
… Sliced up on crusty french bread underneath a layer of watermelon (I know, this is a weird one, but it is SO GOOD… I’m a texture girl myself)
A few tips when using avocados:
In any type of recipe, once you remove the meat from the skin and the pit, it will turn brown unless you add lime or lemon juice (notice all the above suggestions that are not immediately melted on a sandwich have lime/lemon juice in them)
A ripe avocado can be cut in half, around the pit, and twisted apart. Stick a sharp knife in the pit, twist, and it should pull right out.
To remove the meat from the skin: scoop with a spoon starting at the narrow end of the half, or for a VERY ripe fruit, peel away the skin (this is my favorite way because it preserves that smooth rounded appearance)
If you’re only using half an avocado at a time, you can leave the pit in the leftover half and it’ll help it keep longer in the fridge.
Filed under Cooking, Miscellaneous, Recipes
