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This recipe comes from … the newspaper (TaDa)! My mum saw this posted in her local paper and sent me a clipping. Its super simple to make, fresh, fast, and D loves it. Can’t beat that. I usually serve it with couscous, but its also great on rice or pasta. On the side here is lemon pepper snap peas and roasted red pepper hummus.
Moroccan spiced shrimp
- 1 lb shrimp
- 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 clove finely minced or crushed garlic
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 bell pepper, sliced
- 1/2 cup raisins
- Large can diced tomatoes, drained, reserving 1/2 the liquid
In a bowl toss shrimp with cumin, cinnamon, 1 tsp black pepper, and juice from 1/2 a lemon. In a large pan sweat onion with lid on with 1 tbsp olive oil, kosher salt, and remaining black pepper for about 5 minutes. Add bell pepper and raisins, cover and saute for 3-5 more minutes. Add tomatoes and 1/2 liquid and simmer for another 5 minutes. Now add shrimp (reserving liquid) and the juice from remaining 1/2 lemon. Once shrimp are opaque, its ready to serve.
Now this is just the basic recipe, but I usually add another helping of the spices directly in the tomato mixture for a little extra pizazz.
I find that pasta is the go-to meal when you’re short on time. It only takes a few minutes to boil the water for noodles, a couple of seconds for pre-prepared sauce, and you’re good to go. But it makes a nice special dinner too, with a little extra effort. One of the easier, faster homemade sauces I make for pasta is garlic cream sauce. No, really – its fast and easy – and I can be impatient, so that’s a good thing. This was D’s plate of shells and garlic cream sauce with sauted shrimp and halved grape tomatoes. Trust me, its worth it.
Easy Garlic Cream Sauce
- 1 pint heavy cream
- 1 bulb garlic, chopped very fine or to a paste
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour
Melt you butter in a pot and add the garlic. Saute at low heat until garlic just begins to turn golden. Add flour and stir very well – cooking at low heat for a minute or two. Stir in sea salt, then slowly mix in heave cream. Use a stick blender to make sure the garlic is well incorporated, then heat on low for 5 minutes or so. Now you’re ready to go!
Originally uploaded by mosli
I really do love wonton wrappers. They are so incredibly useful for holding different kinds of fillings, and can be cooked in so many ways. I used them for ravioli. again. with a-typical filling. why not?
For these little pillows of goodness I made a roasted garlic and aubergine (aka eggplant) filling. They were topped with balsamic and olive oil so that the creamy garlicy filling was the star. Very good – I’ll definately be using this again.
Roasted Garlic and Aubergine Ravioli Filling
- 1 medium augergine
- 10 or so cloves of garlic
- tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp basil
- drizzle olive oil
Slice aubergine in rounds 1/2 inch thick and peel cloves of garlic. Drizzle oil on baking sheet and lay down aubergine and garlic cloves. Drizzle with olive oil and bake at 350F until garlic is golden coloured and eggplant is soft. Puree in food processor or blender until smooth. Filling is ready for its pasta wrappings!
As a veggie I end up eating an aweful lot of salad. Unfortunately, I don’t care much for lettuce (well, at least the regular iceburg kind – I find it bland). So I try to be as creative as possible, or find a decent dressing. I brought this little spinach salad to friend’s house as my contribution to dinner. The salad is raw baby spinach, roasted almonds, strawberry and orange pieces, and on the side were parmasan bits to add. The dressing was equal parts balsamic and olive oil, with 2 tbsp orange juice. Simple, yes. Tasty, also yes. Leftovers, a resounding no.
This is not my kitchen. obviously. I went to visit family for Thanksgiving and had the luxury of cooking a dish for my aunt and uncle. With a full feast already on the menu (including Al’s amazing looking grilled turkey and and Em’s excellent greenbean casserole {alliteration – sorry}) , what’s a girl to do? why, make stuff up and pretend to know what she’s doing! So I decided on doing a savory pumpkin ravioli. believe it or not, it was excellent and I now have the problem of trying to make it again sometime. I can’t really give a recipe (because there wasn’t one) but the ingredients included purreed pumpkin, ricotta cheese, orange zest, and minced onion in wonton skins, with balsamic, olive oil, and orange segments on top.
*hugs* thanks for letting me use your kitchen!
It was so hot last weekend that it barely felt like October. I also didn’t feel like cooking (again – heat and overtime will do that to you), so this was perfect to put together: easy and cool. I made cold sesame noodles, miso marinated chicken for D, and heated up some cream cheese wontons and veggie eggrolls I had stuck in the freezer. It really hit the spot!
Miso Chicken (ala Maki from Just Hungry & Just Bento)
for every 1 medium chicken thigh…
- 1 tbsp white miso
- 1 tbsp sake
- 1/2 tsp brown sugar
Let marinate 10 minutes to over night in a plastic bag. I grilled them in a pan on the stove, flipping once. Being a veggie, I don’t eat them, but they keep D the carnivore happy.
I have a problem with ravioli. I’ve never liked your typical varieties, i.e. meat or cheese. They just always seemed heavy and fairly bland apart from the sauce they were drenched in. Maybe i just never had good ravioli.
I much prefer a savoury squash or vegetable filling, which I why I thought, why not use courgette? I scoured my recipe books and the internet and after coming up short, I deceided to do what I usually end up doing anyways, make stuff up and pretend that I know what i’m doing! These garlicy roasted courgette filled wonton ravioli were excellent, and the shallot-balsamic-olive oil sauce was a simple compliment. The only request from D was to make more next time!
Roasted courgette wonton ravioli
- package wonton wrappers
- 2 cups courgette (zucchini) in chunks
- 1 head garlic
- 1 cup sliced shallots
- 1/2 cup olive oil, plus
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinnegar
- 2 tbsp basil
- 1 tbsp sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
Put chunks of courgette and cloves of garlic from a whole head in aluminum foil wrap with a drizzle of olive oils and roast at 345F for about 1/2 an hour until all is tender. Purree courgette and garlic with 1 tbsp basil and a little salt until smooth.
To assemble ravioli, brush two wonton wrappers with water. Put about a tbsp of filling in the center of one, placing the second wrapper on top. press down edges, trying to get as much air out as possible. seal edges by applying pressure with a fork. Drop in boiling water for about 5 minutes until done.
In a sauce pan carmelize shallots in a little olive oil. Add tomatoes, basil, and sugar. Mix in balsamic vinnegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Drizzle over finished ravioli
Originally uploaded by mosli
Nothing tastes more like childhood to me than grilled corn on the cob. Every summer my gramps and gramms, my dad, Gpa and Gma, and everyone else would go to the state’s fair. We’d see the animals and exhibitions, browse the games and rides, and take a lap around all the food options before making that final decision. One thing that always made the list was fresh, smokey, roasted corn on the cob (brought to you by the Lions club). Holding the stripped back husk like a handle, that first bite of sweet and salty corn cannot be duplicated.
Grilled corn on the cob
Select as many cobs of corn with the husks intact and soak them in a bucket of water until they are fully saturated and no longer float. Place them on a medium grill with the lid down and turn them every 10 minutes for 30 mintues, keeping an eye on the husks so that they do not burn. To eat, peel back the husk and enjoy. I like them with the standard butter and salt, but they are also delicious with garlic salt or balsamic vinegar and olive oil. yum!
Its too darn hot, and as Mr. Cole Porter says, I’d like to sup with my baby tonight. (yes, that’s missing many of the lyrics, but you get the point.) There’s nothing more oppressing than cooking over a hot stove when its 100F outside. So I didn’t. I saw this recipe for cold sesame noodles on Chez Pim and was saving it for a day just like this. What can I say? Delicious! Cold, creamy and nutty with minimal prep time and maximum taste. I didn’t have the cucumber the recipe called for, so i used broccoli. I am definitely making this again.
Originally uploaded by mosli
This one was a fun challenge for me. I don’t have much experience preparing African foods, even though I love the flavours when I’ve had the opportunity to try it. The only thing from this dinner that i’ve made before is the fried plantains (sooo good and the perfect sweet accompanyment for the spices and savoury of the other dishes).
Placed on top of homemade injera (sort of), clockwise from the bottom is groundnut stew, fried plantains, red lentil stew, and spiced green beans with almonds centered around steamed rice.
Using this recipe from Congo Cookbook as a guideline for the Groundnut Stew, I made a vegan version.
- 2 sweet potatoes, cubed
- 1 medium aubergine (eggplant), cubed
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped fine
- 1 chili pepper, chopped fine
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
- 1 inch ginger, chopped fine
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp corriander
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 1/2 cups veggie broth
- 1 cup natural unsalted peanut butter
- salt and pepper to taste
Steam sweet potato chunks and set aside. in a large pot saute onion, garlic, chili, ginger and tomato until all ingredients are well mixed and onions are translucent. Mix in spices, salt, and pepper. Mix in aubergine, sweet potato, and green pepper. Add veggie broth and bring to simmer. Once aubergine begins to soften, stir in peanut butter and simmer over low heat until all vegetables are tender. Serve with rice or injera.
