There are times in the heat of summer that I want soup. Yep, soup. And not one of those fruity cold soups either – real soup. Plenty of people look at me like I’m crazy when I make soup in the summer in Houston, but I say it’s no different than meatloaf or grilled chicken or anything else you serve hot – it’s freshly cooked food that soothes the soul, despite the weather outside.

It’s just now Memorial Day weekend, the symbolic start of summer for most people, but we’ve been into summer temperatures in Houston for a couple of weeks now. Spring was kind enough to hang on a bit longer than usual this year. But even this start of summer can’t stop me from craving soup.

Not only does the rise in temperatures tell me that summer is in full force, but it reminds me that we’re into the perfect time of year on the Gulf Coast to go crabbing! Crabbing is one of those efforts best undertaken simply – a string, some chicken necks, a net, and an enthusiastic child companion will generally do the trick. I have fond memories of trying to catch crabs on Galveston Island as a child and although I haven’t taken the weeone crabbing yet, I think it’s something we’ll tackle this season.

After all, if we catch our own crab, this soup will be even better! The most common crab along the Texas coast is blue crab, but whatever crab is in your seafood market will do when making this Savannah Style She Crab Soup. Like so many southern dishes, this soup starts with a roux – but a roux that includes browned flour makes the cooking time of the roux itself a bit shorter and gets you to your finished soup much quicker.

I’ve replace the traditional heavy cream with a combo of fat free half and half and 2% milk and that substitution makes the soup something even those on the strictest of diets can enjoy while still getting the rich creamy texture Savannah-Style Crab soup is famous for having. This is another one of those meals that gets better as it sits, so if you have it for dinner one night and lunch the next, your lunch will be divine.

All I ask is that you promise me this…if you make this soup, can you invite me over for dinner?

Savannah-Style She Crab Soup

 

Author: Terri from www.AGirlintheSouth.com

Nutritional Information

• Serves: 6

• Serving size: 1½ cups
• Calories: 336.8

• Fat: 14.1g
• Saturated fat: 3.0g
• Unsaturated fat: 0.9g
• Carbohydrates: 33.8g
• Sugar: 8.2g
• Sodium: 552.9mg
• Fiber: 3.1g
• Protein: 11.4g
• Cholesterol: 32.7mg

Recipe type: Dinner, Entree, Soup

Cuisine: Southern

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  30 mins

Total time:  40 mins

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A twist on a Southeastern favorite. This version of Savannah-Style She Crab soup lightens up the calories and fat, but keeps all of the great creaminess and flavor.

Ingredients

• Cooking Spray
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon light butter
• 2 cups chopped carrot
• ½ cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped onion
• ½ cup chopped red bell pepper
• ½ cup chopped green bell pepper
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cups clam juice
• 1½ cups whole or 2% milk
• ½ cup fat free half-and-half
• 1 pound lump crabmeat, shell pieces removed
• ⅓ cup dry sherry

Now What?

1. In a cast iron skillet, cook the flour, by itself for 10-15 minutes over medium-high heat or until well browned. It will need to be whisked regularly so as not to burn.
2. Meanwhile, in a soup pot, over medium hight heat, melt the butter then add the carrot, celery, onion, and bell peppers and sautee for about 5-7 minutes or until the veggies are all tender. Add the garlic and continue to sautee about 1 minute or until the garlic is very aromatic.
3. Add the seasonings (Old Bay – thyme) as well as the browned flower and mix well for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add to the soup pot the bay leaf and clam juice and bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
5. Slowly pour in the milk and half & half, stirring while you add them. Follow them by adding the crabmeat and sherry.
6. Cook the soup for another 5 minutes or until it is all well heated through. Serve hot with Old Bay available for additional seasoning.

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I know, I know, I know….it’s another recipe with crustaceans. But I trust if you’ve hung around me this long you know what to expect. Not only do I love crustaceans of all kinds, but they’re GOOD for you. They’re loaded with protein, but not in fat. Shrimp do have a a fair amount of cholesterol, but very little of your cholesterol level is actually influenced by food – it’s predominantly genetics. *But if your doc says reduce your cholesterol, try crab instead of shrimp* Naturally then, if you’re trying to reduce, seafood is a good choice and for me that choice is often shrimp or crab…and occasionally lobster.

The best crab cake I’ve ever eaten was at the Baltimore Yacht Club in Maryland. My brother and his family keep their boats there and it’s a place I love to visit. I don’t believe I’ve ever made a crab cake that came even close to that of BYC’s chef’s offering.

But I have never had a shrimp cake in a restaurant. Have you?

I don’t remember even seeing one – ever – on a menu and I’ve eaten at more than my fair share of seafood places. But I see shrimp cake recipes here, there and everywhere. Some emulate crab cakes, but with shrimp in crab’s place and some are built with a sweet potatoes and crab. I decided I’d start with the version that is purest to me – those close to crab cakes.

Turns out that shrimp cakes are a new favorites. Interestingly, they don’t taste as “shrimpy” as you might think. Don’t get me wrong, there is a shrimp flavor, but you also get the flavors of the things you blend with it. In this case, the pepper, hot sauce and lime juice were quite distinguishable and tasty. I think, like crab cakes, there are as many ways to make shrimp cakes as there are stars in the sky. Bread crumbs, crackers, panko, mustard, mayo, horseradish, lemon juice, lime juice, etc, the variations are quite extreme when you start poking around on the interwebs.

So grab your favorite flavors to pair with shrimp and throw these together like you do a crab cake. They were a hit. In fact, the next day I broke one apart to top a salad and it was just as good, if not better as a leftover. I’m a fan of anything that makes gets better overnight! We topped ours with a mix of corn, jalapeno, halved grape tomatoes and a little lime juice, but you can use whatever you have on hand.

Hot Sauce, Shrimp and Panko – Oh My! Shrimp Cakes

 

Author: Terri from www.AGirlintheSouth.com

Nutritional Information

• Serves: 5

• Serving size: 2 shrimp cakes
• Calories: 197

• Fat: 5.2g
• Saturated fat: 0.9g
• Unsaturated fat: 3.5g
• Carbohydrates: 14.4g
• Sugar: 1.2g
• Sodium: 236.7mg
• Fiber: 1.0g
• Protein: 21.5g
• Cholesterol: 178mg

Recipe type: Dinner, Entree

Cuisine: Seafood

Prep time:  50 mins

Cook time:  16 mins

Total time:  1 hour 6 mins

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You can top these shrimp cakes with a decadent cilantro lime sauce or a relish of fresh veggies. Either way, they’re a great twist on the crab cake.

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• ½ cup chopped red bell pepper
• ¼ cup chopped yellow onion
• ¼ cup sliced green onion, green tops only
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons reduced fat mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce (I use Frank’s)
• 1 large egg
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs

Now What?

1. Place the shrimp and the blade of a food processor in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
2. While the shrimp and blade are chilling, heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray to medium-high. Add the bell peppers and yellow onion to the pan, cooking for 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and sautee for another minute or until the garlic is quite aromatic.
3. Add the shrimp to a food processor and pulse about 6-8 times until the shrimps chopped, but not pulverized.
4. Add shrimp to the cooled mixture of peppers, onions and garlic. Also add the green onion, mayonnaise, lime juice, hot sauce, egg, cilantro, parsley and ⅓ cup of the Panko. Combine well.
5. Shape the mixture into 10 cakes, coating each side with the remaining panko, and place on a plate and refrigerate for 1 hour. *The chilling step can be skipped, but the cakes will be more fragile and may more easily fall apart during the cooking process.
6. Heat the large skillet over medium heat and coat with cooking spray again. Add the cakes – 4 to 5 will usually fit – and cook about 4-5 minutes per side or until the shrimp is cooked and the cakes hot throughout.

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Every now and then the name of a food intrigues me. Such is the case with spaghetti carbonara. Turns our that carbonara is a Roman term. It’s meant to denote a sauce of eggs, cheese and bacon. Beyond those three components, carbonara can be paired with any pasta although spaghetti is the most common. So if you’re a rigatoni fan, knock yourself out. It’s still carbonara regardless of the type of noodle you pair with it.

Spaghetti carbonara is another of the foods that I remember fondly from my childhood. My mother didn’t make it often that I recall, but it was always a favorite of mine. Perhaps it’s the parmesan cheese. Perhaps it’s the bacon. Perhaps it’s genetic because if I add bacon to just about anything it’s bound to be on the list of the weeone’s favorite foods. My child definitely digs the pig.

Spaghetti carbonara isn’t something you generally reach for if you are watching your waistline. However, with a few simple changes you can rectify that. Reducing the amount of cheese used and switching to egg whites rather than yolks or whole eggs will help reduce the fat and calories. I went a bit off the traditional path by adding the spinach, but it adds a bit of bulk, color and a nice flavor and helps your pasta go a bit further in servings. Of course, I believe you could add spinach to just about anything and then call it healthy, right? I mean, it has spinach in it!

Another modification would be to use Canadian or turkey bacon in replace of the pork. I wasn’t willing to go to that extreme for this incarnation, but it’s a twist I’ll try the next time I make this.

This is such a quick meal. It takes about 20 minutes from start to finish and yet, it’s a dish that you could serve even if company’s-a-comin’.  Paired with a nice wine, a simple salad and good friends and you’re on the right track. Cheers!

Spaghetti alla Carbonara Florentine

 

Author: Terri from www.AGirlintheSouth.com

Nutritional Information

• Serves: 4

• Serving size: 1⅓ cup
• Calories: 388

• Fat: 11.0g
• Saturated fat: 4.4g
• Unsaturated fat: 4.9g
• Carbohydrates: 45.1g
• Sugar: 1.4g
• Sodium: 592.4mg
• Fiber: 6.4g
• Protein: 25.6g
• Cholesterol: 71.4mg

Recipe type: Dinner, Pasta

Cuisine: Italian

Prep time:  5 mins

Cook time:  15 mins

Total time:  20 mins

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Ingredients

• 8 oz baby spinach, washed and drained
• 8 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 cup diced white onion
• ¼ cup white wine (dry is best, but cook with what you like to drink)
• 8 oz spaghetti (whole wheat is my favorite)
• ½ cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large egg white
• 1 large egg (1/2 cup egg beaters can be used in place of both egg products)
• 4 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley.

Now What?

1. In a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat cook the spinach until just wilted. Place in a bowl and set aside.
2. Cook the chopped bacon until done and crisp (5-7 minutes). Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease and add the chopped onion to the pan, cooking until the onion is tender and translucent.
3. Add the wine to the onion and cook until the liquid is reduced by about one half. Once complete set aside until the pasta is cooked.
4. Prepare the spaghetti according to the package directions. Drain, saving about 3 tablespoons of the cooking liquid. Add the pasta to the wine and onions and then combine with the spinach.
5. In a bowl mix the parmesan cheese, black pepper and eggs. Pour it over the pasta combination and coat the pasta with the sauce. Cook over medium heat for about 1-2 minutes.
6. Sprinkle each serving with a tablespoon of parsley and serve immediately.

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Growing up jam was just jam and it was fruity and sweet and I smeared it on toast in the morning or paired it with peanut butter for those lunchbox sandwiches that I loved (and still do). Jam morphed into a cheese pairing for me several years ago after visiting friends in France and spending summer afternoons on a deck overlooking the Pyrenees, drinking wine and eating a variety of cheeses, meats and confits.

Since that summer in France, I have found myself trying a bigger variety of jams with flavors I’d have thought “icky” when I was kid. Onion confits and bacon jam among others. So when I was staring at two cans of California Ripe Olives and needing to create an appetizer, that summer came blasting into my brain and Olive Jam sounded perfect.

The blend of salty and sweet is a tradition as old as can be, and if you know anything about me at this point, it’s that I don’t mess with tradition!

My favorite thing about olives is simply the name. I think most people know that if you say, “Olive juice ” from a across the room to a friend it appears to them as if you’ve just said, “I love you.” Then there’s the fact that Santa Claus likes olives…you know, “Olive, the other reindeer.” And if you’re like me and prefer to buy things that are made in America, there are a LOT of American olives, and 95% of them are produced by California.

As I made the recipe for my Olive Jam, I thought about all of the ways that I could use it. It could be used with just cheese – manchego, parmesan or other hard and strong cheese. And that’s how this Olive Appy Stack came to be. Layered with crackers, hard salami, arugula, a small slice of manchego cheese and topped with olive jam, they give you the crunchy, the salty, the peppery, the pungent and the sweet all at once.

Now if I could transport my back deck to the South of France and have the Pyrenees as my view off in the distance.

Olive You, Jam

 

Author: Terri from www.AGirlintheSouth.com

Recipe type: Appetizer

Prep time:  2 hours

Cook time:  40 mins

Total time:  2 hours 40 mins

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Ingredients

• 2 cups drained California Ripe Olives (1-6 oz can)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 12 oz sliced hard salami
• 24 water crackers
• ¼ pound manchego cheese
• 1 cup arugula

Now What?

1. In a saucepan over medium high heat, combine the water and the sugar well. Add lemon zest to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the the liquid has reduced by about half.
2. While the sugar water is reducing, drain and rinse the California Ripe Olives. Chop the olives as coarsely as you’d like. *You may choose to puree your jam when it is finished if you prefer no chunks, however.
3. Pour the sugar water through a strainer into a bowl to remove the lemon zest or any seeds, etc.
4. Return the liquid to the saucepan along with the black olives and honey and simmer for about 15 minutes. The mixture will be slightly thick, but thickens considerably when it’s cooled.
5. Chill the jam for use. You can keep your jam refrigerator for at least 10 days – if it doesn’t get eaten!
6. For the appetizer stack: Layer one water cracker with a slice of salami, several arugula leaves, a slice of manchego and top with ½ a tablespoon of olive jam.

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*This recipe was created for entry into the Amazing Apps Culinary Challenge contest for Eat, Write, Retreat. The California Ripe Olives were provided to me at no charge.

I dare you to ask the weeone where she wants to go for dinner on any give night. You’ll get one of three answers – 1) Mission Burrito, 2) Don Jose’s, or 3) Lupe Tortilla. To say that Mexican is a favorite of hers is sort of like saying you might be able to buy a cowboy hat in Texas. It’s ridiculous really.

My parents live close to a Mission Burrito and if she’s at their house, that’s her typical request. There is something really fun about watching them build your burrito as you customize it to your liking. Her burrito is usually rice, beans and cheese – that’s it. When I suggested we make burritos at home, she was completely up for it as long as it was her usual.

But you know better than right? You know I wouldn’t just make her the standard burrito she’d order in a restaurant and move on. Nope. That’s not my style. But I also didn’t want to wander toooooo far off the reservation.  She balked when she saw lettuce and tomato, but I gave the evil eye – the one that tells her that I mean business and she relented, loading her burrito with some romaine and tomatoes as well.

The secret to this burrito lies in its simplicity. There’s nothing magical or fancy about it. Yes, you season the beans a bit when you cook them. You mash them a bit to give them a variety of texture, but there’s no pomp and circumstance about the rest of it. This is just straight up good food.

If I could find really good thick corn tortillas, I think they would be best that way, but until I drop my tortilla fear and make my own I’m afraid the only heft thick corn tortilla I’ll find is if we eat at Lupe Tortilla. Otherwise, these burritos are fast, tasty and healthy – the trifecta in my house!

***By the way, is there anyone else who can’t say burrito without singing (at least in their head) “Taco, burrito, what’s that in your speedo? You’ve got trouble – woo – bubble trouble!” I think it’s from Saturday Night Live in the late 80′s or early 90′s. Makes me laugh out loud every.stinking.time.

Everyone’s Favorite Bean Burrito

 

Author: Terri from www.AGirlintheSouth.com

Nutritional Information

• Serves: 6

• Serving size: 1 burrito
• Calories: 312

• Fat: 9.5g
• Saturated fat: 3.8g
• Unsaturated fat: 5.1g
• Carbohydrates: 48.1g
• Sodium: 735mg
• Fiber: 11.5g
• Protein: 16.9g
• Cholesterol: 19mg

Recipe type: Dinner

Cuisine: Mexican

Prep time:  5 mins

Cook time:  15 mins

Total time:  20 mins

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Ingredients

• Non-stick cooking spray
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon chile powder ( I use acho or chipotle)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup water
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
• 1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, drained
• ⅓ cup salsa ( a roasted salsa will deepen the flavors)
• 6 (10-inch) flour tortillas
• 1 cup preshredded Mexican Cheese (or try queso fresco!)
• 1½ cups chopped plum tomatoes
• 1½ cups shredded romaine lettuce
• 6 tablespoons sliced green onions

Now What?

1. In a nonstick skillet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray and heated to medium-high, sautee the garlic for 2 minutes or until it become very aromatic. Add the chile power, salt and water and mix well.
2. Into the the water, add the drained beans and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 7-8 minutes. The liquid should be reduced considerably.
3. Remove the beans from the heat, stir in the salsa and mash some of the beans to create a mixed consistency.
4. In a warmed tortilla layer about ⅓ cup of beans with a smattering of cheese, green onions, lettuce and tomato. Roll and enjoy!

Notes

Adapted from Cooking Light

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You might know it as something you can order a bottomless bowl of at the Olive Garden, but to me, Pasta e Fagioli (or pasta fazool as it’s said in my house) is better than chicken soup for the soul. Despite my Italian mother, I didn’t have this growing up, it’s something I fell in love with later in life.

Pasta e fagioli literally means “pasta and beans” and historically was one of those dishes that was eaten by the poor as it’s made up of pretty inexpensive ingredients – tomatoes, beans, pasta. Most of the time the soup includes cannellini beans, but can be made up of any bean, pasta and stewed tomatoes.

I think my love for this soup comes from the tomato base and the use of beans. The pasta adds a little “sumthin sumthin,” but I could honestly makes this without one little piece of macaroni and still love it. Of course, if you add hot italian sausage to just about anything, it’s a safe bet that I’ll love it. It’s hearty, it’s filling, it’s spicy, it’s warm, it’s heaven. And since it can be made in about 25 minutes – it’s perfect for my crazy house.

This soup is not a favorite of the weeone. I likely made the pasta e fagioli a bit too spicy on this particular night (you can tone down the heat by using sweet italian sausage or a combo of sweet and hot) and she opted to go make herself a pb&j. As long as *I* don’t have to make a second meal, it’s all good. It simply meant there were more leftovers for me for lunches that week!

“When the soup makes you drool, like a pasta fazool, that’s amore!”

Pasta e Fagioli

 

Author: Terri from www.AGirlintheSouth.com

Nutritional Information

• Serves: 6

• Serving size: 1 cup
• Calories: 325

• Fat: 10.2g
• Saturated fat: 2.9g
• Unsaturated fat: 6.4g
• Carbohydrates: 43.5g
• Sodium: 740mg
• Fiber: 4.8g
• Protein: 20.5g
• Cholesterol: 33mg

Recipe type: Soup

Cuisine: Italian

Cook time:  25 mins

Total time:  25 mins

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A hearty and heart-warming combination of stewed tomatoes, cannellini beans and pasta can be just the thing to soothe the soul.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 ounces hot turkey Italian sausage
• ½ cup finely diced white onions
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 cup water
• 1 (16-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
• 1 cup uncooked small pasta (shell or elbow macaroni)
• ½ cup grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
• 2½ teaspoons dried oregano
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained
• Chopped Fresh parsley
• Crushed red pepper (to taste)

Now What?

1. In a soup pot over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil, then add sausage, onions and garlic, cooking for 3-4 minutes or until the sausage is browned and the onions softened. Use a spatula end to crumble the sausage as it cooks.
2. Add the water, chicken broth and tomato sauce to the sausage, onions and garlic and bring it to a boil.
3. Add the pasta to the soup as well as ¼ cup of the cheese, the oregano, salt, pepper and beans.
4. Cover the soup pot and reduce the heat to medium-low, simmering for 7-10 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente. Do not overcook your pasta!
5. Top each 1 cup serving with cheese, parsley and crushed red pepper to taste.desired.

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kl;k

One of the things I’ve been most thankful for in the past 6-8 years is that the weeone developed a taste for Asian foods. Now, there have been limits. I still can’t get her on the sushi bandwagon, but she’ll happily go to a Japanese restaurant for edamame and fried rice. She has a variety of things she likes at a Chinese restaurant, but she’s never been bowled over by any sort of Thai food – and I haven’t pushed the issue.

Imagine my surprise when I mentioned cooking pad thai at home. First she asked for more details. Hmmmm…smart kid, huh? Gets the facts before making the decision. When she learned it was basically noodles and shrimp? She was sold. I might just make her into a world-travelling-food junkie after all!

I’ve only ever made pad thai at home once before and it was a complete and total disaster. That was about ten years ago, so to say I was a bit gun shy would be an enormous understatement. Asian cooking intimidates the HECK out of me. But this was not nearly as scary as I remember it being the last time and frankly, it had outstanding results.

The noodles were perfectly cooked, the sauce was slightly sour, but also spicy and sweet. I did probably get a little heavy handed with the sriracha for the weeone’s tastes, but I liked the spice level just fine. So if you’re not a heat junkie, start with perhaps half the amount of sriracha so you don’t burn your taste buds off. I want you to get to enjoy this one!

Turns out that cooking Asian food isn’t scary at all. I think the hesitancy and fear comes from how unfamiliar we are with many of the ingredients. How do I get more familiar? Cook more!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Shrimp Pad Thai

 

Author: Terri from www.AGirlintheSouth.com

Nutritional Information

• Serves: 4

• Serving size: 1 cup
• Calories: 474

• Fat: 16.2g
• Saturated fat: 2.0g
• Unsaturated fat: 14.2g
• Carbohydrates: 64.3g
• Fiber: 2.6g
• Protein: 16.2g
• Cholesterol: 86mg

Recipe type: Dinner, Entree

Cuisine: Asian

Prep time:  5 mins

Cook time:  10 mins

Total time:  15 mins

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A popular Thai dish, this Shrimp Pad Thai brings all the flavors and heat you look for while keeping the nutrition line in check.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces uncooked flat rice noodles (I prefer the red noodles)
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2½ tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1½ tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha (chili garlic sauce)
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 cup (2-inch) green onion pieces
• 8 ounces peeled and deveined large shrimp
• 1 egg
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup fresh bean sprouts
• ¼ cup chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts
• 3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil

Now What?

1. Bring a pot of water to boil and remove from the heat. Drop in the rice noodles and soak for 3-4 minutes until they are limp, but firm. The noodles will be under cooked at this point so that when you fry them later they will become ‘al dente.’ Drain and rinse the noodle with cold water and set aside.
2. Combine the brown sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice and sriracha to make your pad thai sauce. Set aside.
3. Heat a wok or large skillet over medium high heat. Add the canola oil and turn to coat the pan. Add the green onion and shrimp and stir fry about 2 minutes or until the shrimp is slightly pink but still a bit under cooked. Push them to the side and add the egg, stir frying for 30 seconds to a minute or until done. Mix the egg, onion and shrimp.
4. Add the noodles to the pan and add the sauce, about ⅓ at a time, allowing the noodles to soak it up and the pan to go dry and then add ⅓ more. Repeat until the sauce is gone and the noodles begin to get glossy and taste chewy.
5. Serve 1 cup of noodles/shrimp with ¼ cup of bean sprouts, 1 tablespoon of peanuts and 2 teaspoons of basil.

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My name is Terri and I’m a Pin-aholic. I can completely lose time while scrolling through the wonder that is Pinterest. I love the funny sayings, the amazing ideas for homes, the tips and tricks that make life easier, but what amazes me more than anything is sheer volume of recipes that exist on Pinterest.

There’s something for everyone – you can find casseroles and restaurant copycat recipes and everything under the sun. So I really enjoy seeing what everyone else is making, or pinning, I suppose since I have absolutely no clue how often someone actually tries a recipe that they pin. Do you?

In the weeks leading up to the Superbowl I kept seeing “Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower Bites” everywhere. The basis of the recipe was a flour-coated and baked cauliflower that was then tossed with buffalo sauce. Genius. I mean, seriously, once you coat something with buffalo sauce won’t it taste just like anything else coated with buffalo sauce? Yep. Tasty.

On Superbowl Sunday our plans to head to a friend’s party were derailed by a forgotten homework assignment. I hadn’t planned to cook and game snacks, so I had to improvise and guess what? I had a head of cauliflower in my refrigerator. I decided to try this buffalo cauliflower without the flour coating.

This was simple, very tasty, and even better on day 2! You can use a blue cheese or ranch dressing of your choosing (I’ll give a light version below) or you can gobble this up with no dressing. I’m not saying I’ll never eat hot wings again, but I am saying this curbed a craving for the spicy, tangy flavors.

Roasted Buffalo Cauliflower

 

Author: Terri from www.AGirlintheSouth.com

Nutritional Information

• Serves: 4

• Serving size: ¼ of head
• Calories: 91

• Fat: 6.2g
• Saturated fat: 0.5g
• Unsaturated fat: 3g
• Carbohydrates: 7.1g
• Sodium: 309mg
• Fiber: 12.5g
• Protein: 3g
• Cholesterol: 7.4mg

Recipe type: Side, Snacks

Prep time:  5 mins

Cook time:  30 mins

Total time:  35 mins

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A healthy and tasty snack that gives you a hint of gameday favorite flavors.

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower, cut into bite sized florets
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon butter
• ⅓ cup Frank’s Hot Sauce

Now What?

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Toss cauliflower florets with olive oil, minced garlic, and if you desire, salt and pepper. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet in a single flat layer of florets.
3. Roast for 20-30 minutes or until to the brownness you prefer.
4. While the cauliflower is roasting, melt butter and combine with Frank’s Hot Sauce.
5. When the cauliflower is done roasting, toss it with the sauce to coat.

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It’s true. I can’t get enough of pasta or crustaceans. Sometimes when I’m really behind at putting up recipes and I look at what I need to post it looks like all we eat is seafood, especially shrimp and crab. And yet, on a day to day basis it doesn’t feel that way and I’m certainly nowhere close to tired of or burnt out on any sort of seafood.

I’m certain I’ll continue to cook more seafood than red meat even if means getting kicked out of Texas. Don’t get me wrong, I love a perfectly cooked steak as much as the next girl, but the richness of lobster? That’s going to win in my book every. single. time.

Last week I had a couple of lobster tails that were asking to spend time with some pasta. I’d initially set out to find pappardelle, a wide ribbon-like pasta that is often associated with lobster, but it seems that the Italian influence on my local grocery store leaves the pasta selection to be a bit wanting, so I grabbed my favorite – fettucine – and continued along.

There are two things that go well with lobster, butter and white wine. My challenge was finding a way to use them in quantities that didn’t break the calorie bank but still gave the lobster the complimentary flavors that make it sing. By not using butter at all, but instead adding a little bit of dairy at the end of cooking the sauce, I found a flavor that definitely fit the bill. This could easily be a weeknight meal. In total it took about 20 minutes from start to finish.

The weeone, true to form, picked out the lobster and shrugged off the pasta. I swear the crustacean thing is genetic.

Lobster Fettucine

 

Author: Terri from www.AGirlintheSouth.com

Nutritional Information

• Serves: 4

• Serving size: 1 cup
• Calories: 492

• Fat: 18.7
• Saturated fat: 1.9g
• Unsaturated fat: 1.2g
• Carbohydrates: 45g
• Sodium: 594mg
• Fiber: 1.9g
• Protein: 25g
• Cholesterol: 91mg

Recipe type: Dinner, Seafood, Pasta, Entree

Cuisine: American

Prep time:  5 mins

Cook time:  15 mins

Total time:  20 mins

Print

Lobster makes just about any meal a dressy occasion. This blend of pasta, lobster and white wine is no exception.

Ingredients

• 1 (8-ounce) package uncooked fettucine
• 2 cups dry white wine
• ½ cup no-salt-added chicken stock
• 1 thyme sprig
• 3 (5-ounce) American lobster tails
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup peas
• 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Now What?

1. Follow package directions to cook the pasta.
2. While the pasta is cooking, in a large skillet over high heat, boil the wine, stock and thyme sprig. Add the lobster tails, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 5-7 minutes or until the lobster is done. Remove the tails, allowing them to cool enough to be handled. Remove the meat from the shells and cut into bite sized chunks.
3. Add oil, salt and pepper to the pan with the wine, returning to a boil. Cook for 12 minutes or until the liquid is reduced to about ¾ cup. Remove the thyme sprig. Add the peas to the skillet until heated.
4. Add the heavy whipping cream to the wine mixture, followed by the lobster and pasta, tossing to coat the pasts and distribute the lobster and peas. Sprinkle with parsley and thyme and serve immediately

Notes

This recipe was adapted from Cooking Light.

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RECIPE

When I was a kid my mother cooked pretty much every night and the nights she didn’t, we had leftovers. I think that’s a pretty universal concept. But I remember that on occasion my mom would let us eat frozen dinners. I thought frozen meals were the end-all-be-all dinner, mainly because I was a tad bit obsessed with Swanson Salisbury Steak.

Now, I’d say that image up there ^ is a wee bit deceiving because I do not recall the “appetizer” of chicken noodle soup. But I do remember the foil tray, the cobbler and mashed potatoes and even those darn peas. What I adored about this meal was the salisbury steak itself. It was drenched in a sauce that was too thin to call a gravy but I would gobble it up like nobody’s business.

I loved it.

Now, in hindsight, what I probably loved was the oodles and oodles of sodium. I was a salt junkie as a kid, but regardless, I have fond memories of salisbury steak. So last week I got to thinking about my old friend in the foil tray. I had never made salisbury steak before. In fact, outside of a frozen meal, I don’t recall ever eating it anywhere. But I suddenly had a craving.

So I did what I do, I figured it out. I read a bunch of recipes and grabbed flavors from one and sauce ideas from another and landed on a recipe that was easy, relatively quick, still falls within my nutrition goals and was OH. SO. GOOD.

Now my dear old friend, Sally from Share the Bottle, says that making salisbury steak qualifies me for early admission to a retirement community, but I say it just gives me a little blast from the past, and who doesn’t love that? I’ve done this before, like when I recreated sloppy joes. I mean, after all, smells and flavors are some of the strongest triggers of memories and the flavor of salisbury steak, for me, only brings back the good ones.

Salisbury Steak

 

Author: Terri from www.AGirlintheSouth.com

Nutritional Information

• Serves: 4

• Serving size: 1 steak with ¼ cup sauce
• Calories: 319

• Fat: 8.1g
• Saturated fat: 3.0g
• Unsaturated fat: 0.0g
• Carbohydrates: 22g
• Sugar: 11.4g
• Sodium: 915.1mg
• Fiber: 3.5g
• Protein: 37.5g
• Cholesterol: 65mg

Recipe type: Dinner, Entree, Beef, Flashback

Cuisine: American

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  15 mins

Total time:  25 mins

Print

A homemade healthy version of a classic frozen meal dish, this salisbury steak brings back the memories of childhood with kicked up flavor.

Ingredients

Steaks

• 16 oz lean ground beef
• ½ cup breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
• 3 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• 1 beef bullion cube, crumbled
• Cooking spray
• salt and pepper

Sauce

• 1 large onion, sliced
• ¼ cup red wine
• 1½ cups beef broth
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with beef broth

Now What?

1. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the steaks, blending well. Dived teh mixture into fourths and shape into oval shaped patties.
2. Heat a large skillet (cast iron if you have it) over medium high heat and spray with cooking spray. Fry the patties in the pan for a few minutes on each side until the are no longer pink in the middle. Remove them from the pan and keep warm.
3. Drain excess grease from the pan and return it to the heat. Add the sliced onions and sautee until brown and soft.
4. Add red wine to the pand and deglaze the pan to get all the small bits incorporated, just a minute or two. Then add beef broth, ketchup, worcestershire and cook to reduce.
5. To thicken the sauce, add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch that has been mixed with a small amount of beef broth (1/4 cup will do).
6. Return the the patties to the pan, covering them with sauce. Serve warm with about ¼ cup of sauce with each pattie.

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