Shrimp in Parsley Sauce

Here's a great recipe that you can whip up on any weeknight. It literally takes about 20 minutes. And the result is delicious. I call it Shrimp in Parsley Sauce (I couldn't think of a more creative name, okay!). 

Yield: Enough for 4 normal eaters ;)

Ingredients: 

1. Parsley 1 bunch

2. Onion- 1/2, roughly chopped

3. Ginger Garlic Paste- 1-1.5 tsp

4. Tomato paste- 1 tbs 

5. Green chilies- Min 2-3, Max- according to your taste buds ;) 

6. Cooking oil- 5-7 tsp

7. Mustard seeds- 1 tsp

8. Salt to taste

9. Water- to adjust consistency 1/2-1 cup

10. Raw Shrimp- 5-6 per head

Method: 

1. Take ingredients 1-5, toss in blender, pour 1/2 a cup of water, and blend it all into a fine sauce. 

2. If you like to sauté shrimp separately before adding to sauce, go ahead and do that. Takes about a couple minutes. If you don't mind simply adding raw shrimp in the end to the sauce and allowing them to cook in the heat, then proceed to step 3. 

3. In your cooking utensil, add 5-7 tsp of cooking oil, heat, splutter mustard seeds, and throw in the parsley sauce into this. Stir for about 5-10 minutes on medium flame to get rid of the raw onion, ginger, and garlic smell. This also allows the sauce to thicken up a bit. You may add half a cup of water according to your desired consistency. Add salt to taste.

4. Add the shrimp to this sauce and simmer for 5-7 minutes. Done! 

Squeeze some lemon juice to zing it up and serve with basmati rice. 

 

Parsley Sauce with shrimp

I made brown basmati plus wild rice- it was delicious.

Over brown basmati+wild rice 

This parsley sauce can also be used for veggies such as potatoes, carrots, peas, or anything really. Even chicken, lamb, eggs, etc.

Easy Paella

Here's an easy recipe for Paella that you can whip up on any weeknight. But first things first- the rice, saffron and the pan. These are of utmost importance, especially the rice and saffron.

*The rice must be short grained and be able to absorb as much flavor as possible and not become creamy and mushy in the end. The kind that works really well is Arroz "Calasparra" from Spain (you can order it online from amazon).

*Saffron is the exotic spice that has a very interesting flavor profile, is not as overpowering as turmeric, and a little goes a long way.

*And then the pan- well, I am not sure that a paella pan is a *must* (I mean, for that matter, you should be cooking your paella on open fire outside, not on the stove in your kitchen!). However, if you intend to make paella often, and believe in presentation, that do invest in a decent paella pan.

As for me, I got lucky- my dear bro and sister in law gifted me with a nice paella pan as well as the rice! ;)

The Rice

Arroz Calasparra 

Paella Pan 

Yield: 2 adults, 2 inconsistent teenagers

Time: < 1 hour (prep time+cooking time)

This recipe incorporates salmon and shrimp. Other seafood such as clams, calamari, etc work well too. Vegetables such as peas, carrots, green beans will be good as well. 

Ingredients: 

1. Calasparra Rice: 2 cups 

2. Broth (of your choice): 4 cups (and 1/2 cup extra just in case)

3. Tomatoes rough chopped: 2-3 cups (OR 3-4 tbs tomato paste)

4. Saffron: 10-12 strands

5. Garlic minced: 2 tsp

6. Salt to taste

7. Freshly ground pepper: 1/2-1 tsp (or more if you like pepper!)

8. Crushed red pepper or paprika for kick: 1-2 tsp (adjust to taste)

9. Cooking oil: 3 tbs

10. Oregano: a pinch (italian seasoning will work just fine)

11. Salmon (boneless skinless) cut into 2 inch pieces- approx. 2 pieces per person 

12. Shrimp (raw, peeled, deveined, tail on): a couple handfuls so everyone gets enough

Method:

1. Pour oil into your paella pan, get the heat going. Add oregano (or italian seasoning), minced garlic, tomatoes and fry for a couple minutes. Then add the rice (tip: soak the rice in water for 10 minutes prior to cooking for faster cooking) and stir for 2-3 minutes. 

2. Now add broth, pepper, paprika/crushed red pepper, salt to taste, and saffron and bring it to a boil. Then lower the flame, and continue cooking, without covering the pan for 15 minutes. Do not stir. The rice should have softened a bit at the end of 15 minutes. 

3. Now gently fold in the salmon and shrimp. You might have to add 1/2 cup broth at this point if you think that the rice needs some more cooking. Don't worry, it won't get mushy! Let it all cook for another 7-10 minutes, until the liquid is all absorbed and the shrimp is pink. Cover until ready to be served. 

Garnish with fresh parsley, zing it up with freshly squeezed lemon juice. Pair it up with some Spanish wine and enjoy! 

  

Paella- mm mm! 

Delicious! 

Tandoori style baked Salmon

The way to anybody's heart is through their stomach, whether you want to admit it or not! Here's a great Valentine's Day meal idea, especially if you are trying impress your sweetheart. You can make it for your lovely family and friends. And hey, you can most certainly make it for yourself too! 

Ingredients: 

1. Salmon- boneless skinless (I prefer wild)- available in ready-to-go trays in most grocery stores (especially Costco!) cut into bite sized pieces. Qty: You can use as much as you want, and freeze the rest to use another day.  

2. Spices (1 tsp each if you like it potent, a pinch each if you like it mild)  

a) Garam Masala powder

b) Black pepper powder

c) Garlic powder or fresh smashed up garlic- 3-4 cloves

d) Red Chili powder (optional)

e) Turmeric powder

f) Cumin powder

3. Lemon juice- 1 freshly squeezed or a couple slashes of readymade lemon juice

4. Salt per taste

5. Olive Oil or any cooking oil- a couple drizzles

6. Asparagus- 1 bunch

Preparation:

Take a ziplock bag, and put all the spices into it, including the lemon juice. Then throw in the salmon pieces into it. Also drizzle in the oil. Zip up the bag, and mix it all up, so as to coat all the salmon pieces with the spices. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Soaking in the spices

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 385 deg F. 

1. Take a baking sheet, and spray some Pam all over (aluminum foil works well). 

2. Place all the salmon on the sheet. 

On baking sheet

3. Place in oven for 10-11 minutes. If you like some pink, then 8 minutes would work just fine. After 10 minutes of baking, I like to broil on high for a minute or two, to get a nice color going. 

Baking in the oven

4. While the salmon is in the oven, quickly cook some asparagus by steaming or quickly sautéing with some crushed garlic, salt and pepper. That's it! 

Tandoori style Baked Salmon ready!

Serve simply like this: 

Quick, simple, and Delicious

Or make tacos with some habanero salsa on top: 

Tandoori Salmon Tacos

Or serve on rice, top with habanero salsa. Mm mm! 

Tandoori Salmon served over rice, topped with habanero salsa

Pair it with your favorite wine. And don't forget to end your meal with those chocolate covered strawberries!

Squid Ink Pasta

We made our very last trip to Spokane last weekend (insert as many sad face emojees as possible). My brother and sister in law are moving out of WA state, all the way to WI, of all places! *shake head* My brother moved to eastern WA 8 years ago- and ever since, we have visited each other umpteen times. Our visits involved food, of course, but more importantly, unending bouts of laughter, and togetherness. I will miss him like HECK (insert as many teary face emojees as possible)! Then he got married 3 years ago- and luckily, we hit it off- my sister in law, and I. And we continued visiting each other umpteen times. I will miss them like HECK (and now insert those very sad face emojees, and a couple mad face emojees as well)!

With moving comes packing, and with packing, there's a lot of discarding that happens. And often times, a lot of food is thrown away..... from the refrigerator, from the pantry, from kitchen cabinets, from the oven that you used for storage, etc. Yes, even from those bedside table drawers where you stash away a few midnight snacks! Well, since I was there over the weekend, my dear bro and sis in law figured why not give some of that food to someone who would actually use it. And lucky me, got to bring back quite a few things, including some interesting stuff, that I would otherwise have never even thought of buying. One such interesting item was Squid Ink Farfalle.

Squid Ink Farfalle

My first thought was, uggh, not sure if this is going to be good. However, I went ahead, and the result was pretty darn good! Of course, I first looked it up online- and from what I read, the best recipes for squid ink pasta incorporate some sort of sea food, so that the flavors complement each other.

I cooked the pasta for 5 minutes (the instructions said 3-4 minutes). That pasta water turned dark- obviously the squid ink had something to do with it!

Squid Ink pasta, al dente

Ingredients: 

1. Cooked Squid Ink Pasta (this was farfalle)

2. Some garlic powder (crushed garlic would work well too)

3. Some Italian seasoning (you know, oregano, thyme, basil, pepper etc)

4. Some veggies of your choice. I used colorful sweet bell peppers, and green olives.

5. Seafood of your choice- I used tuna for this one. You could most certainly use calamari, that happens to be squid, actually- that'd make it even better.

6. Salt per taste

7. Some oil to sauté

8. Lemon juice

Method:

There isn't a big procedure here, really. I mean, you've made pasta before.....

1. Sauté the sea food, the veggies, throw in the cooked squid ink pasta. Stir it all up.

2. Don't forget the garlic powder/crushed garlic, italian seasoning, and salt per taste.

3. I like to zing it up with freshly squeezed lemon juice right in the end. Done!

Squid Ink Farfalle- YUM! 

The squid ink pasta tasted pretty good. Simple, and elegant. And it wasn't "squiddy" at all. The kids loved it, until after they had finished eating, when I informed them that it was squid ink pasta! *Clever Mom* ;)

So there- getting some squid ink pasta from my bro and sis in law was nice- though them moving away, to the land of moos (get it?), and cheese is certainly not nice! *smirk* But well, the positive thing is that we can make longer road trips every summer, and they can do the same every winter- perfect! That long desire of going RVing might come true after all!