Sautéed Shrimp Salad

Happy Wednesday!

We are officially halfway through the week! Jaxie starts school next week and he is so excited!!! As a former teacher I get super giddy about all the things school related..I have a special school themed breakfast planned for him and I have his lunch box, back pack, and nap mat ready to go!! He thinks he is such a big boy getting to eat his lunch at school this year!!! I am definitely going to be making a highlight of bento box lunches to give other mamas some helpful and healthy lunch ideas!

The other day we had meet the teacher and I was pressed for time. I really didn't plan out dinner but saw that we had shrimp in the freezer so I just pulled it out. When it comes to shrimp I am really picky.. Shrimp should always be WILD caught!! I prefer to buy the whole shrimp and then just peel and devein them myself. I also love going to my local seafood monger and buying the shrimp from there too! 

I decided a salad would be easy but I wanted to elevate it just a bit..so I pulled out a few veggies, a shallot, and my FAVORITE Tesse mae poppy seed dressing! I love this brand of dressing so much because it works as an actual marinade AND dressing. So flavorful and also very clean. 

It turned out phenomenal! I had a few friends message me for the recipe and they loved it!! I have been asked to make a blog post so here we are!! I hope y'all enjoy!

Ingredients: this recipe serves two. Double for more.

1 lb wild caught gulf shrimp

1 lemon

4 garlic cloves minced

1 cup cooked quinoa

1 shallot

1 yellow squash

handful of grape tomatoes

1 red bell pepper sliced 

feta cheese

salt and pepper

romaine lettuce

spinach

Method:

Start by setting half of the spinach and romaine in a salad bowl then set aside in the fridge. Make sure lettuce is rinsed and dried..if you are making it for a crowd go ahead and use all of your romaine and spinach.

Meanwhile-devein and peel your shrimp. ( you CAN Buy it deveined and peeled so you can skip this step)  pat your shrimp dry and set inside another bowl. Salt and pepper the shrimp and add the minced garlic and juice of 1/2 lemon. Add about 4 large tablespoons of the Tesse Mae marinade and mix together well. Set in fridge for 15 minutes.

In a large pan over medium high heat start heating up some olive oil or avocado oil ( both work well with this!) add in the sliced squash, shallot, red bell pepper and grape tomatoes. Cook down until almost caramelized and then add the shrimp in!! Take care to dump all of the shrimp ( with the marinade) into the pan. Cook until shrimp are pink and tails are curled!!!!

Next assemble your salad

On top of the lettuce add in the quinoa, and top with the sautéed shrimp and veggies. Add some feta and some extra dressing if desired. I also added some marcona almonds and they were phenomenal!!!! Squeeze extra lemon juice on top if desired as well!!

I am so sorry I don't have a picture of this! I was not planning on making this into a post!! So you may just have to make it yourselves and snap a picture :)

Happy cooking!!!!!

Versatile Fish Recipe

Hello all!! I have received quite a few DM's on instagram about different ways to cook fish!! I have been showing a lot of seafood lately because during the summer my family and I tend to cook very LIGHT suppers. My husband loves to offshore fish so he is constantly bringing back fresh fish so I might as well cook with it! Am I right! YES! So over the years I have come up with quite a few ways to cook fish so that it isn't so mundane when we are eating it a few times a week. I apologize for the lack of pictures but I did NOT take any pictures of my dinner from last night!!! Y'all will just have to exercise your imagination to dream of what it may look like :) 

Below is a VERY simple and versatile way to cook just about any fish! I LOVE to use this simple seasoning on shrimp, redfish, snapper, you could also use it on tilapia or cod. Just about any fish will work with this recipe with the exception of salmon. 

Ingredients:

Chille Powder

Tony Sachery seasoning 

2 limes

1 stick of butter sliced into pats ( small squares)

olive oil

Baking sheet ( covered with Aluminum foil)

Method:

pat your fish or shrimp dry and place on the baking sheet. Rub the fish down on both sides with some olive oil and liberally season the fish with both chilli powder and some Tony Sachery seasoning. squeeze the juice of a lime on top and then layer each filet with butter pats ( if you are using shrimp you will cook with a different method and I will list that below) cook the fish in the oven at 400 for 20 minutes or until the fish flakes. 

*** For shrimp: Go ahead and season just as I described above. In a large deep pan add in 1/4 stick of butter or olive oil. Then add your shrimp. Cook about 3 minutes each side or just until the shrimp turn pink and the tails curl in.  

Snapper Pasta

Happy Monday Friends!!!

I am truly having a case of the "Mondays" over here..

this morning I put my sunglasses in the fridge, my phone in the cabinet, and then had a million chores and errands to run that I AM JUST NOW drinking my coffee. That is a darn Monday if I have ever heard of one...

Anyways!! It brings me great joy to say that I have SO many new recipes for y'all this week!! I am going to actually type up three today. In the future I am going to make myself a set schedule on blog posts and then have them up in the mornings!!! So y'all can drink your coffee and read the blog :) For starters I am going to be talking about my much loved Snapper Pasta that I made in stories this past weekend. While at the beach with my parents and family, I made the most divine pasta EVER!!! I have made this pasta for years but never with snapper...and well, the snapper was the total game changer!! I am actually unsure if I could eat the pasta without it now. This pasta is versatile so don't get worried just yet if you don't have snapper at home. You can make this with Shrimp or keep it as a veggie pasta. Those have both worked wonderfully for me in the past so those are my recommendations. It was decadent and buttery but also light enough that it doesn't take away from the main star of the dish.. the fish. 

Ingredients:

1 large bunch of spinach

1 pint grape tomatoes ( halved)

2 lemons

1 shallot

1 bunch basil- chopped

1 can artichoke hearts- drained and rinsed

1 package angel hair pasta 

capers 

1 small yellow onion -chopped

1 cup chicken stock ( or more if needed) 

1 cup dry white wine

salt and pepper

tony sachereys 

2 tablespoons whipping cream

parmesan cheese ( high quality) 

1 egg lightly beaten

flour ( can substitute for almond of coconut)

olive oil

2 large snapper filets ( or more depending on how many you need)

** can also substitute shrimp ** 

Method:

In a pie plate or shallow dish of some sort pour out some flour, add in salt and pepper, Tony Sachery seasoning, and a bit of parmesan and mix together. Dredge the filets in egg then coat them in flour mixture . Set aside on a rack until you need them.  

** Boil the water for pasta*

Next, start sautéing your shallot and onion in some olive oil, cook until soft. Add in a cup of white wine and reduce...add in the juice of one lemon..continue to reduce. Next add in your spinach, grape tomatoes, and basil. Continue to cook down until the tomatoes are soft and start to pop their juices. Add in artichoke hearts and capers ( with a little of the caper juice for extra saltiness and some zing!) allow these amazing flavors to marry and start on your fish!

** Add in your pasta and let cook for 10 minutes!*

In a large pan add in some olive oil and turn the heat up to medium high. Add in your fish filets and sear them for four minutes on each side. the fish should flake and there should be an am amazing golden brown crust once done. 

While the fishing is cooking add in your cream and 1/2 cup parm cheese and stir together. You should be left with an am amazing fragrant and creamy veggie mixture.

Serve the pasta, with the sauce on top, then top with the fish filets. Squeeze a little extra lemon juice if needed and garnish with some fresh parsley!!!

You will WOW your guests/dinner company with this one!

Shrimp Pasta

Happy Thursday Friday Eve!!!!

Tuesday night I decided to get a little crafty in the kitchen and ignore my crockpot..
I pulled out a few pans..some basic ingredients and set out to make a simple shrimp pasta. Tuesday is not my grocery store day so I needed to make use of what I already had in my fridge. This pasta could not have turned out better and it was made with only  a few simple ingredients!!!! I chose shrimp because when I make a seafood pasta shrimp is always my go-to and as always, it did not disappoint.

When  I am making a seafood pasta my two favorite types of noodles to use are linguine or angel hair pasta. I used whole wheat linguine this time but honestly if you are watching your carbs- zoodles ( zucchini noodles) are a great option and taste just as yummy in my opinion!!!!

This recipe took me about 15 minutes to pull together...not difficult at all!!!

Enjoy!!!

Ingredients:

Juice of a lemon

Linguine noodles/zoodles/angel hair pasta

grape tomatoes - halved

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 onion- chopped and diced

butter

handful of spinach

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 LB shrimp - salt and peppered and lightly dusted in flour ( or almond flour)

** I lightly dusted my shrimp in flour- you can completely omit this and it will not change the recipe**

Method:

*TIP* Prep your dinner beforehand meaning deveining your shrimp and seasoning them, have your noodles ready and waiting to throw into the boiling water, have all your other ingredients chopped, diced, and ready to just throw in the pot**

In a medium sized dutch oven or large skillet start by sautéing the onion ( over medium heat)  in 2 tablespoons of butter once the onion is starting to turn translucent then add the garlic. While the onion/garlic is cooking go ahead and cook your noodles ( boiling hot water for ten minutes).  

To the onion and garlic add some dry white wine, the juice of a lemon and deglaze ( cook down a bit).  Then throw in your tomatoes and spinach and let them bathe in those wonderful juices allowing everything to sort of wilt and marry together. 

At this point your noodles should be finished- strain them and rinse them and add them to the pot with the garlic and onion and other veggies. Also add more butter at this time if needed and mix the noodles in well. 

Now to cook the shrimp

In a skillet with again..more butter :) 

add your shrimp- take care not to over crowd them

cook evenly for 3 minutes each side and then remove from heat. 

Toss the shrimp in with the noodles and add freshly grated parmesan cheese and basil!!!!

This was a great dinner!!!!

Jalepeno Popper stuffed Snapper with Orange Marmalade Sauce

So you can probably figure by my last post and now this one that I am kind of obsessed with snapper. Even better than that, I am kind of obsessed with awesome neighbors who share their fresh caught snapper with this girl and her husband!! WHOO!! It's SO good. The contrast between the jalapeño and marmalade are the perfect combo of sweet and spicy!  Every Sunday I make a big Sunday dinner for Brandon and myself and usually our next door neighbors or whatever friends we invite over.. my kitchen is literally always open!!! This Sunday I was looking for something to make that was interesting and different but I was craving fish! So when my friend gave me this recipe I had to have some. It was devoured in minutes. WINNING. For this appetizer recipe you will need the following:

two filets of snapper ( you can also use any firm clean white fish of your preference EXCEPT TILAPIA)
oyster sauce
orange marmalade
soy sauce
candied jalapeños (or sweet and spicy ones)
WHIPPED cream cheese

Directions:

Horizontally slit your fish all the way down without cutting through the skin ( kind of like making little pockets..make sense?)
next slice your jalepenos into slivers( make sure you slit them to where they can be lenghthy and fit into the slots)
pour a little juice from the peppers over the fish to juice it up and give it some spicy flavor!
then spread the fish with cream cheese
*
in a bowl mix together 1/4 cup marm.
1/4 cup oyster sauce
two table spoons soy

and finally pour the marmalade mixture over the fish

bake at 375 for 20 minutes

the fish will flake and you can serve with crackers..DELISH

Snapper Tacos & creamy cilantro sauce

The weather has been so beautiful in San Antonio lately so I was inspired to make one of my favorite summer dishes. Normally all through the summer we are at my family beach house just lounging around and fishing or laying out. My dad always catches fresh fish and shrimp and makes the best tacos! Lucky for us our next door neighbor recently came back from a successful fishing trip with some FRESH snapper!!!! Even better then that news was that they shared some with us!!!!!

I make fish tacos of all different kinds however my favorite are snapper. If you don't have an ocean in your backyard to catch fresh delicious snapper from you can just go get some tilapia, halibut, or mahi mahi- these all make great tacos.

For the cilantro sauce you will need:

bunch of cilantro
8 oz of cream cheese
16 oz of  sour cream
one jalapeno pepper-(diced and seeded)-unless you like super spicy
two packets of the hidden valley ranch seasoning

place all of the ingredients in a food processer and process away!!!!!

It will look something like this

 

 

 

 

Next

 

 

Pico de gallo ( I really hope I am spelling * GIYO right)

 

one large tomato-chopped

1/2 cup chopped onion 

small bunch of cilantro chopped

2-3 limes juiced

salt/pep

jalapeño pepper-optional

 

place ingredients in a shallow bowl and squeeze the lime juice over then place in the refrigerator so it can marinade while you cook the rest of your dinner

 

*** I also make a small bowl of guacamole but will not include the recipe since everyone has their own way of making it

 

SNAPPER TACO TIME:

 

two large snapper filets or any fish of your choice

Seasoned with salt, pepper, and either lemon pepper or a seafood rub

Juice of one large lemon

pre cut cabbage for the tacos

Bake in the oven at 375 for 13 minutes OR my personal favorite is to grill them on the grill either or works great

 once the fish is cooked and flaky take it out of the oven and place on some delicious homemade corn tortillas and top with the pico, cilantro sauce, cabbage, and guacamole!

 

TADA!!!!

 

Oh and a beach pic..because I am really missing the beach right now

 

 

DELICIOUS!