With all the seafood goodness from Groomer’s at our disposal, we’re already eating fish for half the week, so last week we decided to go the distance and avoid meat the whole week. We had a really great week, coming up with some great flavor combinations and refining our approach to our frittata. Continue reading
We made a slaw from some shredded cabbage, red onion and red bell pepper, which we dressed with a mixture of soy, rice wine vinegar, a touch of sesame oil, siracha, garlic, Yuzu, the zest and the juice of a lemon, pepper, some green onion. Then we tossed in some sautéed Calico scallops from Groomer’s.
After making ourselves some Kimchi Chicken for dinner one night, we had some leftover chicken that was really moist and yummy. How to reuse the remainder in a way that complemented the flavorful chicken without drying it out? First, we stir fried some vegetables in a little bit of olive oil: zucchini, broccolini, red and yellow bell peppers. When they were about half done, we added the chicken and some of the leftover brine from making the kimchi. The addition of the liquid kept the chicken from drying out as it reheated while the veggies finished cooking. Voila! A yummy one-pot meal from leftovers!
We took some cleaned, peeled shrimp, tails removed, and rubbed them with some chipotle powder and salt and let them sit in the fridge for a few hours. Heated up some oil in our trusty dutch oven and sautéed the shrimp until they were done and served them over our Braised Veggies. Spicy!
If you find the heat of the chipotle to be a bit too much, add some more of the broth from the braised veggies and mix together well. The result looks a little like a cioppino and the additional liquid helps cut the intensity of the chipotle, though your mouth will still be aglow!
This is tagged as a one-pot meal, because we first prepared the veggies in the dutch-oven, then pulled them out and put them aside.
This is a great accompaniment to any number of proteins and can even be used to make soup or cioppino-inspired dish, like our Chipotle-Rubbed Shrimp, which we served over this base.
We started by dicing our vegetables into uniform size pieces. We used zucchini, fresh tomatoes, and red & yellow bell peppers.
Sauteed the tomatoes and peppers in a little bit of olive oil, added the zucchini and a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste, with some garlic and a couple of tablespoons of water, salt & pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes or so to let the flavors mingle.
Salmon is a favorite fish of ours. Rich in omega-3 fatty acids, it is classified as an oily fish, which puts it on the “lean” list, meaning we get a 5-ounce portion and we add no additional fats in its prep or cooking. Leftover salmon lends itself beautifully to a cold salad — lovely on a hot summer day!
This photo shows some salmon we had grilled the night before flaked over a bed of spinach with some tomatoes and cucumbers. We tossed the salad with some balsamic vinegar (not vinaigrette) before plating it and flaking the salmon on top. No cooking, just assembly!
The hogs at South Texas Heritage Pork are raised roaming the pasture and grazing naturally. They are never confined nor fed like factory-farmed hogs and this results in extremely lean cuts of pork. We are lucky to have them nearby and to know the fabulous folks who own and run the place! They sell their products through many local restaurants and at the Pearl Farmers Market near our house every Sunday.
This meal featured five ounces of grilled pork chop served over mixed greens and tomatoes. We did use just a little bit of low-fat dressing on the greens, which typically wouldn’t be allowed with meat from the “lean” category, but since this pork is so much leaner than supermarket pork, we figured we had a little leeway.
Chopped up a bunch of basil we needed to use up, put it some vegetable stock and added some garlic, salt, and pepper and pureed it and then poured it over the shrimp to marinate for a few hours.
Parboiled some chopped dandelion — or, as Brian says, “dandy lion” — greens and set them aside. Heated up a couple of teaspoons of oil in our trusty dutch oven and sauteed some julienned summer squash and red peppers until they were about half done, removed them from the pot and set aside with the greens. Threw the shrimp in the pot to sauté. Added the greens and veggies when the shrimp had mostly turned pink and tossed it all together until veggies and shrimp were cooked through.
We love lamb and the London broil cut has become a favorite of ours. Lamb is on the “lean” list, so we’re only permitted five ounces cooked, but it’s so tasty it’s worth it! The London broil cut is great for grilling. We rubbed this one with garam masala spice blend before tossing it on a hot grill. We also sprinkled some onto the zucchini before grilling that, which tied the two together nicely. The cinnamon and clove notes from the garam masala really highlight the lamb’s flavor and add a lovely fragrance to the experience.
We bought some Wild Gulf Black Drum from our new favorite fishmongers, Groomer Seafood here in San Antonio, and seasoned it liberally with a legitimately spicy Caribbean Jerk seasoning from the market. Grilled it alongside some jerk-seasoned asparagus and served it with a lovely salad. Set our mouths aglow!