Shrimp with Fresh Corn and Tomatoes

I have been a bad bad blogger lately. I have been so busy with kids, yoga, summer, swim team, house renovations... honestly the list goes on and on! The other big thing that has had me cooking less is I gave my husband a Big Green Egg for Father's Day this year and he has been making some great stuff which has really reduced my time in the kitchen. I must admit it has been quite nice. Don't get me wrong, I love to cook but it is really nice to share the job sometimes!

My summer veggies from my garden are great this year! I have so many grape tomatoes that I am going to be eating them for a while and I need lots of recipes to use them up. Today, as I was thinking about a recipe to use these tomatoes, I remembered that we used to eat at this restaurant at North Point Mall years ago and I think it was called Mick's but I'm not completely sure about that. It was on the bottom level near the parking deck as you enter the mall. They had a dish called Corn and Tomato Linguine that was out of this world! My mom and I used to make it all the time. Even though I don't eat pasta anymore I still think about this dish. It is garlicky and flavorful and oh so good! So I decided to put my own twist on the corn and tomato linguine without the pasta today and this is what I came up with...it was pretty good!

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 ears of corn, grilled then removed from cob
2 cups grape tomatoes, sliced
1/2 cup Vidalia onion, diced
2 T shallots, diced
4-6 cloves garlic, sliced
2 T fresh chopped parsley
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 T olive oil
2 T butter
1-2 t kosher salt, to taste
Paprika to taste
fresh cracked pepper
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese to taste

Directions:
Heat a nonstick skillet over high heat. Add 1 T olive oil and 1 T butter. Once they begin to bubble add your shrimp season with salt and pepper and a few shakes of paprika. Saute until the shrimp is cooked through. Remove shrimp and set on plate.

Add remaining butter and olive oil then add onion, shallots and garlic. Saute for 3-5 minutes or until the onion is translucent. Next turn the heat to high and add the chicken stock and bring to boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 4 minutes.

Next, add the corn, combine well then add the tomatoes, cook for 1-2 minutes then add the shrimp back to the dish. Finally, add the parsley stir to combine then remove from pan and serve. Taste for flavor, you may need to add more salt here. Then top with fresh grated Parmesan and serve hot.

First we grilled our corn on the Big Green Egg

Then I prepped all my veggies

And prepped our local shrimp.

Ready for the shrimp, parsley and parmesan.

My hubby is stealing a bite as I am taking pics!

Pan Seared Grouper with Tomatoes and Feta over Saffron Rice

Holy Yum!!! This might be my new favorite dinner ever! I know this picture makes the fish look like a big piece of chicken, ha! It has all the components of a yummy dinner that I love, fresh fish, fresh veggies, feta cheese. We went to the beach, at St. George Island, at the beginning of the month and went out to dinner one evening. The restaurant in Apalachicola we went to had a special and it was something like this dish, it was delicious and I wanted to recreate it. I feel like I did a great job. This was wonderful, and the whole family ate it and enjoyed it. I hope you and yours will too!

My sweet little family on St. George Island, FL, such fun, a major thanks to my mom who takes us to the beach every year, we are so blessed!

Ingredients:
1 large piece of grouper(my piece was just under a lb)
1 package of saffron rice
25 Grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup yellow bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1 shallot, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 cup feta cheese
Seasons for your fish (I used a few shakes of salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder)
1 t olive oil

Directions:
Cook the rice according to the package directions. While the rice is cooking, slice the veggies, season the grouper, and heat the oil over high hea,t once the pan is hot add the grouper to the pan. Sear/cook the grouper on each side for 3-5 minutes depending on the thickness of your fish. Once the fish is cooked through, remove from the pan and add the peppers, onions, shallots, and garlic, saute for about 1-2 minutes then add the tomatoes for about 30-45 seconds, you don't want the tomatoes cooked, just slightly warmed. Immediately add to the rice, next add the feta then top with the fish. This entire dish took no more than 25 minutes from start to finish.

It took less than 5 minutes to chop these up.

I seasoned my fish with a few dashes of salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder

Seared up deliciously

Wish this yummy stuff wasn't so fattening!

Top the rice with the veggies and feta, yum!!

Finally add the fish!

Just posting this makes me want to run down and eat the rest!

Weight Watcher Friends: This meal makes 4 servings and each has 9 points per serving. The saffron rice is pretty point heavy but it sure is good and totally worth it! Serve this wish a salad and it will be a huge hit with your family.

Shrimp and Grits

I love Shrimp and grits, I love to order them out, I love all the variations on them, how everybody does them differently and I really love how it makes me sound like a country girl from Georgia when I say "I'm makin' shrimp n' grits!"  Ha! This week I saw Texas Gulf Shrimp on sale at the store so I picked up a pound. This recipe is loosely based on a Bobby Flay Shrimp and Grits Recipe that I have. Except mine has 1/2 the calories and all the flavor, go me! Really the secret is cooking the grits in stock instead of water, gives them tons of flavor without added fat!

Ingredients:
4 cups (1 32 oz box) chicken stock
3/4 cup quick grits
1/3 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1 t butter
1 lb shrimp, cleaned & de-viened
3 slices bacon
2 scallions
1/4 of a red onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lemon, just the juice
1 t Creole/Cajun seasoning

Directions:
Add 4 cups of stock to a sauce pan and bring to a boil, whisk in the grits stirring to make sure they don't clump. Return to a boil then reduce the heat and cover for 5-7 minutes or until they are cooked. (You don't want them thick, at this point they should be a little runny, they will thicken as they sit, so just remove from the heat add the butter and cheese, stir to combine and let sit).

Add 3 slices of bacon to your non-stick skillet, cook until crisp, remove from pan and let the bacon drain and cool on a paper towel, once cooled crumble the bacon. Then add the onion and garlic to the bacon grease (there shouldn't be much grease with only 3 strips of bacon but if it is a lot then dab with a paper towel). Mine wasn't bad so I just threw the garlic and red onion right in the pan and cooked for 2-3 minutes then add the shrimp and the Creole seasoning. Cook until pink about 3-5 minutes. Finally, squeeze the lemon juice on top add back in the bacon crumbles and the scallions. Cook for 1-2 minutes then serve on top of the grits! YUM!!!

I sprinkled some seasoning on the shrimp before I threw them in the skillet

Sauteing the garlic and onion...

These grits are ready for the cheese...

Pour into your dish, I used my pie pan...

Once the shrimp is cooked, add the bacon and scallions, mmm the house smells good!

Pour on the grits and eat it up!

Weight Watcher Friends: This recipe makes 4 servings at 7 points per serving.

Source: Bobby Flay

Paella

I can't believe I haven't ever blogged this one before, I used to make it all the time but haven't in a while. I have been in a new recipe funk lately, nothing major just sort of un-inspired. I am excited for summer veggies they always get me in a fresh-new-food-mood.  This morning, I got out some old cookbooks looking for some inspiration and saw this oldie but goodie. Glad I did because we ate good tonight!

Ingredients:
2 slices of bacon, diced (I bought 2 slices of peppered bacon from the meat counter, yum!)
2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
7 oz turkey kielbasa sausage, sliced
3/4 lb whole shrimp, peeled
1 onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 T garlic, minced
3/4 cup peas, frozen
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 10 oz package of yellow saffron rice

Directions:
Cook rice according to the package directions and set aside. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until brown. Move bacon to a paper towel and pour most of the grease out (about 80% leaving a small amount for cooking the chicken and sausage). Add the sausage to the pan and brown on both sides, then move to the side of the pan and add the chicken. Once the chicken is cooked through add the veggies, onion, red and green bell pepper, garlic. Stir to combine and cook until the vegetables soften. Return the bacon to the pan. Turn heat to high, add 1/2 the chicken stock (you may need more but just start with 1/2), add the peas and place the shrimp on top, cover and simmer for 3-5 minutes until the shrimp are cooked. Add the hot rice to the pan and stir to combine, add salt and pepper if needed and serve.

Once the chicken is cooked, push the meat to the sides and add the veggies to the center, once they begin to soften mix it all together

Weight Watcher Friends: This recipe serves 6 adults 1.5 cups per serving. Each serving has only 8 points!

Source: Recipe adapted from  Make it in Minutes; Weight Watchers cookbook

Broiled Parmesan Talapia with Polenta and Mixed Vegetables

I love to make fish, I know it is healthy and my kids and husband love it! I usually dip it in lemon zest infused olive oil, then bread it with a mixture of panko, ground flax and parm, then saute it in olive oil. It is super delish that way. But I was trying to make it with less fat/oil so this past Sunday night I tried it this way and it was great!

Weight Watcher Friends: can you believe that this whole plate only has 7 points??

Ingredients:
4 Talapia fillets
1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup Grated parm
1 lemon, juice and zest
salt and pepper

Directions:
Turn broiler on. Use some olive oil spray and coat your pan, then place the fillets on the pan. Squeeze the fresh lemon juice over each fillet, add lemon zest and salt and pepper to each fillet. Then sprinkle about 1 tablespoon each of the bread crumbs and parm to each fillet. Place under the broiler for about 5-8 mins, checking to make sure they don't burn, broiling can turn from perfection to disaster in seconds :)

I served this with Polenta, I buy it at Trader Joes ready and in a tube for under $2.00 it is a yummy side dish that I just slice then sear on each side in a non-stick frying pan with about 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil. I season them with salt and pepper and Garlic Garlic and cook them for about 5-7 minutes per side.

I also served this with steamed broccoli and sauteed mixed vegetables.

Weight Watcher Friends: The fish as prepared in this dish only has 4 points, the polenta has 2 and there is a small amount of olive oil on the sauteed veggies so they have 1 point at the most. This is a ton of food for 7 points and very filling.

Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa

I LOVE shrimp and fish tacos! They are one of my favorite things to get when we go eat Mexican food. I love making them at home too, my family loves this meal! How could you not??

Ingredients:

 1 mango, diced small

 ½ red bell pepper, diced small

 ¼ red onion, diced small
1/2 of a fresh jalapeno, diced small
 2 T  cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
 Juice of a lime
1 lb fresh shrimp, peeled and devained

Mix together mango, bell pepper, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, lime, salt and pepper and chill.

Then take 1 pound of shrimp, sauté with garlic and a tsp of olive oil
Place 4 shrimp in a small, warm, corn tortilla and top with
mango salsa.

I serve these with my Charro Beans and Fiesta Rice with fresh salsa and onions.

Weight Watcher Friends: These have 3 Points per taco.