Refreshing shrimp, grapefruit and millet salad

This very refreshing shrimp, grapefruit and millet salad is absolutely perfect for hot, sunny days.

Not much to say about it, except it is very easy to make, wallet friendly and super healthy! If you do not like shrimp, you can absolutely replace the protein source by grilled chicken, tofu or grilled tempeh, or even roasted chickpeas.

This recipe can be adapted to a vegan diet.

Here is how you can make it too!



INGREDIENTS (4-6 people):
for the salad:
- 2 cups of millet
- about 1/2 lbs frozen raw shrimp (you can also use fresh, or already cooked shrimp, I just happened to have frozen raw shrimp at hand)
- 1 pink grapefruit
- 1 bunch of scallions
- 1 heart of romaine lettuce
- 1 bunch of radishes
- 1 large carrot


for the dressing:
- 1 tbsp raw granulated sugar (you can use brown sugar)
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tsp sesame oil (plus extra olive oil if you find it too lean, but I liked mine like that)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 inch of grated fresh ginger
- 1 clove of garlic, grated
- 1 tsp sesame seeds



RECIPE:
- cook the millet according to the package instructions and let cool until ready to use

- while the cooked millet cools to room temperature, prep all your veggies and fruits: slice the radishes, chop the romaine and green onions, julienne the carrot and pare the grapefruit segments

- bring about 1-2 cups of salted water to a boil in a skillet and boil the shrimp until cooked through (about 3-4 minutes), drain and peel the shrimp until ready to use

Note: you can cool the cooked shrimp faster in a bowl of water with ice cubes
- prepare the dressing: mix all the ingredients and set aside until ready to use

- when the millet and shrimp are cooled, assemble the salad in a large bowl and drizzle the dressing on top

Note: take a good look at this serving bowl guys, because the next day I broke it into a million pieces! This is the last time you will ever see this beauty :(
- enjoy!

Fish and shrimp risotto

This is more of a what-ever-can-i-come-up-with-to-empty-the-pantry-and-the-freezer kinda mishmash recipe, but it works!

I was craving tomato rice the day I made this recipe, and since I had a TON of frozen fish (that I got for a bargain at the supermarket), I decided to incorporate this maritime ingredient into a risotto.

I made this quite a long time ago, but never really had the time to edit it into a blog entry. Since my next recipe will take another couple of days before I can post it up, I decided to tackle that one and have it ready for you for the weekend.

Hope you'll like!



INGREDIENTS (for 2 to 3 people):
- 1.5 cups arborio rice
- 1 15oz can of crushed tomatoes
- 2 to 3 cups of water (use 2 and then add more if needed)
- 1/2 cup white wine
- olive oil
- 1 shallot, finely diced
- 1 clove of garlic, slivered
- 2 lbs of mixed fish and peeled deveined shrimp, cubed (I used frozen shrimp and fish that I thawed and drained, my personal fish mix was cod, tilapia and flounder)
- salt, pepper
- grated Parmesan cheese to taste


RECIPE:
- in a skillet, heat a glob of olive oil and saute the shallot and garlic until transparent. Do not let it brown.

- add the rice, and coat with oil. Cook for a minute or so on medium-high heat, until the rice is opaque and bright white. Do not let it brown.

- add the wine and a ladle of water, and stir until the liquid is absorbed.

- add the tomatoes and their liquid. Stir until the liquid is absorbed.

- add the rest of the water ladle by ladle, stirring until each ladle has been absorbed before adding the next one, until the rice is almost cooked through (about 25 minutes)
- when the rice is a few minutes shy of being done, add the shrimp, fish cubes, salt and pepper and cook for 5-8 minutes (or until cooked through)

- finish with a healthy dose of grated parmesan cheese

- serve hot, sprinkled with italian parsley

- Enjoy!

Thai-style lemongrass shrimp soup

Are you tired of the heavy hearty winter stews, but you feel it is still too cold to enjoy a crisp, healthy salad?

How about a (very) low-cal hot soup option?

A while back, I made myself this Thai style lemongrass and shrimp soup taken from Sunday Soup by Betty Rosbottom, and let me tell you, I was very impressed and will be going back to this recipe this spring!

Try it, you won't be disappointed :) It has just the right amount of heat and tang, it really warms you up, but it absolutely figure-friendly :D


INGREDIENTS (for 2)
- 3 cups of chicken broth (or fish/veggie broth for vegetarian options)
- 1lb deveined raw shrimp (peel the shrimp and reserve the shells in a separate bowl)
- 3 tbsp pureed lemongrass (I only had pureed lemongrass in a tube, but if you have fresh stalks on hand, use three sliced very finely)
- 1 pack of frozen snow peas, in chunks (preferable to use fresh snow peas, but I only had frozen on hand)
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 lime, finely sliced
- juice of 1/2 lime (or to taste)
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 8oz fresh cremini mushrooms, finely sliced
- a sprinkle of red pepper flakes (not in the ingredients pictures, but I added them as I went along)


RECIPE:
- prepare the broth: in a deep pot, bring the chicken broth, shrimp shells, lemongrass and half of the lime slices to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and let infuse for at least 15 minutes.

- Strain the shells and lime slices, and reserve the boiling liquid. You can try to extract as much flavor as possible from the shells by crushing them into a sieve.

- Bring the shrimp-lemongrass broth back to a boil and add the pepper, shrimp, snow peas, pepper flakes and mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes on high heat.
Note: be careful not to overcook: you don't want the mushrooms to get mushy!

- Turn off the heat, and add the cilantro and lime juice.

- Serve piping hot, sprinkle with fresh cilantro and squeeze fresh lime juice on top. Decorate with sliced limes.

- Enjoy!

Malaysian shrimp with curry leaves, tamarind and jasmine rice

A couple of weeks ago, I was looking for a shrimp recipe. Something new. Something different. Something I'd never come across before. I found this mouth-watering malaysian recipe online which I immediately decided to try. I tweaked it a bit: used frozen shrimp without the heads, replaced fresh chillies with pepper flakes and added green onions. It was so good I'm sharing it with you here :) Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
- 1 lb raw large shrimp, shell-on (next time, I'll use fresh whole shrimp with heads, it should give it an amazing taste!)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons oil
- leaves from 4 sprigs of curry leaves
- a sprinkle of red pepper flakes (or a few fresh bird's eye chillies -if you can take that kind of heat-, chopped)
- 4 small shallots, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate (if you can't find it in stores, you can make your own -here's my recipe-)
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 cups jasmine rice
- 3 cups of water

RECIPE
- bring the water to a boil and add the rice. lower the heat and cover. cook for 15 minutes exactly.
- during this time, pat dry the shrimp and sprinkle with salt.
- heat 3 tbsp of oil in a wok.

- add salted shrimp and curry leaves and fry until shrimp changes color and gets slightly golden. They should not be completely cooked at that stage, they will cook again later. 

- Reserve in a bowl.

- add the remaining tbsp of oil in the wok and saute the shallots, garlic and pepper for one minute.

- add the reserved shrimp and leaves, turmeric, sugar and tamarind concentrate.

- stir fry for a few minutes to cook the turmeric and finish cooking the shrimp. Reserve in a bowl.

- serve over perfectly cooked jasmine rice, and sprinkle with sliced green onions.

- Bon app'!

A taste of Louisiana

So...

Those of you who know me know that for the past 3 moths or so, I've been reading the Southern Vampire Mysteries series of books by Charlaine Harris. Those books are also known as the "Sookie Stackhouse series".

You may also be aware that I am quite obsessed with HBO's True Blood TV show (in general) and Alexander Skarsgård (in particular).

Anyway...To cut a long story short,all of those things combined have made me crave Southern food so bad...

I gave in on October 24 2009, and made myself a nice, spicy and wonderfully comforting Jambalaya.

Let me know what you think of it!