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Dinner Tonight: Tomato & Squash Pasta with Sauteed Shrimp

By kerry · Comments (0)

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

I am in love with this unseasonably warm weather. I am not into winter sports and I’m very clumsy which makes icy sidewalks my nemesis all winter.

Sean and I have been taking advantage by taking lots and lots of walks instead of going to the gym which is fantastic this time of year when the gym gets super crowded.

Tonight we took the 2 mile loop around the neighborhood with Barley and it was so warm I had to stuff my gloves and hat in my pocket! I wonder if I could bribe Mother Nature with some cupcakes to keep this weather coming.

Barley is confused why we are stopping to take a picture.

After our walk, I whipped up this pasta. If you know me at all, you know I’m my own worst critic — so you know that this pasta is delicious when I tell you that after three bites I started to get sad knowing my bowl would be empty soon!

Tomato & Squash Pasta with Sauteed Shrimp

Tomato and Squash Pasta with Sauteed Shrimp

All that's left in this bowl now are my tears...

Salt
Pepper
1/2 lb. medium-to-large shrimp, cleaned and shells removed
2 tbsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
6 large cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. dried basil
1 large red pepper, diced medium
2 small summer squashes, diced medium
6 plum tomatoes, cored, seeded, and diced medium
1/2 lb. dried spaghetti, cooked al dente and drained
Parmesan Cheese, to taste

Heat 1 tsp. of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the shrimp with salt and pepper. Once the oil gets hot, saute the shrimp for 2-3 minutes until the shrimp get pink and just cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside in a bowl.

Add the rest of the olive oil and the butter to the saute pan. Heat over medium-high heat until the butter is almost melted. Add the garlic. Cook for about 2-minutes stirring to make sure that the garlic doesn’t burn. Add the red pepper, summer squash, red pepper flakes, and basil. Cook for 2-4 minutes until the squash and red pepper start to cook through stirring to distribute the heat. Add the tomatoes.

Cook for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally. The tomatoes will start to break down creating a bit of a sauce and the summer squash will be cooked through. Toss in the spaghetti and stir to combine (I find stirring with tongs helps distribute all of the vegetables into the spaghetti.)

Serve in large bowls and top with the sauteed shrimp. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese to taste.

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Categories : Cuisine, Italian, Main Dish, Pasta, Peppers, Quick & Easy, Recipe, Squash, Starch, Vegetables

Dinner Tonight: Honey Mustard Pork Tenderloin

By kerry · Comments (0)

Monday, January 9th, 2012

Hey there! It’s my second post tonight — and my second post in over a year. I’m resolving to keep this blog up-to-date with lots of updates small and large. I hope I can keep this resolution!

So, how was your weekend? Mine was a nice mix of friends and productivity. On Saturday we went to a birthday tea party at Upstairs on the Square in Harvard Square. It was a great afternoon tea with lots of delicious bites. I think I drank my weight in tea! I also helped my mother with her new business website. Busy day!

Sunday was the first day in WEEKS that we didn’t have any plans. It was fantastic. Sean, Barley, and I went for a long walk. Sean and I planned our weekly menu, went to Penzey’s for a major spice shopping spree, and did our grocery shopping. Then I spent the evening cooking for the week and watching a few episodes of Psyche. There might have been a few glasses of wine in there, too.

Tonight, I made this honey mustard pork tenderloin. This was super easy, very quick, and really tasty. The whole thing was done in 25 minutes.

Honey Mustard Pork Tenderloin

Honey Mustard Pork Tenderloin with Smashed Carrots & Parsnips and Mac & Cheese

1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 cup honey mustard
1 pork tenderloin
Salt
Pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Mix together the panko bread crumbs with the butter so that all of the bread crumbs are coated with butter. Transfer the bread crumbs into a shallow baking dish.

Season the pork tenderloin by sprinkling with salt and pepper. Then rub with the honey mustard so that the pork is evenly coated.

Dredge the pork into the bread crumbs so that the entire tenderloin is coated with bread crumbs.

Place the pork tenderloin on a pan lined with parchment or coated with cooking spray. Cook for about 20 minutes until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees and the bread crumbs are browned; let the pork rest for 5 minutes and then carve into slices for serving.

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Categories : Healthy, Main Dish, Meat, Pork, Quick & Easy, Recipe

Kale and Butternut Squash

By kerry · Comments (2)

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

One of the reasons I started getting Boston Organics delivery is because I wanted a reason to be creative. I figured that if I didn’t have a say about what I was getting each week, I’d need to create new, delicious dishes. This is one of them. It’s super simple and a great way to use up scraps of butternut squash — which was the starting point for this particular brainstorm. You need about 10-minutes to get this on the table and it’s super nutritious, too!

1 tbsp. olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups butternut squash, diced medium
1 tsp. chili powder
1 bunch kale, roughly chopped
salt, to taste

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a non-stick saute pan. Add the garlic and cook for a minute but don’t let brown or burn. Add the butternut squash and chili powder and cook, tossing or stirring frequently, for about 5-minutes until mostly tender.

Add the kale and cook until the kale is tender and cooked, stirring often. Add salt to taste.

Comments (2)

Categories : Kale, Quick & Easy, Recipe, Side Dish, Squash, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Crispy, Oven-fried Eggplant

By kerry · Comments (12)

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

Recently, I had an eggplant hanging around and I had some leftover spaghetti sauce, so it made sense to make eggplant parmesan. I didn’t really want to take the time to fry it — plus, I really hate the mess that frying makes. And, while I do LOVE fried foods, I’m also trying to be more conscious of what I’m shoving into my face.

So, I decided to oven-fry my eggplant — and it came out DELICIOUS! It made for fantastic eggplant parm. And tonight, I decided to oven-fry another eggplant and stuff it into pitas with hummus and call it dinner.

Ok, ok, I know you’re wondering, “What the hell is oven-frying!?!” Basically, by oven-frying, I’m referring to breading a product and then cooking it in the oven at a super high heat so that it gets a nice, crispy texture that’s somewhat close to the texture you’d get when frying. I do this a lot with poultry, fish, and veggies — this is the first time I’ve tried it with eggplant.

I think it might actually be the best version of oven-frying I’ve tried. It was super crispy on the outside and soft and creamy on the inside. Aside from eggplant parm, and pita stuffing, I this eggplant would also be great on homemade pizza or just munching on as a snack.

Crispy, Oven-fried Eggplant

1 eggplant, cut into 1/4” rounds
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup egg beaters (or a few eggs, beaten)
1/2 – 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Spread the eggplant out over a cookie sheet. Sprinkle liberally with salt and wait 15-20 minutes. The salt will draw out water from the eggplant and you will see water start pooling up on top of the eggplant. After 15-20 minutes, use a paper towel to dry off the water — this will also remove some of the excess salt.

Set up a breading station — flour, eggs, and bread crumbs. Dip the eggplant into the flour and shake off the excess. You only need a thin layer of flour. Then dip into the egg and then the bread crumbs. Evenly coat the eggplant with breadcrumbs.

Place the breaded eggplant slices on a cookie sheet that you thinly coated with oil (or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes. Flip the eggplant and bake for another 10 minutes. Eggplant should be brown and crispy.

Comments (12)

Categories : Appetizer, Eggplant, Healthy, Main Dish, Quick & Easy, Recipe, Side Dish, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Ginger Orange Chicken with Green Beans

By kerry · Comments (0)

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

Sean and I just joined Boston Organics. It’s a really great deal for organic fruits and vegetables — and they deliver, to boot! I was pretty excited about it because they send a basically random box every week. I figured it would help me be creative every week in what I make for dinner.

This week, we got green beans and some organic oranges. I’ve noticed those two items go bad fast, so I wanted to use them. We also received 5 pounds of carrots last week and a huge bulb of ginger. Since one of our favorite Chinese take-out dishes is spicy string beans, I decided to try and make something similar with all of these ingredients we need to use up.

Ginger Orange Chicken with Green Beans
Serves 4

3 tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. boneless chicken thighs
1 lb. green beans, trimmed
2 large carrots, sliced on the bias
1 small onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
zest of 1 orange
juice of 1 orange
2 tsp. freshly grated ginger, divided
1 tbsp. rice wine vineger
4 tbsp. soy sauce, divided
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. chili garlic sauce or siracha
2 tbsp. honey

Ginger Orange Chicken with Green Beans Mis En Place

Cut chicken thighs into 1 inch cubes. Put into a bowl and add 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce to season the chicken. Toss to coat. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Mix together half of the ginger, orange juice, orange zest, rice wine vinegar, the rest of the soy sauce, sesame oil, chili garlic sauce, and honey. Whisk to combine. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over high heat. Once the oil is very hot, add the chicken and cook until it’s cooked through — about 7-10 minutes. Remove from skillet. Set aside.

Once you remove the chicken, make sure the pan is still very hot, and add the onions, rest of the ginger, and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the green beans and carrots. Stir fry until the carrots and green beans are al dente, about 10 minutes.

Add the chicken back to the pan and pour in the sauce. Cook uncovered for another 2-3 minutes, stirring, until the sauce is mixed into the chicken and vegetables well and starts to thicken. At this point, if you need to cook the vegetables a little more, cover for a couple of minutes to let the vegetables steam.