Shrimp Salad

I was looking for ways to use up the cucumber, tomatoes, and fresh basil & cilantro I received in the most recent CSA basket.  After browsing recipes online & looking to see what else I had in the kitchen, this is what I came up with.  (I apologize for the measurements in grams, I was throwing everything on the kitchen scale to get a precise measurement instead of a measuring cup & I didn't think about it until later).

Medium shrimp, about 50 (frozen - 10 oz, thawed - 7.5 oz)
270 g frozen corn (about 2 cups)
Mayo - 1/2 c
Fresh basil & cilantro - several leaves
179 g cucumber, peeled, de-seeded, & chopped (1 medium sized cucumber)
161 g tomato, chopped (2 small/medium tomatoes)
243 g black beans (1 can, drained & rinsed)
110 g sliced olives (1 can, drained)

Put the frozen shrimp and corn into a bowl, set in a strainer in the sink.  Run cold water over for a few minutes, then let sit to finish thawing.

Chop several leaves of fresh basil & cilantro, mix with mayo.  Put back in the fridge until ready to use.

Peel cucumber, cut open & remove seeds, then chop.  Chop tomatoes.  Mix cucumber, tomatoes, black beans, and olives.  Add shrimp & corn when thawed.  Add mayo and combine to cover all the veggies.  Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

My notes:
The entire salad came to 1295 g, so after some calculations we decided that one serving would be approx 107 g and there would be 12 servings.  Then for each meal we can choose to eat 1 or 2 servings.  Each servings is a little under 100 calories, if my online calculator is correct.  (Like I said, I was looking for precise measurements!)

This is potentially a quick and easy salad to throw together, when you're not coming up with the recipe as you go & don't have to stop to feed a hungry baby part way through (i.e., it took me a little while to put it together but I think next time I make it it will take much less time).

I shop at Trader Joe's...a lot.  So most of this stuff came from there...the frozen medium shrimp, the low fat mayo, and the cans of black beans & olives.  The cucumber, tomato, basil, & cilantro were from my produce basket.

We heated up some whole wheat & corn flour tortillas (also from Trader Joe's) and made burritos, and it made a great dinner.  Then we ate them for lunch the next day also.  It would also make a good side dish on it's own.

Tim added a little bit of hot sauce to his 2nd burrito, and liked it a lot.  He said we should try added some lemon juice if we make it again, for a tad bit more flavor.

James also liked the salad, he had a few bites last night and today for lunch I gave him about 1/3 of a "serving" and he ate almost all of it.

I think this was a success!  Just need to add some lemon juice next time to see how that changes it.  I do plan to make this again sometime.

Veggie & Fruit Salad

I had some leftover veggies I wanted to use up, so I looked up some recipes and got a couple ideas and then came up with my own creation...

1 cup shredded cucumber (about 3/4 of a large cucumber)
1 cup finely shredded carrots (1 large carrot)
1 cup chopped apple (1 small/medium figi apply)
1/2 cup raisins
3 tbsp shredded coconut

1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp honey
dash cinnamon

Mix fruits & veggies in a medium bowl.  Combine mayo & honey in a small bowl, mix well.  Pour over fruits in veggies & stir to coat.  Lightly sprinkle cinnamon over the top & mix in.  Enjoy immediately or cover & put in fridge until ready to eat.

I was very pleased with how this turned out.  I kept trying bites throughout the process (starting with just cucumber & carrots) & was apprehensive, but once I added the raisins & coconut it tasted really yummy, then after the dressing was on I thought "yeah this is pretty good!"  But once the cinnamon was stirred in, well that was just what it needed.  All 3 of us enjoyed a good sized helping of this with dinner, eating more than half of the salad.  Next time I will probably make a double batch as this will easily be gone by lunchtime tomorrow.

Notes:
~ I tried to finely shred the cucumber, & it just turned to mush.  So I used the regular sized larger holes on the grater and that worked better.
~ I used the tiny size smallest holes for the carrots, because I think the finer it's shred the more moist & juicy it becomes.

Tamale Pie

I found this recipe on the box of cornmeal, and it looked yummy so I decided to try it.  However, the original recipe called for 1 1/2 lbs ground beef, and I only had about 1 lb (of ground turkey) so I decided to just scale down the rest of the ingredients a bit as well.  The directions said to use a 12x8 baking dish, so I figured I would be fine with an 11x7 dish.

Except I forgot to scale everything else.  I greased up the smaller pan and cooked up the smaller amount of ground turkey, but left everything else the same.  Fortunately, I didn't have any overflow problems.  I was worried about that!

I also completely forgot to add the salt AND the chilies to the crust.  Boo.  I set some of the chilies aside to mix into the topping, then put the rest in with the turkey.  Oh, but they weren't green chilies.  I bought jalapenos by mistake.  Yeah, this dish was quite spicy!  It did taste very good though.

I found while I was making the crust that it needed to be stirred almost constantly.  I stirred it once or twice a minute with a whisk, but as it got thicker it stuck to the bottom more.  By the time I finished the consistency at the top of the mixture was different from that at the bottom of the pan.  It was much thicker at the bottom!

I definitely want to make it again.  Except I will make sure to use the right amount of meat, the right size dish, will buy the correct ingredients, and will remember to actually put them in!

CRUST

• 2 1/4 cups cornmeal
• 2 cups water
• 1 can (12 fl oz) evaporated milk
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 can (4 oz) diced green chilies
• 1/2 cup (2 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
• Sliced jalapeños (optional) 

FILLING

• 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 cups (16 oz) enchilada sauce
• 1 cup whole kernel corn
• 1 can (2 1/4 oz) sliced black olives, drained
• 1 tsp. salt 

PREHEAT oven to 425*.  Grease 12x8 baking dish.
COMBINE corn meal, water, evaporated milk and salt in medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently (constantly?), for 5 to 7 minutes or until thickened. Stir in chilies. Reserve 2 cups corn meal mixture; cover with plastic wrap. Spread remaining corn meal mixture on bottom and up sides of prepared baking dish.
BAKE for 10 minutes. Cool in dish on wire rack.
COOK beef, onion and garlic in large skillet until beef is browned; drain. Stir in enchilada sauce, corn, olives and salt.  Spoon beef filling into corn meal crust. Spread reserved corn meal mixture over beef filling.
BAKE for 15 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for additional 5 to 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Garnish with jalapeños if desired.

The original recipe and links to other cornbread recipes can be found here.

Cheesy Zucchini

The original recipe I was making was called Baked Zucchini, but I didn't follow the directions right so I have to call it Cheesy Zucchini instead.  :-P

Here's the recipe:
2 small zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 Tbsp and 1 tsp olive oil
1 teaspoon (rounded) dried oregano
3 Tbsp parmesan cheese

The directions said to put the zucchini slices, olive oil, & oregano into a bowl (I was using a Ziploc baggie) to mix together, then put in a single layer on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.  What did I do instead?  Just threw everything together into the bag and shook it up.  Well, apparently when you mix Parmesan cheese with olive oil, it just clumps together and doesn't spread around very well.

So what did I do?  After spreading out the clumped parmesan cheese as best as I could and laying the zucchini slices on the cookie sheet, I sprinkled more cheese on them.  Just to make sure it was all even of course.  And yes, they were very yummy!  James & Tim both liked them.  James even signed "more" this evening when he saw the out on the counter, & ate 3 more slices!

Usually I split whatever I make for dinner into 4 servings, 2 for dinner and 2 for lunch the next day, but sadly there is no more zucchini for lunch tomorrow.  James & I finished it off.  Depending on how things go after swim lessons tomorrow morning, I'm going to try to go to the local farmer's market to see if I can get some more zucchini!

The original recipe can be found here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Zucchini-2/Detail.aspx

Oh, I forgot to say, bake the zucchini for 35 minutes at 350*, until the cheese is golden brown.  :-)