How to make a Bisque

 

I've always been a lover of seafood.  Shellfish is definitely one of my favorite things to eat.  Andy and I do a seafood boil every now and then.  We boil all of the seafood in a pot and then lay everything out on a sheet pan.  Then we go at it like some ravage beasts.  It's a messy sight.  But in my opinion, the ONLY way to eat a seafood boil is with your hands and to get messy.

From these seafood boils, we usually end up with a bunch of shrimp shells.  Most people might throw them away, but they're like seafood gold.  And one of my favorite things to make with them is a good old fashioned bisque.

A bisque is traditionally a shellfish soup thickened up with cooked rice.  However, in today's sense, most bisques are thickened with a roux for better stability and consistency.  Follow the following steps and you'll have the perfect bisque every time.

#1. Caramelize your mirepoix (carrots, onion, celery) and shellfish shells (you can use any shellfish, but I find shrimp the most practical and inexpensive).

 

#2. Add a tomato product (usually paste) and deglaze the pan with wine (usually white).

 

#3. Add fish/seafood stock or a fish veloute (remember veloute is just a fancy word for gravy!) - it's also a good time to add a sachet of herbs too (mine had thyme, peppercorns, and bay leaves).

 

#4. Incorporate a roux (equal parts flour and fat, by weight) if needed - you can easily make a beurre manie by combining equal part soft butter with flour and forming small balls, then stirring them into the mixture

 

#5. Simmer, skimming occasionally.
#6. Puree the mixture (shells and all) and return to a simmer.
#7. When you've achieved your desired flavor, strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer or chinois.
#8. Return the soup back to the heat and bring to a simmer.  Finish with cream, if desired.

As amateur as it may be... I kind of like my reflection in the spoon =)

And now you've got yourself a bisque!  Garnish with whatever shellfish you used in the broth and some fresh herbs.  Soups don't get any better than this!

Homemade Sushi Rolls

I've got a surprise for you guys!

What, you ask?!  Our engagement pictures are done!  And I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE them!  Our photographer Adam did such an amazing job!  If you want to check them out, head on over to his site and let me know what you think!

Andy and I love going out for sushi.  It's probably one of our go-to things for dinner when we're in one of those indecisive modes.  It's always a winner.  But it can get a little pricy sometimes, so every now and then, we'll make it at home!

Ingredients:


2 cups cooked rice
1-2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
cooked shrimp
smoked salmon
cream cheese
Sriracha
avocado
cucumber
nori sheets

The great thing about sushi is that you can practically put anything you want it there!  Just don't over pack!

The only real work you have to do is make the sushi rice.  And that's just basically mixing cooled cooked rice with some seasoned rice vinegar (we don't really have a ratio, just add as much as you see fit!).  

We made two different rolls here:

The first being shrimp, avocado, cucumber inside out roll with Sriracha dots on top.

And the second being a traditional roll of smoked salmon, cucumber, and cream cheese.

Both were equally delicious!  I made a sushi post last year with a great how-to on how to roll sushi, so just check that out here!

Have you ever made your own sushi?  What do you like to put in it?

Shrimp Naan Pizzas

 Happy Monday guys!  How was everyone's weekend?!

We got a TON of work done, let me tell you.  I practically rearranged our bedroom this weekend, and I'm still not complete.  I got a couple of things to spice up the room (some artwork, flowers, etc.), so it looks like an actual bedroom, instead of a bare prison cell.  Will definitely have to post some before/after pictures tomorrow.

We're also preparing for some garden work!  We went to Lowe's (which was a madhouse!), and Andy did some mulching and yard work.  I'm planting my seeds indoors this week, and tilling up the rest of my garden bed outside, so hopefully everything will be ready for the end of this week or next.  It's so exciting having a garden!  And the spring weather is absolutely amazing too - although it's raining a tad today.

Oh, and yeah, I'm on VACATION!  It's amazing, and kind of sad having to still go to class this week, but at least that's only 2 hours out of the day for 3 days.  I can live with that.

So on to today's recipe.  Last week's naan was a big hit with you guys and I'm glad!  And the whole reason I made the naan, was so that I could make these pizzas, from the same blog (Food For My Family) that I got the naan recipe from.  If you haven't checked out Food For My Family, I highly suggest you do!  It's full of awesome goodies, definitely kid friendly too!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Food For My Family's recipe

2 tablespoons olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 pieces of naan bread
about 12 pieces of rock shrimp, cleaned
1/2 cup pecorino romano cheese, grated
1/2 cup parmesan, grated
1 teaspoon dried parsley

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a small bowl, combine olive oil and garlic.  Mix well and let sit for about 10 minutes, in order to let the flavors infuse in the oil.

Lay out naan on a baking sheet and spread about a tablespoon of the olive oil mixture on each piece.  Top each piece of naan with about 6-7 rock shrimps.  Sprinkle about 1/4 cup each of pecorino romano and parmesan on each piece, as well.  Divide the dried parsley among the two pieces of naan, also.

Bake pizzas for about 10 minutes, or until shrimp is cooked through and cheese is melted.  Let sit for about 5 minutes, to cool, and then slice into pieces.

This is a perfect appetizer for dinner parties, or if you don't want to share, you can easily eat the whole thing for a light lunch - which is what I did.  Yes, I'm selfish.  And I'm proud. =)  But I'm sharing with you... so now we're even, right?

Enjoy your Monday guys!  I know I'll be doing some homework (which I should have done this weekend!) and some more cleaning/gardening!

Roasted Shrimp, Tomato, & Feta Pasta

Looks like a big pile of whatever here, but trust me... this was delicious!

Can I just take this first second to say how awesome you guys are?  Yeah.  You guys!  That come here, day in and day out.  Reading my blog.  Leaving me comments.  You. Guys. Are. AWESOME.

With that being said, I think I'm on absolute Cloud 9 right now.  Why?  Well, yesterday... I had a record-breaking day on the blog, pertaining to unique visits.  The old record was 600 visits in 1 day.  Now, 600 is a hell of a lot.  But yesterday... that was completely shattered!  I had over 1000 visits!  Way awesome in my book.  Yes, I know, a lot of you have that many visits in the matter of half a day on a regular basis... but I'll take my little achievements as they come!  So when that next mile-stone of breaking 1500 visits comes... you guys will be the first to know!

Okay, now to the good stuff.

This was a pretty darn delicious meal.  Packed with some of my favorite ingredients.  Shrimp.  Tomatoes.  Feta.  And to make it a complete meal, I boiled some quick egg noodles and called it a perfect pasta dish!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Ina Garten's "How Easy Is That?"

4 tablespoons olive oil
2 celery ribs, chopped
pinch of fennel seeds
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup madeira wine
14 oz. can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon Pernod
salt and pepper, to taste
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveiled - tails left on
5 oz. feta cheese crumbles
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon dried parsley
zest from 1 lemon
juice from 1 lemon
 dried egg noodles

Preheat oven to 400 F.

In a large, oven-proof skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil under medium high heat.  Add celery and fennel seeds.  Saute for about 6-8 minutes, or until celery is starting to soften. 

Add garlic and cook for about a minute.

Stir in madeira wine and bring to a boil.  Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, or until the liquid is half reduced.

Add diced tomatoes with their liquid, tomato paste, oregano, Pernod (this is a licorice-flavored alcohol that really brings out the "seafood" flavor in the shrimp!), salt, and pepper.  Simmer mixture for about 15 minutes.

Add shrimp to pan in an even layer, over the tomato sauce.  Sprinkle feta atop the shrimp.

In a small bowl, combine both bread crumbs, lemon zest, parsley, and remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Scatter bread crumb mixture over shrimp.

Place skillet in oven and bake for about 15 minutes, or until shrimp are pink.  Squeeze lemon juice atop shrimp before serving.

About 5 minutes before shrimp are done, bring a pot of salted water to a boil.  Add egg noodles (I love the kind from the Asian market because they cook in practically a minute!) and cook according to package directions.

Place a serving size amount of the egg noodles on each plate and top with tomato-shrimp mixture.

 This was definitely a delicious dinner.  Ina just serves the shrimp by itself with some crusty bread, but I thought the pasta really made it a solid dinner!  Give this a go if you're looking for something relatively quick for the weekday!  Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday guys!

Food Science Friday and Shrimp & Asparagus Pasta

This week for Food Science Friday, I read the article:

'Consumer Acceptance of Fresh Blueberries in Bio-Based Packages' by Eva Almenar et al. Journal of the Science of Food & Agriculture 2010 Vol 90: 1121-1128

So how many times have you gone into a supermarket or grocery store and wanted fresh berries or fruits? Then you get to the counter and realize that there's mushy, and somewhat fungus infected fruit in the container. Do you really want to waste your money on a product that's obviously past due? No! Of course not.

Well, this article presents a study on non-vented PLA (Poly-lactic Acid) containers vs. the normal commercial vented petroleum-based (PET) clamshell containers. Now if you looked at both of those pictures, you wouldn't really be able to tell much of a difference right? Well, the material the container is made from, actually makes a TON of difference, and this study presents why.

If you're like we, quality is usually more important than price for a certain ingredients. I can dish out a few more dollars for something that will last longer, taste better, and just be better for me. Am I right? Right.

The study is conducted on blueberries, so we'll stick to just referring to blueberries from here on out.

Right now, blueberries are only packaged in vented clamshell containers. These containers help with rapid cooling and protects them from mechanical damage during shipping. PLA containers, however, have been shown to increase the shelf life of blueberries as compared to the clamshell containers. But they've never been used in a commercial setting. Blueberry consumption is steadily increasing from year to year and a switch to PLA containers would essentially reduce environmental impact (because most PLA containers are biodegradable) as well as reducing fruit deterioration, allowing for less economic losses (because essentially we, as consumers, would buy more blueberries because they look a hell of a lot better, for a longer period of time).
Alright, so how did they conduct this study? Well, the researches obtained about 100 g (roughly 75-100 blueberries) of high bush (cultivated) blueberries from Michigan Blueberry Growers and divided them between non-vented PLA containers. The same amount was divided up between vented PET clamshell containers (these were the controls).

Half of the PLA and half of the PET containers were stored at 10 C (50 F) to simulate commercial transportation conditions, and the other half of both types of containers were stored at 3 C (37.4 F) to simulate display conditions.

the samples were analyzed on day 0, 7, and 14 of the study. What exactly did they analyze the berries for?

• Weight Loss - this indicated degradation of fruit
• Soluble Solid Content - to test for firmness of the fruit
• Titratable Acidity - did the blueberries retain their acidity?
• Off-flavors & Aroma - do they still smell and taste fresh/appealing?

The samples were also visually examined for fungal development.

The sample also underwent and consumer testing at days 7 and 14 of the study. The "consumers" in the study were all recruited from Michigan State University (students, faculty, staff). They were to grade the unidentified sample blueberries based on flavor, appearance, and overall quality and texture.

Results:

In the consumer testing phase, panelists were asked to describe the appearance of their blueberry samples. An overwhelming amount of panelists described some of the samples as "shriveled" or "wrinkled". Would you want to eat a blueberry described like that? What container do you think those blueberries came from? You guessed it, PET. Shriveling and wrinkling are usually caused by transpiration rates and RH (Relative Humidity) levels. Vented containers don't allow for high RH levels, causing less moisture to keep the blueberries in a "plump" state. However, non-vented PLA containers keep RH levels high due to the very absence of vents and the hydrophobic nature (water molecules basically don't escape "through" the material) of the PLA polymer itself.

Out of the 33 panelists subjected to the consumer study, the following shows how many picked the non-vented PLA containers over vented-PET containers in each aspect of study:

Flavor - 24 @ 3 C, 24 @ 10 C
Texture - 30 @ 3 C, 29 @ 10 C
Appearance - 30 @ 3 C, 30 @ 10 C
Overall Quality - 28 @ 3 C, 30 @ 10 C

In each category, at least 80% picked PLA containers each time. That should show right there how we should package our blueberries. And if that didn't convince you, here's the results of the analysis tests:
Weight Loss - 14-16 % was observed in vented PET containers and less than 2 % was observed in PLA containers. Shriveling in the PET containers attributed a massive weight loss over the 2 week study.
Soluble Solid Content - Now this was a tricky one for me, vented PET containers were shown to have a high sugar content, therefore being "sweeter". But you necessarily want a "sweet" blueberry? Or do you want a "tart" blueberry. Non-vented PLA containers were not observed to be sweet, and definitely picked moreover than the PET blueberries, so maybe sweet is not so good in this aspect? I'm indifferent on this bit of analysis.
Titratable Acidity - was not noticeably different in either container so it was deemed not to be affected by packaging.

Aroma - The panelist study confirmed that PLA container blueberries were preferable to vented PET containers.

So basically, what does this all mean? Well, in my opinion, I think PLA containers should be implemented for the packaging of blueberries. The study really didn't say whether other fruits were packaged using the PLA containers as well, but I know I've seen them around. PLA containers can be bought online from Eco Products and I know that I'm definitely going to look for the non-vented PLA containers from now on. After all, how many times have you gone to the grocery store, picked up some fresh fruit, not used it within a couple of days, go to use it, and it's already mushy and gross? TOO many times this has happened to me, and it's good to know that there's something out there that prevents this. * And just a little disclaimer here, no, I wasn't paid by Eco Products or any PLA company to post this, I just feel really strongly about quality and freshness of products that we use, and plus... these things help the environment, so it's always a good thing then!

Alright... what a doozy, let's get to a quick and spring-time recipe!

Ingredients:

1 lb. spaghetti noodles
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 lb. shrimp, deveined, shells and tails removed
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the spaghetti noodles according to package directions. I always like a good al dente boiling.

While you're waiting for the noodles to cook, heat the olive oil in a large skillet under medium high heat. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about a minute or so. Add the asparagus and cook until it softened, about 3-5 minutes. Add in the shrimp and make sure you spread them out pretty good for even cooking. Cook until the shrimp are a nice pink, about 5-6 minutes (make sure you flip them once, in between).

Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of liquid. Add in pasta to asparagus and shrimp mixture and pasta liquid, if needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve right away!

I figured you guys would need a quick and easy recipe after reading that long spiel about blueberries! I really liked this dish, and considering it's simplicity, the salt and pepper are really key here. Enjoy!

East Meets West Shrimp

I must admit, I've been a pretty awful non-practicing Catholic this Lenten season. I didn't give anything up. I've eaten meat on practically every Friday. But seriously... that's exactly why I'm non-practicing. Too many rules. To many things to abide by. Do this. Don't do that. What does it all matter? Why does there have to be a certain "holiday" or time for us to give something up or eat something else. Why can't we just do what we want to do... within legal parameters, of course. I've never been one that's been a fan of being told what to do and when to do it... so it's no surprise that I fall into this anti-Lent category. But for those of you who do celebrate, and want a good seafood/meat-less dish for the last Friday of lent, these shrimps were pretty much awesome.

Ingredients:
(Stuffed Peppers adapted from Food & Wine's March 2010 issue "Shrimp-Stuffed Peppers")

about 20 Large Shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails left on.
salt and fresh pepper
2/3 cup Monterey Jack cheese
1/3 cup cotija cheese, grated/shredded
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1 small handful chopped cilantro
6 Cubanelle peppers
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
Fresh salsa
Mango-Teriyaki marinade

For the West part, we're going to do marinated shrimp skewers. Take about 14 of the shrimp and marinate them in your marinade of choice. It'd help if it's Asian themed, to fit with the West-ness, so I found a great marinade bottle at Whole Foods of Mango-Teriyaki. Let marinate for about an hour.

For the East part, we're gonna make some shrimp-stuffed peppers. Heat your grill under medium heat.

Cut a slit down the Cubanelle peppers, length-wise, but not all the way through. Then cut a horizontal slit on each of the ends of the length-wise slit. Kind of like a really wide letter H. Place the peppers on the grill and get a nice char on them, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from grill and let cool until you can handle them.

Meanwhile, mix the cheeses, cilantro, and scallion in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Season the insides of the cooled peppers with a little salt and pepper and stuff with cheese mixture.

In a large skillet, add oil and heat under medium high heat. Add garlic and remaining shrimp. Cook until shrimp start to curl and turn pink, about 2-4 minutes. Stuff the shrimp in the peppers along with the cheese, letting the tails stick out.

Heat the peppers on the grill for about 5-10 minutes, or until cheese mixture is melted.

To finish the marinated shrimp, place 3-4 shrimp onto bamboo skewers and grill for about 3-5 minutes on each side.

Top the stuffed peppers with fresh salsa and lightly top marinated shrimp with Sriracha, if desired!

This was great. I think the two different ways of doing the shrimp really complimented eachother. It was the first time this year we got to use our grill and that is always a sure sign of better weather, and better/great food to come! Enjoy!

Seafood Sandwich

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone had a great holiday with whatever holiday you are celebrating this season! I know it was a great time for me. Everything I got this year is something I've wanted and will use. Even my parents got me things that I actually liked this year! You'll notice a lot more color and flare with the food pictures to come also! Thanks to Andy, I got many new fabrics and dishes to accentuate my food! Hopefully it'll make it all more appealing! Cheers!


Ingredients:
Adapted from Stellar Recipes' blog

5-10 fresh basil leaves, chopped
Small handful of parsley leaves, chopped
Juice from 1 lime
3/4 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup flour
2 flounder fillets
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
4 slices rustic italian bread
mixed greens
1/2 lb. frozen cooked shrimp

In a small bowl, combine the basil, parsley, lime juice, and sour cream. Mix everything together well and salt and pepper to taste. Place in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Combine the flour with some salt and pepper and dredge each flounder fillet with flour.

Heat a large skillet under medium high heat and melt 3 tablespoons of butter. Place flounder in skillet and cook both fillets until browned on both sides, about 3-4 minutes per side.

In another skillet, melt remaining 3 tablespoons of butter and add shrimp. Cook until shrimp is heated through and nice and juicy.

Assemble sandwiches by placing handful of mixed greens on slice of italian bread. Then place flounder fillet on top of greens. Then top flounder with a few pieces of shrimp (I did 6 per sandwich). Then on top slice of bread, spread some of the basil/sour cream mixture on top and cover sandwich with bread.

This is not your normal, everyday fish sandwich. This is something special. Definitely is well deserving of a "seafood sandwich" title. Enjoy!

Chili Shrimp

Last weekend was pretty eventful. It was also pretty tiring. We went out with a bunch of work folk to some bars to celebrate one of my co-worker's birthday. It was a blast, but I also had to work at 8am the next day, and that was NOT a blast. Also, our work Christmas party was the following night as well. I was supposed to make this Chili Shrimp dish for the party, but was too tired to even want to pick up a pan, let alone go to the grocery for supplies. So instead, I brought Puppy Chow and Oreo Ball Truffles, which were a hit, so I didn't feel so bad. So I knew I had to eventually make this dish, and I made it for dinner last night, and it was awesome. Too good to share, almost... but I'll share it with you all of course!


Ingredients:
Adapted from Food & Wine's November 2009 Article "Chili Shrimp"

1 lb. shrimp, peeled, cooked, & deveined

2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons sherry
2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
juice from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 dried lemongrass stick, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
4 scallions, thinly sliced
fresh cilantro, chopped

In a small bowl, combine ketchup, sherry, chili sauce, lemon juice, soy sauce, and sugar. Mix well and set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in large skillet under medium high heat. Add shrimp and saute for about 2 minutes, turning once.


Add remaining oil and mix in jalapenos, garlic, lemongrass, and ginger. Cook for about 1 minute, until fragrant.


Stir in scallions and add sweet chili mixture and simmer for about 1 minute.

Stir in cilantro and serve over jasmine rice.


Andy definitely fell in love with the sauce for this dish. I couldn't agree more either. It was a perfect mix of the sweet and the heat. I thought maybe the jalapenos would overpower the dish and make it too hot, but it definitely felt only like a back burner. Andy also pointed out that every bite was a different flavor experience. This is definitely a dish I recommend anyday! Enjoy!

Shrimp Curry

I love Indian food. I've never successfully made a curry of any kind. It's either too bland, not spicy enough, not authentic enough, something is always just... missing. When I came across this Shrimp Curry recipe over at An Edible Symphony, I had to give it one more go. And I'm sure glad I did. I finally mastered the art of an Indian style curry. The smells permeated the whole house and during out whole meal Andy kept saying "I'd order this in a restaurant"... and I felt good. I felt accomplished. I felt I could take on the world... well, maybe now I'm exaggerating... but needless to say, this was simply delicious.

Ingredients:
slightly adapted from Edible Symphony's recipe

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1-2 teaspoons ginger, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 teaspoons white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons canola oil
8 dried red chilies (yeah, I said 8... we like it spicy)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons curry powder
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 lb frozen shrimp
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter

Put first 7 ingredients into food processor and pulse until resembles a nice paste. Set aside.

Heat canola oil in large pan under medium-high heat and heat dried chilies until they turn dark. Be careful not to burn them though. This should be fairly quick, no more than 1 minute.

Then add in onion and cook until they are translucent and starting to brown. Add sugar and spice paste and let cook for about another minute.


Add in tomatoes and curry powder. The original recipe called for curry leaves and I was kind of hesitant to use the curry powder. I had just got done watching an episode of "The Next Iron Chef" on Food Network and they're challenge was to cook Indian food. One of the contestants used curry powder in his dish and was completely mauled by the Indian chef judge, so I was kind of scared of the result. But needless to say, curry leaves aren't very prevalent here in Louisville (although there is an Indian grocery down the road from us and I failed to look there), I opted for the curry powder and it was still delicious. Cook the tomatoes until they lose some of their moisture and then add in coconut milk. Simmer mixture for about 5 minutes. This is when the house starts smelling REALLY good.

In a medium bowl, sprinkle the shrimp generously with salt and pepper.

In a separate pan, melt the butter and add shrimp. The frozen shrimp are already cooked so you're pretty much just heating them through.

When shrimp are hot and cooked through, add them to curry. Taste curry for salt and serve over basmati rice.

This was incredibly easy and quick. I've always thought of curry as being somewhat tedious, but this recipe is not at all. The result was some spicy, authentic-tasting, mouth watering curry. I loved every bite. A pharmacist I work with even ate the cold leftovers the next day and said it was the best curry he had ever tasted. Now if you can eat something cold and say it's the best you've ever had... that says something. Enjoy!

Shrimp Stir Fry

I've said it once, and I'll say it again, stir frys are awesome. They're fast, they're easy, and they're pretty much the most versatile thing one can cook. Throw in what you have and voila, you have an instant stir fry. I love this version a lot because it's very fresh with the crisp vegetables, and the sauce just pulls everything together. Thanks to the folks over at Aggie's Kitchen for this great recipe that I tweaked just a tad.

Ingredients:

1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1 broccoli head, chopped
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1 cup snap peas
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons corn starch
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons chili garlic paste
1/4 teaspoon fish sauce

Combine the rice vinegar, soy sauce, chili paste, cornstarch, fish sauce, and sesame oil in a small bowl until well incorporated.

Heat a skillet under medium to high heat. Add the oil, garlic, and shrimp. Saute until shrimp are just pink, about 3 minutes. Take shrimp out of pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add onion and broccoli to wok. Cook for about 2 minutes. Then add water chestnuts and snap peas. Cook for another 2 minutes. Add shrimp back in and stir in sauce. Let sauce thicken and mix well, maybe 5 more minutes. Really just cook it until the vegetables are to your desired doneness. Some like them crispy, some like them mushy. I like them somewhere in between. You can serve with rice or eat by itself. Enjoy!


This was absolutely great. Whipped up in minutes. It probably took more time prepping the vegetables and the shrimp and it did to actually have everything cooked and ready. Definitely a keeper recipe!

Spicy Green Beans & Shrimp

First of all, I want to thank anyone and everyone that voted for my eggplant dish in Foodie Fight's Battle #8: Eggplant/White Wine. Crossing my fingers that the results turn out in my favor, or at least that I kept up with the competition!

So, in the mean time, I figured I'd post this quick and delicious recipe for Spicy Green Beans & Shrimp that Andy and I had for dinner last week. Credit goes to Dishing Up Delight's blog who found the recipe from another blog, so I guess this is just a turning into a chain, so feel free to pass it along to the next guy. This is definitely something that can be fixed up on a weeknight and not feel guilty about eating it, because it's mucho healthy.

What You'll Need:

1 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 in. pieces
3 tblsp. olive oil, divided
1/2 tea. ground coriander
1/2 tea. ground cumin
1 tea. salt, divided
1 tea. freshly ground black pepper, divided
1/8 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (I used cayenne pepper)
3/4 lb. raw shrimp (peeled and deveined, I also left the tails on mine)
zest from 1 lemon (cut lemon into wedges as garnish for plating)


As far as the cooking, it goes by pretty quick.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Toss the trimmed beans in 1 & 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, coriander, cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and cayenne pepper.



Toss shrimp in separate bowl with remaining 1 & 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, lemon zest, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.


Spray sheet pan with non-stick cooking spray and lay down green beans in single layer. Roast in oven for about 10 minutes. Make sure to stir them up mid-way.

After 10 minutes, layer shrimp on top of beans and roast for about 5 more minutes, or until shrimp looks pink and juicy.


Squeeze lemon on top of shrimp and save wedge for garnish. Enjoy!


I couldn't believe how delicious this was. So simple, so fresh... sooooooo gooood.