Take-Out Fake-Out Shrimp and Broccoli

So sorry for the static on the blog for the past week. Things have been kind of crazy around here. I’ll get into more details in coming blog posts, but for now I just want to get right back to the FOOD!

This Shrimp and Broccoli is a great take-out fake-out. It comes together quickly and taste delicious. I do want to note that the evening I photographed this meal I completely spaced and forgot to add the onions. We still gobbled up dinner, but I think I prefer it with the onions. Obviously if you don’t like onions you can leave them out and the meal will still work. Also, you can adjust the heat to suit your tastes. If you like things extra spicy you can add extra chili-garlic sauce or red pepper flakes. If you don’t like spicy things you can cut it way back!

One last thing before I get to the recipe! The craziness in my own home was put in perspective after this weeks tragedies in Oklahoma. My heart goes out to the many families affected by the terrible storms, including the family of one of my good blogging friends, Kelsey. She wrote an incredibly touching post yesterday and has pledged her blogging profits from the month to the Salvation Army for their disaster relief efforts. Every visit to her site helps! Please stop by her blog and send her some love! You can also visit the Salvation Army site directly or text STORM to 80888 to make your donation



Here are some other delicious Asian-inspired flavors!

Spicy, Sticky, Sweet Asian Meatballs
Beef with Eggplant
Shanghai Stir-Fried Pork
Asian Style Braised Short Ribs

Fish and Chips

There are few foods that bring me right back to St. Patrick’s day and Irish pubs quite like Fish and Chips. The crispy and golden fried fish dipped in delicious tartar sauce. The fries soaked with malt vinegar. Mmm…. A little piece of Irish heaven.

I couldn’t let this year pass with satisfying my craving for this delicious meal. Of course the only way to make it even better is to make it homemade!

I have to admit that deep frying foods at home has always made me really nervous. The huge pot of basically boiling oil was super intimidating to me. But it was time to conquer my fear. Once I got all of my ingredients prepped, I was surprised at how simple it was. To make sure I was able to fully devote my attention to frying the fish, I decided to oven bake the fries. It was nice because I was able to have both things going at once and didn’t have to worry about keeping the fries warm, though I’m sure deep fried fries would be amazing. If you would like to fry your fries, check out Laura’s blog, Tide and Thyme, for those instructions.

Got Fish?
Foil Packet Soy-Lime Salmon with Green Beans
Foil Baked Fish with Black Beans and Corn
Homemade Fish Sticks
Pepper Jack and Cilantro Stuffed Swordfish

Foil Packet Soy-Lime Salmon with Green Beans


So, technically, I made this salmon in a parchment packet and not a foil packet (because who runs out of foil? me!), but who’s counting? What really matters is that this dinner was fast, easy, delicious, and nutritious.

When Jesse asked what was for dinner and I told him salmon he got that sad puppy dog look. It’s not that he doesn’t like seafood/fish, he just isn’t ever really excited about it. He definitely changed his look after the first bite. The foil (or parchment) locks in the moisture and the flavor leaving you with a perfectly cooked salmon filet and flavorful green beans.

 

 

Foil Baked Fish with Black Beans and Corn

I’ve been so inconsistent about posting food lately that I’m almost lost about how to even write this post! I really need to get myself back into the swing of things…

In the weeks leading up to “the big move” I pretty much gave up on trying to make and photograph food at dinner time. I was usually too tired after work to put the proper amount of effort into it, the lighting was terrible, and I just couldn’t get into it. It’s also kind of hard to get motivated to make a whole meal when it’s just you you’re cooking for.

On my own, I could happily eat noddles with a little olive oil, garlic, squeeze of lemon and boat load of cheese almost every night for dinner. But during the day (I had a break while the girls were in school) I had much more energy and of course was always looking for an excuse to do anything other than pack my apartment. So I found myself making a lot of my big meals for lunch.

This fish was one of those mid-day meals. I’ve got to tell you, it was one of the best lunches I’ve had in ages. It’s been over a month since I made it and I can still taste it when I think about it.

The chipotle adds a deep smokey flavor that balances out perfectly with the lightness from the citrus in the orange juice. Then there is the punch of cilantro and the little bit of butter makes everything melt together. It’s also great because it’s basically a one dish meal with easy preparation and clean up. Definitely something you should try. I used Tilapia because it was on sale at the grocery store, but pretty much any mild white fish will work. If you’re worried about it being too fishy, try using a fish like mahi mahi since it’s flavor is even milder.

Also, I found this recipe on Pink Parlsey and this week Josie shared a spin-off recipe using chick peas instead of black beans. Sounds interesting!

Foil Baked Fish with Black Beans and Corn
Ingredients
4 skinless white fish fillets (6 to 8 oz each), 1-inch thick
salt and pepper
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp minced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce or 1 tsp dry Chipotle chili powder
1 tsp grated orange zest
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (16-oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups corn kernels, I used half frozen sweet corn and half frozen roasted corn (from Trader Joes)
1/2 red onion, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees and adjust rack to lower middle position.

Pat the fish fillets dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, use a fork to combine the softened butter, 1/2 of the chipotle pepper (or chili powder), orange zest, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and half of the garlic. Spread the butter mixture over the fish.

In a medium bowl, combine the black beans, corn, red onion, 2 tablespoons of cilantro, orange juice, remaining chipotle pepper (or chili powder), remaining garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.

Lay out 4 squares of aluminum foil and divide the bean mixture evenly between them. Place one fish fillet on top of the bean mixture on each sheet of foil. Fold the foil in half over the fish and then seal all of the open edges by folding the foil edges up and in.

Carefully move the foil packets to a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the fish is just cooked through. Carefully open the packets, sprinkle with remaining cilantro and serve.

Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen, The Best Simple Recipes as seen on Pink Parsley