Grilled Shrimp Perfecto
Grilled shrimp is the easiest thing in the world. To date, we would brush shrimp with some butter (actually, we use Earth Balance) and garlic and sprinkle some Tony’s seasoning on top. Then we’d skewer them (dampen bamboo skewers first) and toss them on the grill for a couple minutes. Easy and always good. 25 years of happy shrimp eating. THEN THINGS CHANGED. Ingredients Half a pound of shrimp. We use Royal Reds or Canaveral Whites, these are fairly large, but not jumbo. Half a pound gives us a dozen. Blood orange olive oil Black cherry balsamic vinegar Cayenne pepper Two bamboo skewers (soak them first. I just put them in a tall glass and rotate for several minutes) Directions Clean shrimp and put in a bowl. Add about a tablespoon of the olive oil...
Saffron Rice
For years we’ve been buying Mahatma’s Yellow Rice when we have a hankering for saffron rice. While it’s pretty good, it does tend to a bit salty for us. So this year we’ve started making our own saffron rice, and it tastes just as good, but vastly less salty. Plus, it’s about as easy to make as the packaged stuff. We already have the ingredients laying around. Another bonus is that it cooks in 15 minutes instead of 25. Ingredients Handful of diced sweet onion (about 1/4 of a medium onion) 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric 1 pinch of saffron 2 tablespoons margarine or butter (we use Earth Balance) 1 cup jasmine rice 1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth (or water) 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic Instructions Melt butter/margarine in a saucepan. Add...
Grilled Zucchini
Yet another grilled veggie This zucchini recipe is almost identical to our adventure with grilled Asparagus as noted in the next entry, so we won’t repeat most of it. We began grilling our zucchini around the same time. As you can imagine, we found the same olive oils and the same seasoning to evolve right along with it. The only difference being…they are different plants. Thus… Ingredients for grilled zucchini: Several nice zucchini California Lemon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Napa Valley, Wine Country Kitchens) you can use regular olive oil…but at least try to find California Olive Oil. Tutu’s Organic All Purpose Seasoning (Hawaiian company, Aloha Spice Company)…you can use McCormick Montreal Chicken seasoning if you’d like,...
Grilled Asparagus
Good food, cooked quickly When Don was growing up, asparagus was on his top three most hated foods (brussel sprouts easily took the #1 spot, lima beans #2). But his mom loved asparagus, lima beans and brussel sprouts, so they showed up often. Skip ahead 30 years. One day he ate at a restaurant that served grilled asparagus and Don loved them. Since that day he’s been playing around with the veggie on the grill and has finally perfected his recipe. Now hardly a week goes by that asparagus isn’t on the menu. First step…don’t boil them. That’s how Don grew up. Ick. There are two versions to Don’s recipe. Both are the same except for the complexity of the ingredients. Ingredients for perfectly acceptable asparagus: Thin Asparagus...
Cuban black beans and rice
Another meal that we’ve been trying to nail down for years, and we finally are VERY satisfied with the results. Great even without the pulled pork. Fantastic as a side with fish meals too. Someday we’ll have to plan ahead and prepare these from dried beans. Ingredients 1 cup long-grain white rice (we like Jasmine rice) 1 can of Bush’s low sodium Black Beans (or prepare them from dried beans if you can!) 2 tablespoon olive oil, we mix California olive with a little lemon-infused olive oil 1 onion, chopped, we like sweet onions, Viladia if possible. 1 bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch pieces. We like a handful of the mini-bells 2 cloves garlic, chopped (or 2 teaspoons of minced garlic in a jar) Black pepper 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 ...
Happy Hanukkah! Foley Potato Latkes
We love a good Latke and Hanukkah always seems like the best time of the year to fire up the skillet and crank out some potato pancakes in honor of our Jewish friends. This recipe makes about six latkes, which is all we need. Ingredients 2 Idaho baking potatoes 1 medium Vidalia, onion (or a sweet onion) 2 large eggs 1/4 cup fine plain dried breadcrumbs 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt. We go light on the salt and just grind in a few turns on our sea salt shaker. 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons margarine (we use Earth Balance soy margarine) 2-4 tablespoon vegetable oil (we use canola) Applesauce Sour cream Preparation Preheat oven to 325°. Peel potatoes. Using the large holes of a box grater or the grater disk...