Super Simple Sesame & Shrimp Noodles

Jan 25, 2011 by Ben

Was inspired by this recipe over at PioneerWoman.com and wanted to make a nice simple lunch today so I put tweaked it a bit, threw in some shrimp and voila.  It was so tasty, and super easy to make.

There are not a lot to this recipe, but it does require a bit of Asian flavors that you may not have around in your kitchen.  Luckily I do like to do a fair bit of Asian cooking so I had what I needed on hand and just had to get some shrimp to make this happen.  You can find all of these things on the Asian isle of any grocery store.

Stuff you’ll need (Ingredients):

• Noodles – any will work.  I used a wholewheat spaghetti noodle
• Shrimp
• Garlic – 3 or 4 cloves
• Green onion
• Soy Sauce
• Sesame Oil
• Chili Oil – I used Mongolian Fire Oil
• Canola Oil
• Sesame Seeds

Start boiling the noodles while you make your sauce

In a bowl add 1/4 cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons white sugar…this brings the sweet to the savory

mince up 3-4 garlic cloves

throw that in the sauce mixture

add 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar.  I used a roasted garlic rice vinegar.  I love garlic.

2-3 tablespoons of sesame oil now.  This stuff is awesome

now for the Mongolian fire oil.  Start with a 1/2 teaspoon and add more if needed.  A little of this stuff goes a long way but its oh so tasty.

now 4-5 tablespoons of canola oil to balance it out and give it some volume.

also grab a couple tablespoons of hot water from your boiling noodles and throw that in and whisk it all up.

take your green onion and chop it up

set that aside for later

Now when the noodles are done, drain and set aside, but keep them warm.  I cut all the tails off the shrimp because my wife doesn’t like them.

I wanted to add some shrimp to this recipe, so I did.   I added about a pound.

Throw the shrimp in a pan on high and add a little bit of the sauce you just created.  Stir the shrimp around for a minute or two

While the shrimp are cooking add the remaining sauce to the noodles

yummy

then add the shrimp into the nooodles

and stir stir stir.   Mix all those flavors together

garnish with the green onion and some sesame seeds and enjoy

This was a very easy and quick little lunch to make and everyone enjoyed it.  I also now have a lot of leftovers, which is awesome and I’ll definitely be making this one again.

Ben…

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Creamy chipotle penne pasta with shrimp and Cajun hotlinks

Jan 12, 2011 by Ben

“Something good but not hamburgers.”

That was the request for dinner from my NyQuil drunk wife as she was passing out to sleep(she works night shift at the ER). That is what she wanted for dinner, so that was what I was going to make.

With that very specific request in mind I set out to make something great that wasn’t hamburgers.

I looked around the house and saw what I had on hand. I had some extra Cajun hotlinks from re-making this recipe for new years eve.  Also had some pasta and some chipotle peppers, so I set out to make a nice chipotle cream penne pasta with shrimp and the Cajun hotlinks.  This recipe turned out so good and after being so sick and finally being able to taste food, this hit the spot, and was very easy to make.

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A Simple Vegetable Soup

Dec 12, 2010 by Ben

Soup is easy to make.  Vegetable soup is really easy to make.

Here is the basic process

Vegetables + Chicken Broth + Heat = Vegetable Soup

What you do with the first ingredients is up to you.  Use what vegetables you like.  Use what vegetables you have.  Its up to you.

As its getting colder, a nice vegetable soup sounded good.  Here is a quick soup I threw together with some veggies from my garden.

So I basically just raided my garden and grabbed a little of everything

What I ended up with and what you’ll need:

• Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper
• Beans – these are nice to add to a vegetable soup.  I used white kidney beans
• Zucchini
• Carrots
• Onions
• Celery
• Green Beans
• Chilies
• Parsley

The celery and green beans weren’t from my garden.  I need to plant some of those.

Again, the basic premise is chop all those up, throw them in a pot with some chicken or vegetable stock, add a little salt and pepper and turn on the heat and you will have soup.  I threw in a few small twists.

I wanted some color and some additional flavor on some veggies so I roasted the zucchini and some carrots.  Cut up the zucchini into chunks.

Slice up some carots

Throw into a bowl and drizzle with olive oil

Sprinkle with salt and pepper

Throw into a baking pan and into the oven at 500 degrees for 10-12 minutes until they have a nice brown  tinge.

This carrot looks like the imperial scout droid on Hoth in Empire Strikes Back.  I’m just saying…

While those veggies are roasting (and smelling great) cut up some carrots

Cut up an onion

cut up some celery

I added a chili pepper cause I have a ton of them.  I only added one cause I didn’t want it to be too much for the soup, but I could have added more.

Grab a big pot, throw a little olive oil in, turn on the heat and add in the carrots and the onion.   Stir for a couple of minutes

I had some cauliflower from the garden I haven’t done anything with yet, so I cut them up into some crumbles and threw them into the soup as well.

Stir this around over heat until all the great smells come out of the vegetables.  About 5 minutes.  After that add your chicken stock to the vegetables.  Use enough to cover the vegetables and then add a little more.

when the roasted vegetables have some nice brown color on them take them out and set them aside

Chop up your fresh parsley.  You can use parsley flakes, but fresh is awesome.

Cut up the green beans into inch and half slices

Rinse your beans that you are using

Throw them into the soup

Add the green beans

Cook all of this together for a few minutes and then add in your roasted veggies.

Salt and Pepper to taste and you are set!  You now have soup.  Congratulate yourself and sit back in the amazing smells coming out of your kitchen.  You can also add other spices if you like.  Dill, Thyme, Oregano are all good.

Warm soup on a cold day hits the spot.   Of course as I write this its now 85 degrees in southern California and I know why the rest of the country hates us.

So next time its cold in your neck of the woods, try making some fresh home made soup.  Its really very simple.

Ben…

Got a good soup recipe?  Please share in the comments below

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A twist on the same old Thanksgiving turkey

Nov 26, 2010 by Ben

We had a great Thanksgiving this year.  My wife’s family and some friends all went over to my friend Joe’s house.  Since he was doing the turkey, I decided to try something a little different.  I found this recipe in a magazine and gave it a whirl.

For this recipe you will need:

• 2 turkey breast halves
• 3/4 cup butter – softened
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 celery ribs
• 1 small onion
• 3 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1 Tbsp dried sage leaves
• 2 tsp poultry seasoning
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 pkg  12 oz – unseasoned stuffing cubes
• 1/2 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

First take off the skin and bone out of the turkey breast (if there is a bone)

‘

Now we need to flatten the breasts to a consistent 3/8 inch

cover with saran wrap

and beat to a pulp with a heavy skillet or mallet

they should look all nice and flat and even now

Mince up your garlic

Throw it in with 1/2 cup butter and add the dried sage

Overlap the turkey breasts on one edge and mix the buttery garlic mixture over both.  Set this aside

Chop up your onion

Throw it in a big pan with the rest of the butter

chop up your celery

throw that in with the onion

saute for a minute or so until slightly tender.

add the poultry seasoning and 3 cups of chicken broth.  Bring to a boil and let simmer for a couple of minutes

add in your stuffing cubes and stir

spread the stuffing out over the turkey breasts

Make a good covering, but not too thick.

roll it up and tie it together every few inches with some string

Throw that in a large baking dish and throw it into the oven at 325 for 2 1/2 – 2 3/4 hours.

Take the half cup pineapple juice and the olive oil and mix in a bowl.  Set this aside and baste the turkey every so often with this as it bakes.

When its done it will look awesome like this

And it will smell amazing too

‘

Slice it up and serve.   Everyone loved and devoured this at dinner.

How did your Thanksgiving go?  What great creation did you make?  Share in the comments below

Ben…

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The most amazing zucchini lasagna ever made…ever

Nov 17, 2010 by Ben

So I had this ginormous zucchini from my garden and I had to do something with it, so I set for to create a zucchini lasagna. Its the kind where you use the zucchini as the noodles, so less carbs + awesome zucchini = tasty tasty goodness.  Well I had no idea just how amazing this would turn out to be.  I’m not sure if its the fresh veggies from the garden, or just a bit of luck, but this recipe is an all time new favorite.

Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

Ingredients:

• 1 very large zucchini, or around 3 pounds of smaller zucchini
• 3-4 medium size tomatoes (I used a bunch of smaller ones from the garden)
• 1 onion
• Fresh basil leaves
• 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley
• 30 oz tomato sauce
• 12 oz tomato paste
• Some bread to make some bred crumbs
• Cheeses:
  • Ricotta – 1 pound
  • Parmesan – 1 Cup
  • Mozzarella – 1 pound
• dried oregano, basil, parsley
• 4 eggs
• Ground Turkey (optional, You can leave it out  if you want to go veggie all the way)

First up you need to make some bread crumbs

Its so easy to make bread crumbs vs buying in the store.  Throw a few pieces of bread into the food processor.

Throw in some dried oregano, basil and parsley flakes.  I used about 1/2 – 1 teaspoon each.

Pulse it all together until you get this awesome looking and smelling mix.  Set it aside.

You can also put the extra in a bag or container and save in the fridge for a long time.

Now to slicing the zucchini.  Here’s where i realized that my ginormous zucchini was rock hard and was NOT going to work for this recipe.  It was at this point that it was dark outside and I had changed into comfy clothes and did NOT want to go out and go to the store.

Take 2!  So after a trip to the store and some new fresh zucchini later, we are ready to rock.

Using the fancy schmancy mandolin slicer, you will get these very pretty strips of zucchini.

Set those aside for a minute.

Time to make a mixture of goodness.  Combine 1 cup of the bread crumbs in a bowl.

add 1 cup of Ricotta cheese

1/2 Teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 Teaspoon dried basil

Chop up 2 Tablespoons of fresh parsley and throw that in the bowl

throw in 4 eggs

finally add 1 Cup of Parmesan cheese and mix it all up

This mixture of goodness looks and smells amazing.   Set this aside, and lets make the sauce.

I think the fresh basil is the key here.  Add about 10 or so leaves to the food processor

throw in your tomatoes

And an onion and mix

You’ll have an amazing chunky sauce at this point

Next throw in the tomato paste and the tomato sauce and mix it all up.  Set this aside and lets start building the lasagna.

Boil the zucchini slices for 5 minutes or less and let dry on a paper towel.

If you are adding the turkey, go ahead and brown it now.  I added a dash of some Italian seasoning to this as it browned.

Go ahead and grate up your mozzarella now as well.  Side note, the Salad Shooter
is awesome for this job.

Go ahead and start preheating the oven to 350 now.

OK in a big 9×13 pan, lay down a layer of your awesome sauce

Sprinkle over bread crumbs

Add your first layer of zucchini

Spread over about half the mixture of the goodness you made earlier

And add half the mozzarella cheese

Add the turkey meat if you are using it

Add the second layer of zucchini and more sauce

More breadcrumbs and the rest of the goodness mixture

Finish it off with the rest of the mozzarella cheese

And I added a bit of Parmesan flakes on top as well for good measure

Throw it in the oven at 350 for 40 minutes to 1 hour.  You want the cheese to be all nice and melty and golden brown.

Like this

Almost a little too golden, but its all good.

Nope I take that back, its so much better than good.  It is truly amazing.  I was shocked at how great this tasted.  Sometimes my recipes don’t always turn out, but WOW did this one work and work really well.

I can’t recommend this one enough.   Its so nice to have some warm lasagna on a nice cool evening.

You really should try this one soon.

Ben…

If you try this recipe let me know how it turned out.  I think you will love it.

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