Spinach, Shrimp Quinoa Salad

Serves 2 as a meal, 4 as a side dish

-1/2 cup of dried quinoa
-1 1/2 cups cooked string beans 
-1 cup corn from the cob, grilled (two or three cobs, depending on size)

-1 clove of garlic

-2 tablespoons of olive oil

-8 medium shrimp, pealed, deveined and cooked

-1/2 Vidalia onion, chopped

-2 avocados, chopped

-1 cup of cherry tomatoes, cut in half -in the picture I used Roma tomatoes. Use whatever you have

-2 cups of baby spinach

-1/2 cup of fresh cilantro, chopped

If you want to make this dish easier, just use corn from a can. The corn on the cob will, however, taste much more fresh and will add that summer grill savor to your salad, which pairs well with the earthy flavors from the cumin in the dressing. 

Dressing

-Juice of 1/2 lemon

-1teaspoon of lemon zest

-2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard

-1 teaspoon orange juice

-1/2 teaspoon cumin

-2 teaspoons olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook quinoa according to package directions. Set aside to cool. Steam string beans and set them aside. Once they're cool, cut them into 1 inch long pieces. Grill the corn on the cob. I like to steam it first on the stove for about 6 minutes, then girl each side for a couple minutes. This way you get the taste from the grill but cook the corn through without burning it. Carefully cut the corn off the cob.

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high flame. Sprinkle a pinch of salt, pepper and cumin on shrimp. Add shrimp to sauce pan and cook for about 3 minutes on each side or until shrimp turns pink. Remove from heat.

In a salad bowl add quinoa, onion, avocado, tomatoes, corn, spinach, cilantro string beans and shrimp.

For the dressing, add all of the ingredients together and whisk. Pour on top of the salad and mix gently. 

Ricotta and Sausage Stuffed Pasta Shells

Serves 4

-12 ounces of jumbo pasta shells (1 box)

-2 tablespoons of olive oil

-3/4 pound of sweet Italian sausage, casings removed-about 3 sausages

-1/2 cup of pine nuts, roasted and chopped

-1 clove of garlic, minced (depends on how garlicky your pesto is. If you follow my recipe *found in sauces, do not add garlic)

-1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

-1 (15 ounce) container of ricotta cheese

-1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan

-1 cup of fresh spinach, chopped

-1/3 cup pesto

-2 egg yolks

-2 (8 ounce) packages of fresh buffalo mozzarella, sliced and cut into small pieces

Partially cook the pasta shells in a large pot of boiling salted water for about 4-6 minutes. They should be slightly tender but still firm. The shells will continue to cook in the oven so they need to only be cooked slightly. When the pasta is ready, drain (leaving about a tablespoon of pasta water in the pot) and place the shells on a baking sheet. Allow them to cool enough to be handled.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium flame. Add the sausage and pine nuts. Cook until sausage has just browned, stirring as it cooks. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for another minute, about 6 minutes in total. Remember it will continue to cook in the oven. 

In a separate bowl, mix ricotta, parmesan, spinach and pesto. Add in the meat mixture and the pasta water and mix together.

Fill the shells with mixture, about 2 tablespoons per shell. 

Bake on a lower rack of your oven until the filling is heated through and the top is golden brown, about 25-30 minutes. Half way through the baking, pull the pan out and quickly add mozzarella on top of each shell. Stick them back into the oven and continue to bake. This is so the filling is heated thoroughly but the cheese on top does no burn. 

Shrimp Cups

Last night we had company for dinner. My sister was in charge of the meal, which turned out to be phenomenal if I may add. Being in a cooking mood, I decided to make an Hor d'oeuvre.

I can feel fall peaking its head around the corner, slowly inching towards us as the days get shorter and the temperature gradually drops each day. Fall is my favorite time of the year, but I have to admit that summer dishes are my favorite to cook. I realized that this was likely our last “summer dinner” and decided to make an appropriate dish.

The last thing we needed were more groceries in the house. Wasted food really drives me crazy so I wanted to make something with the food we already had.  I found shrimp in the freezer, a ripe avocado and cilantro- sold. When I first wrote this recipe I envisioned using wanton wrappers as the base. We did not have any in the house and I wanted to stick with my challenge so I got innovative. I found tortillas and decided to bake them into mini cups.

To do this cut small tortillas into four pieces. Brush them with olive oil  and place them into mini muffin cups. Cook on 400 degrees F for about ten minutes or until they are golden brown. 

The tortilla cups are more difficult to fill and they may not stand up exactly straight but otherwise, they work just as well as the wonton wrappers. Use whichever you like.

This dish is fairly time consuming but looks impressive and tastes great. I would absolutely advise making this if you are bringing something to a party or, like me, are in charge of just appetizers at your dinner party.

Makes 24

-24 Wonton wrappers

-3 tablespoons olive oil

-24 medium shrimp, pealed and deveined

-1/2 teaspoon lime zest

-1 pinch to 1/2 teaspoon chili powder (depending on desired heat)

-1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

-1 1/2 medium, ripe avocados 

-2 tablespoons of mayonnaise Healthier Choice: use Greek yogurt

-1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped

-1 teaspoon cumin

-1 tablespoon limejuice

-2 green onions, thinly sliced

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Brush wonton wrappers with olive oil. Place into 24 mini muffin cups. Bake for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown in color.

Meanwhile, toss shrimp into a bowl with 1-tablespoon olive oil, zest, chili powder, paprika, garlic powder and salt and pepper. Allow it to marinade while wrappers bake.

Place shrimp on a baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes or until opaque. Allow them to cool then roughly cut them into smaller pieces.

With a fork or in a food processor combine avocado, mayonnaise, cilantro, cumin, lime juice, half of the green onions, 1 tablespoon olive oil and salt and pepper. Mix well until it forms a paste.

Assemble the cups by adding a tablespoon of avocado paste, a few green onion slices and some pieces of shrimp.

Homemade Hummus

Hummus is very simple to make and tastes much better when it is homemade. Plus, for those of you on a tight budget, it is a lot cheaper than buying hummus in the store. 

It is very simple to make variations of hummus. I advise making the original a few times first. Play around with the amount of salt, water, lemon, etc. to make it exactly how you like it. Then, try some of the variations I have listed below. Once you do I am sure that you can come up with some hummus recipes of your own. Let your inner-chef come alive. This is an easy way to introduce that creative mind of yours to the kitchen.  Good luck!

Original 

Makes a big batch- feel free to cut the recipe in half. The photograph above is only a small portion of what this recipe will yield. 

-2 cups of canned chickpeas, drained and well rinsed- preserve a bit of the water

-1-2 garlic cloves

-1 tablespoon of extran virgin olive oil

-1/3 cup tahini

-Juice of 1 large lemon

-1 teaspoon of cumin

Pinch of salt  and white pepper

-1 tablespoon of olive oil, pine nuts and dried mint leaves for garnish 

Place garlic and olive oil into a food processor. Blend until garlic is smooth. Add the remaining ingredients. As you blend, add some of the water from the chickpeas until the mixture has enough liquid to blend (make sure to add little-by-little so that your hummus does not become too liquidy). Blend until hummus is smooth and creamy. I like to blend the mixture for about five-eight minutes so that it becomes nice and creamy. Add salt and white pepper to taste. Transfer into a bowl and garnish. 

Healthier choice: I use the water from the can of chickpeas instead of using canola oil, which is healthier. However, this water is very high in sodium. If you want to cut down on the sodium, simply use plain water. 

You can easily make several variations of hummus. I made a roasted red pepper hummus just the other day. Below I have created several variations for you all to try. 

Sun-dried tomato hummus: follow the recipe above and add 2 tablespoons of sundried tomato packaged in liquid. Put in food processor with other ingredients. I like to add half a tablespoon of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes. 

Roasted red bell pepper hummus: follow the recipe above and add 1 roasted bell pepper and 1 teaspoon of paprika. To make it spicy, add ½ teaspoon of crushed red pepper.

Artichoke Hummus: follow the recipe above and add 5 hearts of marinated artichoke in food processor. 

Cucumber Dill Hummus: follow the recipe above and add 1/2 cucumber, pealed and chopped, and 1 teaspoon of fresh dill. Cucumber holds a lot of liquid so take out the water in the original recipe. 

Black bean Hummus: follow the recipe above but substitute the second cup of chickpeas for cooked black beans. If you get them from a can make sure to rinse well. 

You get the idea... You can also make cilantro hummus by adding a handful of cilantro and substituting lime for lemon. Or make a basil hummus by simply adding a handful of basil. Make an edemame hummus by adding 1 1/2 cups of edemame in place of the second can of chickpeas and adding a tablespoon of cilantro. Play around with it. This is an easy way to improvise and impress your guests.

Stuffed Artichokes

This dish takes artichokes to a new extreme. One day I saw a picture of a stuffed artichoke in a food magazine. I cannot remember which one, considering we have subscriptions to about five food magazines at our house. If you cannot already tell you are entering a house of foodies by our stuffed fridge and pantry, our beautiful kitchen, filled with every cooking tool you can imagine, or the fact that there is always someone in there eating; you will find food magazines covering every coffee table and several counters around the house. So… as I was saying, I do not remember which magazine sparked my interest in stuffed artichokes, but one day last year I decided to write this recipe. 

I love eating whole artichokes but get bored simply dipping them in butter or salad dressing. These artichokes can be eaten without a dip. They are steamed in flavorful water so that the artichoke meat is tasty. On top of that, each leaf you pull off will be covered in a savory, chunky mixture. They are delicious and fun to eat. 

Just know when serving these that they are much heartier than traditional artichokes and will be fairly filling. If serving as an appetizer, make sure your main course is small or light. When I cooked this recipe, I made two for a table of four to share before dinner. 

Makes 4 artichokes

-4 whole Artichokes (generally one per person, adjust recipe accordingly) 

-2 cups of white wine

-1 cup water

-1 lemon

-1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 

-3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped 

-Four slices of prosciutto or jamon serano 

-4 plum tomatoes, chopped into small cubes 

-3/4 cup of grated Parmesan 

-3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley leaves

-3 tablespoons fresh chopped basil leaves 

-2 tablespoons capers, drained & chopped

Cut off the tops of the artichokes and snip off the extra sharp tips. Cut off stems. Gently pull on the leaves to widen the spaces between them. 

Fill large pot with wine, 1 cup of water, juice from one half of lemon, and pinch of salt. Place artichokes face down into the liquid, cover and boil for 35 minutes.

In a pan add olive oil and heat over medium flame. Fry up prosciutto and garlic for about 5 minutes until the garlic is golden and prosciutto is slightly crispy. 

In a bowl add tomatoes, Parmesan, fresh herbs, capers, prosciutto garlic mixture, other lemon half and a pinch of lemon zest. Mix together

When artichokes are finished, pull out and allow them to cool for a minute. When they have cooled a bit, use a spoon to scoop tomato mixture in between leaves. Be careful as not to burn yourself. 

Place artichokes-stems down- in the pot. Put heat on low and cook for 8 minutes. The cheese will melt and the flavors from the herbs and capers will release into the artichoke. 

Allow them to cool briefly and serve. 

Stuffed Lamb Loin Served with Mint Couscous

-1 boneless lamb loin, trimmed and split lengthwise  

-4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

-2 cloves of garlic, chopped

-Juice of 1/2 lemon

-2 tablespoons of dried mint leaves

-1 cup of baby spinach

-4 ounces of sundried tomatoes, packages in olive oil and roughly chopped

-2 tablespoons of fresh parsley leaves, roughly chopped

-1/2 cup of pine nuts, roasted  

-2/3 cup of feta cheese

Course sea salt and course ground black pepper

Kitchen twine

Place lamb in a large plastic bag with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, garlic, lemon and mint. Marinade in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a skillet heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add spinach, sundried tomato, parsley and pine nuts and cook for 2 minutes over medium heat. You do this to simply mix the ingredients together. They will cook in the meat when baked.

Remove meat from marinade. Stuff meat with herb mixture and sprinkle feta cheese on top of mixture. Close meat together and tie with kitchen twine.

Bake lamb for 25-30 minutes for medium rare. Remove, wrap in tin foil and allow it to sit for 5-10 minutes.

Cut and serve. Serve with Couscous. Recipe below

Mint Couscous

Serves 4

-6 ounces of instant couscous

-2 tablespoons of olive oil

-1/2 cup of fresh mint, finely chopped

-1/3 cup of pecans, toasted and chopped

-2 tablespoons lemon juice

Salt and white pepper to taste

Cook couscous according to package directions. When ready, transfer from pot into a bowl. Fluff with a fork and add remaining ingredients. Mix and serve hot or cool.