30 Minute Meal--Gnocchi with Walnut Pesto and Lime Garlic Shrimp

Visited a farmer's market today for the first time and it was so great.  I love the little stalls and the goodies these people sell!  I scored a bag of trail mix with no peanuts or raisins...i hate raisins.  He makes them with almonds, cashews, dried strawberries, blueberries, and cranberries. YUM.  I also picked up an almond croissant and a loaf of sourdough, some pickling cucumbers and an eggplant, and picked up a smoothie from the Juice Girl truck for my ride home.  This has become my new favorite thing.

Got home a little later than usual, so I wanted to put together something quick.  One of the stalls was selling homemade olive oil, one was infused with lemon, so that gave me the idea of making some lemon infused olive oil over the stove and toss in some shrimp.  I had gnocchi in the pantry and a basil plant with beautiful, fragrant leaves perfect for some pesto.  So I thought, let's combine all of this!

Unfortunately, I didn't have lemons, nor did I have parmesan for my pesto.  Called and texted the hubby, but he came back with neither. Great.  So I did what anyone would do...I chastised him for not calling me from the store to ask if I need anything and then I improvised.

It's a quick meal.  I used ready made gnocchi, threw together the pesto in my magic bullet (sans parmesan), and quickly sauteed the shrimp with some olive oil, lime zest, garlic, onions, bell peppers, and white wine. And then all of it was combined in a bowl.  Enjoy it with some crusty bread, we indulged in a slice of the fresh sourdough.

Gnocchi with Walnut Pesto and Lime Garlic Shrimp:

1 package Gnocchi (I used Trader Joe's or use homemade)
olive oil
1 tbs minced garlic
red pepper flakes
1/2 small onion, sliced
1/2 small red pepper, sliced
1 lime, zested
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (tails on optional)
1/2 cup white wine
salt
pepper
garlic powder
1 pat butter
1/2 cup walnut pesto (make your own or use some that you already have on hand)

Heat a skillet over medium heat and add enough olive oil to coat the pan.  Throw in the minced garlic, lime zest, and pepper flakes.  Cook until fragrant.  Add the onions and bell pepper and cook until they have softened down.  Add shrimp, and squeeze in the juice of the zested lime.  Cook for one minute and then add the wine.  Let this cook down for about 2 minutes and season the shrimp with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Add the pat of butter.  The mixture should not be dry, do not overcook the shrimp or burn off all the liquid.

Turn the heat to low and stir the pesto into the shrimp.

Cook the gnocchi according to package instructions.

Toss gnocchi with the pesto lime shrimp and top with fresh basil.

Enjoy!

Hatch Chile Season!

It's August and it's hatch chile season!  They are long, beautiful green peppers that are produced in Hatch, NM and range from mild to hot peppers.  They smell and taste great!  You can use these peppers in sauces, burgers, marinades, etc, etc.  HEB bakes hatch chile and cheddar bread! BREAD!! They also make things real convenient by selling freshly roasted peppers.  I love HEB.

Hubby and I are trying to eat healthy and clean for at least 2 weeks.  It's been a tough two days.  It was hard not to grab that loaf of bread and stuff my face in it.

This was a healthy and extremely flavorful meal, but each component can be made individually to use with other sides or main dishes.  I had a fun time in the kitchen experimenting tonight and I hope that if you try these recipes, you enjoy the meal as much as we did.

Side note, if you do not want to buy the peppers already roasted, you can roast them yourself by rubbing the peppers lightly with olive oil and throwing them in a 425 oven until the skins are charred. Remove from oven and throw in a plastic ziploc and shut tight.  The steam helps the skin to peel easily.  Done. Roasted chiles. For the recipes below, feel free to use hot or mild peppers.

Hatch Chile Chicken:

6 thin chicken breasts (cut 3 large chicken breasts in half to to get 6 thin slices)
1/2 cup greek strained yogurt (Fage is a great brand)
1 large roasted hatch chile, skin removed
1 tbs minced garlic
red chili flakes
ground black pepper
sea salt
1 tbs olive oil
splash of water

Combine yogurt through the water in a blender and blend til smooth, taste and spice accordingly.  Pour over chicken, mix, and let marinate at the very least an hour.

Preheat your grill to 400 (you can also bake at 400 in your oven, I just love grilling).  Thoroughly spray the grates with canola.  Add chicken and let grill 6-8 minutes on each side with the grill lid closed.  Make sure you make some pretty grill marks!  Check the thickest cut to make sure it's cooked through.

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Sweet Potato Hashbrowns with Hatch Chile and Cheddar: (makes 6)

1 large sweet potato, peeled and shredded
1/2 large roasted hatch chile, chopped finely
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
sea salt
cracked black pepper
chili powder
garlic powder

Set your oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 425 and spray a baking pan with canola spray.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, season to taste, and mix with your hands or spoon until everything is all together and happy.

Carefully form the mixture into small patties and flatten out on the baking pan. They're very wet and may fall apart if you handle them too much. Use a light hand

Bake for 10 minutes, then flip and bake another 10 min.  Get them nice and dark brown on the brink of crispy.  They crisp up once they're removed from the oven.

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Avocado Cilantro Sauce:

1 lime, squeezed
1 tbs. olive oil
cilantro, small handful
1 avocado, peeled and chunked
sea salt
ground black pepper
red chili flakes
garlic powder
1/4 cup water

Combine all of this into a blender, spice to taste, and blend until smooth.  Add more water if too thick. Proceed to slurp up with a straw.

I did not use peppers in the avocado sauce because I was combining all three recipes, and I didn't want it to be a hatch chile overload!  But if you are making the sauce for something else, throw in half a peeled roasted pepper...I promise it'll be delicious!

Enjoy, enjoy!

Butter Chicken

I've gotten quite a few requests for this recipe and I actually just sent it out to a friend just now.  Since it's all typed up for her in an email, I figured half the work is done for my post!  Copy and paste my friends.

I'm not sure if my version is super authentic and I do have 2 methods (asterik'd at the bottom) of making this dish, but it's always received well by everyone and I think it tastes better than the butter chicken you get at some Indian restaurants. Some use ketchup or use too much tomato, so it tastes sweet, or they use way too much cream, so I feel like I'm eating milk over rice, and most of the time, the dish is dyed with red dye. Eew. 

My usual version is a little less heavy on the cream and butter, but traditional butter chicken is made with plenty of both! As usual, feel free to adjust both to your liking, it doesn't affect the amount made really, just the richness (and fat content) of the dish. 

People think it's a difficult dish, but it's not.  It's pretty quick to put together and simple, but it definitely doesn't taste or present that way!

Butter Chicken:

2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks

1/2 packet tandoori masala (I used Shaan, no dyes)

1 cup yogurt

salt

pepper

oil (whatever you like)

1 pat butter, or more if desired

1/2 large onion diced

2 cinnamon sticks

1 tbs garam masala

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbs garlic/ginger paste

2 tbs tomato paste

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup heavy cream, or more if desired.

Cilantro, chopped (some for the curry, some for garnish)

Marinate the chicken chunks with masala, yogurt, salt and pepper.  Let sit at the very least for 30 min, but longer the better!

In a pot, heat the oil, add the butter to melt.  Cook onions with the cinnamon sticks until the onions are translucent and getting fried (don't brown).  Add the tomato paste and let it caramelize, like a minute or two. Then add the garam masala, cinnamon, and garlic/ginger paste.  Cook that with the onion/tomato paste mixture for a couple of minutes until you smell the spices.

Throw in the marinated chicken and I usually use the half cup of water to clean out the bowl to get the marinade out and put that in with the chicken also.  Just like my mom does.  Let that come to a simmer.  Add the cream and let simmer and reduce until cooked.  Add a little chopped cilantro and stir in.  Feel free to add more water or cream if needed.  You want the consistency of the curry to not be water-y, but creamy and rich looking.  Garnish with cilantro and serve with basmati rice and/or naan!

**The second way I make this dish, if I have the time, I bake the chicken pieces in the marinade at 350 in the oven until they are halfway cooked.  Then I just throw that into the curry that's been made on the stove and let it all come together.  You get more tender chicken this way, but that's only when I have extra time.  It tastes just as awesome when the chicken is cooked with everything on the stove and it's less dishes :)**

ENJOY!!

Summer Eats

I'm here sitting in bed munching on a cookie and spilling crumbs in the bed, much to my hubby's dismay.  I'm trying to hide the evidence before he gets out of shower...

It's Ramadan or Ramazan time for us Muslims out there...a time for peace, reflection, and some praying.  It's honestly one of my favorite times of the year because all Muslims are doing the same thing at the same time and it's comforting and gives us this sense of community.  We come together during this time to do good for ourselves and for others.   

This year Ramazan landed during our Texas summer, where the heat is not to be messed with.  The fasts are long and challenging without the help of water.  Our days of fasting begin with "sehri," which is the morning meal eaten before the sun comes up.  Usually I make eggs or have almond butter and toast and at least 2 glasses of water.  At night though...that's when my real cooking begins.  For some reason, during Ramazan I crave really random foods, and tend to experiment/have more fun in the kitchen. Sadly, this year we have been eating out more than in, mostly at other people's homes for iftar parties.

Cooking during Ramazan puts my mind at ease and takes it off of the hunger.  Seems odd to some that something that involves food when fasting is therapeutic, but for me it works that way.  I can watch hours of cooking shows and read food blogs and that gets me through.

Tonight I put together something very quick and summer-y, so as not to stand over a hot stove longer than I needed to.  I've been seeing recipes for watermelon salad all over Pinterest and the web, and of course, started craving.  Watermelon SCREAMS summer!  Paired with cool cucumber and mint, it was delicious, fresh, and summer.  I decided to make shrimp as the main course, literally throwing things together that I had on hand! And there we have it, iftar.

Spicy Shrimp:

2 lbs large-jumbo shrimp (deveined, shells on)

olive oil

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

Sea salt

cracked black pepper

juice of 2 lemons

hot sauce (your favorite)

minced garlic

cayenne pepper

1/2 stick salted butter
parsley, chopped

Rinse shrimp under cold water and lay out in a single layer on large baking sheet or dish.  Drizzle over olive oil, Worcesteshire, lemon juice, and hot sauce.  Sprinkle on sea salt, a hefty helping of black pepper, a sprinkle of cayenne based on your spice level.  Throw on some minced garlic and sprinkle on the parsley.

Cut the butter into pats and lay on top of the shrimp.  Slip into the broiler for about 10 minutes.  Take out and let rest for about 5 minutes.  Dig in!  Use warm crusty bread to sop up the delicious juices!

Watermelon Salad:

2 cups cubed seedless watermelon

1/2 cucumber, diced1/4 cup sliced kalamata olives

1/2 cup feta

1 tbs chopped mint

balsamic glaze (bought or made w/ 1 cup balsamic vinegar and 1 tbs brown sugar heated to a boil, then heat reduced to a simmer until a syrup forms)

Combine, toss, and chill. Yum, yum!

Enjoy!!

Chili Cheese Fries

It's NBA finals time! Whoohoo! I actually enjoy watching basketball more than football, but football always brings the game watch parties and the fun food.  Basketball doesn't seem to warrant the same sense of celebrations in our group of friends.  They are more football loving.  Plus NBA games are later on at night on weekdays.  We are adults, and old, and have early bedtimes.  At least we do.

Today I'm sharing Shazad's favorite food ever, and a game day/night pleaser, chili cheese fries!  Who doesn't love chili cheese fries?  It's practically gluttony at it's finest with meat, cheese, and potatoes.

My only gripe with this meal is that it makes too much for 2 people...so invite a friend or friends over to help you eat this up!

Chili Cheese Fries:

Chili:

olive oil
1 lb ground beef
1/2 onion, diced
2 tbs. tomato paste
1/2 can beans (I used black, rinsed)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Chili Powder
Cumin
Coriander
Taco seasoning (in lieu of spices listed above, or your own homemade taco blend)
1 cup water

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add ground beef and brown.  Push the beef to the side of the skillet and add your onion.  Saute them until softened and translucent.  Add tomato paste and let it fry up a bit to get all tasty.  Just a minute or two.

Combine everything together in the skillet, and add your spices.  Pretty much a dash of everything.  I tend to add quite a bit of chili powder and garlic powder, but add to your liking.  If you have pre-made taco seasoning (so much salt, geez, make your own), add about half the package or use 1-2 tbs of your homemade seasoning.  I just kind of sprinkled in a bit of all the spices myself.  You can add more once you taste the meat.  Just make sure the meat is cooked first before you shove it into your mouth.

Add the beans and water, and let it cook down.

As that is going, pop in your favorite fries into the oven.  I used Alice's All Natural Sweet Potato Fries.  They were already seasoned and tasted delicious with the chili and cheese. I love sweet potato fries.  You can use traditional fries, tots, steak fries, or make your own!  Just get the base in the oven to start crisping up.

Cheese Sauce:

2 tbs. butter
2 tbs. all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup milk
2 cups shredded cheese
1 tbs. ketchup
1 tsp. mustard
black pepper
salt

Over medium heat, make a roux by melting the butter, then adding the flour and whisking both until it begins to give off a nutty aroma and starts turning brown.

Whisk in the milk and turn the heat to low.  Once the milk is warmed up, add the shredded cheese one cup at a time, waiting for it to melt until adding the next handful.  You want the cheese to melt slowly, otherwise, you'll have a grainy sauce.  This has happened to me countless times!

Add the ketchup and mustard, a dash of salt and a couple cranks of fresh black pepper. Voila, melty cheese that's is not made with a crockpot and Velveeta!

To assemble:

Plate up some crispy hot fries, ladle on a bit of cheese sauce, put on a scoop of chili, more cheese and then dress it up with cilantro, pico, sour cream, guac, lettuce, whatever, and ENJOY!!

Seafood Karahi

Was in the mood for something spicy and nothing captures that better than Indo-Paki food.  Our food is so unique because of our spice palette and nothing beats food from your home country, ever!

One of the easiest dishes I know how to whip up is Karahi Chicken.  One of my favorite Pakistani dishes. My dad makes the absolute best Karahi Gosht (beef).  It's a dish made in a karahi, the South Asian version of a wok, with lots of tomatoes, chilies, cilantro, garlic, ginger, spices, and meat.  I make mine with chicken because I don't have the patience to wait for beef to get tender, unless I have a couple hours to wait.  It's 6:30pm, I'm exhausted, and I want dinner NOW.

I decided to get a little creative and use salmon and shrimp in my karahi, and it was a darn good decision. We love seafood in our house, so this was a total win.  Salmon is a nice meaty fish that holds it shape in cooking, and shrimp, well it's shrimp...perfect for a curry...yum.  Both soaked up the curry sauce and its spices so well and cooked up quicker than chicken or beef.

 Seafood Karahi:

Vegetable oil
1 medium onion, halved, sliced thinly
1 tsp ground red pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garam masala (found in the indian store, or make your own; my MIL does)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbs green masala (grounded serrano peppers, cilantro, garlic, and ginger)
1 tbs ginger & garlic paste (LOVE this)
1/2 serrano pepper sliced in half, deseeded and deveined
1-in portion of ginger, sliced thinly
3 roma tomatoes, halved, chunked
1/2 pound salmon, chunked
1/2 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
Handful chopped cilantro

Heat 2 tbs vegetable oil in your karahi (wok) over medium heat.  Add onions and fry until a deep brown color.  Add the serrano and ginger, and fry for 2 minutes.

Add the spices, plus green masala and ginger/garlic paste.  Fry this up with the onions for about 2 minutes so the spices toast up and let off their aroma.  Be careful not to let this splatter on you...liquid plus oil is scary.

Throw in the tomatoes, and let simmer with the spices and onions until the tomatoes begin to break down (look at you...making curry...)

Add in the salmon first and cook for about 5 minutes and then add the shrimp, since it takes far less time to cook shrimp.  Throw in some cilantro, reserving some for garnish, and stir.  Let simmer until salmon is flaky and shrimp is opaque.  Eat over basmati rice and garnish with cilantro.

Enjoy!

Italian Drunken, or Sober, Noodles

Life has been busy.  Life has been good.  Life has been overwhelming.  Life has been a little drama.  Life has been forgiving.  Life has been fun.  Life has been promising. Life has been messy.  Life has been loving.

Pretty much sums up my absence from the blog and cooking/creating in the kitchen.  My fridge is completely full of crap, literally just a bunch of stuff in there I can do nothing with.  Therefore, it is crap.  I haven't been visiting the grocery store as often because construction has brought death to my daily shopping. We have been eating out, and been eating randomly.  Hubby and I haven't been going on our bike rides.  My house is crazy looking.  My months are packed before they even begin.  And my bank account, well, let's not speak of this.  I've been all over the place mentally and physically.

It so nice that people think of me enough to invite me places or to share in their special moments or think of me just to hang out, and I love that.  But I think, sometimes, I just need to say no.  You'll still invite me next time though, right?

It's time to take a step back, clear up my calendar a bit, slow down, breathe, and get my life together. Sometimes I throw myself into too much, become overwhelmed, and then hide in a corner to recoup.  It's a vicious cycle.  Although I enjoy my social life, I am beginning to enjoy my introverted life more.  Slowly, as I am getting older, day by freaking day, I'm realizing I've come to a point where I don't want to do EVERYTHING, mainly because I have experienced so much in life that doing it more than once, twice, or even three times has gotten old.  For so many years I've been told by those closest to me that I keep myself way too busy and am always running around or out of town, but I think I just needed to come to that point on my own.  I'm here now. And I'm finally okay with it.

Here's a comforting recipe adapted from The Cozy Apron. It's simple and good.  Exactly what I needed.

Italian Drunken Noodles: you can make these sober noodles and substitute wine for stock.

- 4 spicy Italian sausage links, casings removed (I used turkey)
- Olive oil
- 1 medium onion, halved, and sliced
- 1 small red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 small yellow bell pepper, sliced
- 1 small orange bell pepper, sliced
(I used halves of large bell peppers)
- 4 large mushrooms, sliced
- 3 tbs minced garlic
- sea salt
- 1 tbs Italian seasoning
- coarse black pepper
- red pepper flakes
- 1 cup white wine (I used Chardonnay also) or 1/2 cup stock
- 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice (I used the basil, oregano, garlic ones)
- handful flat leaf parsley, chopped
- 3 large leaves basil, sliced thinly
- 8 oz Pappardelle noodles, uncooked

Heat 2 tbs of olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat.  Crumble in the sausage in chunks, and brown. Once browned, take the sausage out with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate or bowl for later.

In the same pot, add the onion and let it get brown, beautiful and caramel-y.  Don't let it burn.  Add in the sliced bell peppers and mushrooms and allow them to get a little color on them (few minutes).  Next, add the garlic, a dash of salt, the Italian seasoning, a few cranks of cracked pepper, and red pepper flakes to your liking.  The sausage already has a kick, but we like spicy, so we added quite a bit to ours.  Give this a quick stir.

Add in the wine, and let it reduce until it's almost gone, I kept about 1/4 cup in there.  If using stock, you can let it simmer for a few minutes.

Next, add the tomatoes with the juice and the cooked sausage.  Fold and mix it all together, add some of the chopped parsley and some of the sliced basil (keeping a bit of each for garnish) and let simmer.

Move on to the noodles, bring a pot of water to a boil.  Add salt and your noodles. Cook until desired bite (I like al-dente), and drain.

Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil to the sauce because it makes it amazing.  Then, depending on which pot is bigger, add the noodles to the sauce, or the sauce to the noodles.  Toss together gently.

Garnish with parsley and basil.

ENJOY!

FYI, "drunken" noodles are actually a Thai dish known as pad-kee-mao (my favorite) and has been thought to have derived it's name because someone, after a night of drinking, wanted something that could be thrown together with whatever ingredients were handy and thus this person created a spicy noodle dish that later gained popularity.  To say this is true or not, who knows.  I just know it's a delicious noodle dish that can be enjoyed with or without a night of drinking.