Category Archives: Seafood

Panko Baked Fish

Posted in Food and Drink, Healthy Choices, Seafood by

I’ve been slacking on the cooking lately!  I went to Savannah for my birthday, so I got to enjoy all the food that the city has to offer.  They had so many good restaurants, and I feel a little more cooking-inspired than before I left.  Mmmmm I can still taste those Parmesan garlic grits!

My goal recently has been to save money, so you’ll notice some repetition in the ingredients themselves.  Panko is a good example of that.  It’s perfect for breading chicken, veggies and as I learned last night, fish.

This recipe is almost exactly like my Panko Baked Chicken recipe, but I modified it slightly for fish.  Last week I was lucky enough to acquire some fresh flounder and red bass from one of my boyfriend’s clients.  He’d gone fishing and had a lot leftover, so he was nice enough to share them!  I usually stick to tilapia and salmon because I’m scared to try something else, so this forced my slightly out of my comfort zone (but then I jumped right back into it by reinventing a chicken recipe.)

The results were great though, so I wanted to share!  It was a nice, healthy meal after a weekend of eating out in Savannah.  Seen here with pearl couscous with avocado and black olives added.  Filling while still feeling healthy!

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. fresh fish, tonight I used flounder and red bass
  • 1 cup panko
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan
  • 2 Tbs. olive oil
  • 1 egg

Directions:

Coat fish in egg.  Combine panko and Parmesan on a plate and dredge fish to coat.

Preheat oven to 400.  Heat 2 Tbs. olive oil over skillet and brown fish for three minutes.

Put browned fish on cookie sheet and bake an additional 15 minutes, until cooked through.

About these ads

Skinny Shrimp Pasta

Posted in Food and Drink, Pasta, Seafood by

This is the last of the food I prepared this past weekend!  I wanted to make some seafood for my friends because it’s so fresh here at the beach.  As I’ve said in a previous post, my friends are into being healthy (like sometimes exercising on vacation healthy) so I wanted to be sure to accommodate that while preparing something rich and delicious.

Shrimp pasta is probably my all-time favorite food.  That being said, it’s not exactly the healthiest.  I love this recipe because it keeps the creamy flavor I love, while being low on calories.  The key is the vegetable broth used as the base of the sauce.  That way the sauce coats the pasta while maintaining a creamy texture.  This recipe also has a smaller portion of the cream-based products, contributing to the healthy factor.  The best part is that the flavor isn’t sacrificed at all!

The recipe comes from The Realistic Nutritionist, and features recipes complete with calorie counts.  This is under 500 calories (even if you eat more than the serving size!)

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. shrimp, shelled and deveined
  • 1 lb. pasta
  • 3 cups fresh spinach
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 onion, minced
  • 3/4 cup vegetable broth
  • 5 oz. light cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup light cream
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • 1/3 cup Parmesan
  • 2 Tbs. butter, divided

Directions:

Boil pasta according to package directions and set aside.

In a saucepan, melt 1 Tbs. butter over medium high heat.  Saute onions two minutes until soft.  Add garlic and continue to saute three minutes.  Lower heat to medium and add vegetable broth, cream cheese, light cream, and white wine.  Cook about six minutes until sauce begins to thicken.  Stir in Parmesan and let simmer a few more minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, heat shrimp in 1 Tbs. butter.  Cook until done.  Remove from heat and add to cream sauce.  Saute spinach about three minutes in the same pan until wilted.  Add spinach to sauce.

Stir together sauce, pasta and serve!

Mer’s Tipsy Shrimp

Posted in Food and Drink, Main Dishes, Seafood by

This is one of the first recipes I mastered in college.  It made me feel like quite the chef- so I gave it a special name.  I remember I needed to get the wine for the recipe, but I wasn’t 21 yet, so I had to get someone else to get it for me because I needed it for the recipe!  It’s one of those trusty recipes that takes minutes and will never fail to satisfy.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. large shrimp
  • 1 cup white zinfandel
  • 1 lb. fettuccine
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 4 Tbs. minced garlic
  • 2 cups whipping cream

Directions:

Steam shrimp in wine 3-5 minutes.  Cook noodles in water.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, melt butter and saute garlic until golden.   Add salt and whipping cream until the consistency of a thick sauce.  Add a little wine.  Spoon sauce over noodles and arrange shrimp on each plate.  Garnish with Parmesan.

Avocado Shrimp Salad

Posted in Food and Drink, Healthy Choices, Seafood, Vegetables by

We have a surplus of tomatoes from our garden, so I have been trying to find some creative uses for them outside of the traditional salad.  They are so delicious, I want to eat all of them, but it’s hard to find a way to use one everyday- and this is with giving some away to anyone who expresses interest!

Of all the uses for tomatoes I’ve found, this is one of the best so far because it combines the tomatoes with my favorite veggie- avocado!  The recipe was originally found at Apron Strings, where they were challenged to make a vegetarian meal. I love eating meatless meals, seafood and avocado, so how could I go wrong here?

Dressing Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 1 tsp. lime zest
  • 2 tsp. spicy brown mustard
  • 1 Tbs. cilantro, chopped finely
  • 2 Tbs. olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Salad Ingredients:

  • 2 avocados
  • 1 tomato
  • 2 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 lb. shrimp
  • 1 more Tbs. olive oil
  • 1/2 Tbs. paprika

Directions:

Combine dressing ingredients.  Strain to remove lime zest.  Chop avocados, tomato and green onions into bite sized pieces.  Toss together.  To get the shape, I put the salad in individual ramekins, then flipped onto the plate.

In a separate bowl, toss shrimp in olive oil.  Coat with paprika.  Grill in a skillet on medium until cooked.

Heavenly Fish

Posted in Food and Drink, Main Dishes, Seafood by

Ahhh seafood, I love you!  Living at the beach, I get easy access to fresh fish.  That being said, this meal can be made almost anywhere because tilapia is so easy to come by!   Before discovering this dish, fish was not my specialty.  When I first started teaching myself to cook, I would occasionally make salmon, but outside of that, I was too nervous to spend the money on something I thought I’d mess up.  This is not only easy, but includes ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen!

If you’re a more experienced cook, experiment with the seasonings!  It’s fun to spice things up by adding some Old Bay seasoning, or including some red pepper flakes.  It is also good with some celery salt or garlic salt!

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs. fillets (I used tilapia tonight to save $)
  • 2 Tbs. lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 3 Tbs. mayo
  • 3 Tbs. chopped onions
  • 1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:

Place fillets in layer on well greased platter.  I use a broiling pan.  Brush fillets with lemon juice and let stand 10 min.  Combine remaining ingredients.  Broil fillets 4 in. from heat 6-8 minutes or until fillets flake easily.  Remove from heat and spread with cheese mixture.  Broil 2-3 minutes longer or until brown.

Served with sugar snap peas and creamy corn!

Shrimp Curry

Posted in Food and Drink, Main Dishes, Seafood by

Ok… I will admit that my current curry obsession has gone to a new level.  My boyfriend now officially calls it MERry. It’s just that after making Chicken Pad Thai a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been wanting to branch out from using pseudo-homemade boxed Thai food.  On top of being yummy, it takes less than ten minutes to create (take that Rachael Ray,) so it’s the perfect weeknight meal!

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound shrimp, shelled and deveined
  • 2 cans cream of shrimp soup (10 3/4 oz)
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder (I included a bit more to increase the spiciness)
  • Cooked rice (tonight I used jasmine)
  • Optional toppings: chopped peanuts, chopped crisp bacon, chopped green onion

Directions:

Cook shrimp in boiling, salted water for 3 minutes.  Drain and cut into pieces.  Heat soup and add sour cream, curry powder and shrimp pieces.  Heat, but do not boil.  Serve over rice and top with assorted toppings.

Tonight I served it with a broccoli slaw, and used the same dressing as my Oriental Slaw.  It complimented the spiciness well!

Baked Shrimp Scampi

Posted in Food and Drink, Main Dishes, Seafood by

This dish is a great substitute for the traditional pasta scampi.  I used to make it in a small casserole dish (8 inch pan) but now I make it in individual ramekins.  It makes the dish seem fancy and complicated, when in reality it’s quite simple!

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 lb. large shrimp
  • 3 Tbs. olive oil
  • 2 Tbs. dry white wine
  • 1 1/2 sticks butter, room temperature
  • 4 cloves minced garlic
  • 2 Tbs. lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup chives
  • 3 Tbs. minced fresh parsley
  • 1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
  • 1 extra-large egg yolk
  • 2/3 C. panko (Japanese dried bread flakes)
  • 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425.

Peel shrimp and toss with olive oil and wine.  Allow to sit at room temperature.  In a separate bowl, mash softened butter with garlic, chives, parsley, rosemary, red pepper flakes, lemon juice, egg yolk, panko.  Put the shrimp in the bottom of the dish.  Pour remaining marinade over shrimp.  Spread butter mixture on top of shrimp.  Bake 10-12 min. until it starts bubbling!