Saffron and Lemon Risotto with Scallops

A couple of weeks ago my dad treated us all to this fancy meal found in this cookbook my mom had given me. It was seriously so good! It had so much flavor and the risotto had a really good creamy texture and such a pretty color from the saffron. Risotto can be a little time consuming, but the key is to add the liquid just a little at a time and let it slowly absorb it. He served it with a Fresh Arugula Salad topped with a little parmesan cheese and fresh lemon juice. Oh and the table setting he and my mom came up with wasn't too bad either;) Great job, Dad!

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

5 cups simmering vegetable stock

16 scallops

juice of 1 lemon, plus extra for seasoning

1 Tbsp. olive oil, plus extra for brushing

3 Tbsp. butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups risotto rice

1 tsp. crumbled saffron threads

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

1 lemon, cut into wedges

2 tsp. grated lemon zest, to garnish

Directions:
Place the scallops in a nonmetallic bowl and mix with the lemon juice. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Heat the oil with 2 Tbsp. of the butter in a deep pan over medium heat until the butter has melted. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, or until soft and starting to turn golden. Add the rice and mix to coat in oil and butter. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2-3 minutes, or until the grains are translucent. Dissolve the saffron in 4 Tbsp. of the hot stock and add to the rice.

Gradually add the remaining stock, a ladleful at a time. Stir constantly and add more liquid as the rice absorbs each addition. Increase the heat to medium so that the liquid bubbles. Cook for 20 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is creamy. Season to taste.

When the risotto is nearly cooked, preheat a pan over high heat. Brush the scallops with oil and for 3-4 minutes on each side, depending on their thickness. Be careful not to overcook them or they will be rubbery.

Remove the risotto from the heat and add the remaining butter. Mix well, then stir in the parmesan cheese until it melts. Season with lemon juice, adding just 1 tsp. at a time and tasting as you go.

Place risotto in serving dish and arrange scallops on top. Top with parmesan curls and lemon zest.

Seared Tuna with Mango Salsa and Chiptole Aioli

Once again, I cannot take credit for this recipe, except for the mango salsa part (that was a Martha Stewart recipe we have had around for awhile). Tyler created this awesome meal one night for our family. Everything about this meal was entirely his idea, even the way it was plated. The tuna steaks came with the sesame seeds already on them. All he and my mom did was sear them for about 30 seconds on each side, in a preheated pan with olive oil. Then they sliced them up and served them with a scoop of the salsa and a drizzle of the chipotle aioli. It didn't make it in the picture, but Tyler also served it with sourdough bread and an Avocado Spinach salad with a citrus vinaigrette. I am just posting the recipes for the mango salsa and the chipotle aioli because those were the only real "recipes" he used. Also, he and my mom set the table with sort of a beachy theme in mind... Such a delicious and fresh summer meal! Great job Tyler!

Mango Salsa
(makes about 2 1/2 cups)

Ingredients:
2 ripe mangoes (peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4 inch dice) ** Here is a little guide from one of my favorite cooking blogs about how to cut a mango... much harder than it sounds!
1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh Jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (about 1 medium)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. minced shallot

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients. Toss gently, and serve.

Chipotle Aioli

Ingredients:
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3 cloves minced garlic
2 1/2 T lemon juice
3/4 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 1/2 t finely chopped chipotle in adobo sauce (you can adjust this amount depending on how spicy you want it)

Directions:
Stir together the mayo, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and chipotle pepper and chill until ready to serve.

Creamy Walnut Shrimp

This recipe was by far the favorite dish from the Chinese take-out meal I created. I tried to find a recipe that was similar to the Walnut Shrimp I always order when I go to Asian Star. It had a really unique flavor (I think it was something in the 5-spice powder), and we all loved it! Definitely a new family favorite! Oh and I threw in a picture of the table setting I did for the meal. Usually I don't do a table setting, but I though it would kinda be fun to do sort of an Asian theme! I also set some fortune cookies on the table for dessert!

(serves 4)

Ingredients:
3/4 lb. uncooked medium shrimp, shelled and cleaned
oil for deep frying
1/4 cup glazed walnuts

Marinade:
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. minced shallot
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. sesame seeds
1/4 tsp. 5-spice powder (available in the Asian food aisle)

Sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. honey
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. lime juice
1 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 tsp. mustard powder

Directions:
Mix together ingredients for marinade. Add shrimp and toss in marinade. While shrimp is marinating, mix together ingredients for sauce. Stir until smooth.

Pour oil into wok and heat. Slip the shrimp into hot oil and fry until opaque, about 3 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Place shrimp in large bowl and drizzle with sauce. Toss to coat well and then place onto serving platter. Top with glazed walnuts and garnish with sesame seeds.

Crab Cake Salad

I have been craving the crab cake salad at Desert's Edge Brewery for the last little while. But instead of going to the restaurant, I decided to make my own version of what might be my favorite salad. I have tried crab cake salads at other restaurants but none of them have beat the one from Desert's Edge. It has a lot of different flavors that work really well together and I think I might have come up with the perfect imitation :) The recipe makes about 16 small crab cakes (enough for 7 or 8 dinner sized salads). I mixed up the meat, dressing, salsa, and aioli, and chopped all the vegetables and then cooked the crab cakes last so that I could serve them warm.

Crab Cakes with Chiptole Aioli

Ingredients:
8 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
3 6-ounce cans crabmeat, drained (**make sure you drain it as much as you can, the drier the better)
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 T mayonaise
1 1/2 t dry mustard
9 ounces Ritz crackers (about 30 crackers), crushed
3/4 t cayenne pepper
1 1/2 t garlic powder
3/4 t Old Bay Seasoning
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
3/4 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs) or regular dry bread crumbs
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3 cloves minced garlic
2 1/2 T lemon juice
3/4 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 1/2 t finely chopped chipotle in adobo sauce (you can adjust this amount depending on how spicy you want it)

Directions:
Combine crabmeat, green onions, eggs, mayo, dry mustard, crushed crackers, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, Old Bay seasoning, salt and pepper. Form into 1/2 inch thick patties (**I found that they stayed together better if I made them smaller and thicker, rather than flatter and bigger). Coat the patties with breadcrumbs.

Heat 1/2 cup oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook cakes until golden brown on each side. Drain briefly on paper towels and serve hot.

For the aioli, stir together the mayo, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and chipotle pepper and chill until ready to serve.

Corn and Jicama Salsa

Ingredients:
2 cups corn kernels (about 4 ears)
1 cup finely chopped tomato
1/2 cup finely chopped peeled jicama
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 T minced fresh cilantro
1/4 t salt
1/4 t paprika
1/4 t black pepper
1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles, drained

Directions:
Stir ingredients together and chill until ready to serve

Citrus Vinaigrette

Ingredients:
4 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 c fresh lime juice
4 T frozen orange juice concentrate
4 t red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlice minced or pressed
1/2 t sugar
1 t salt
black pepper to taste
3/4 c olive oil

Directions:
Whisk together all ingredients and set aside

Crab Cake Salad

Ingredients:
mixed greens
citrus vinaigrette
chopped tomato
chopped red pepper
chopped avocado
corn and jicama salsa
crab cakes
chiptole aioli

Directions:
Toss mixed greens with citrus vinaigrette. Divide equally among plates. Top each salad with chopped tomato, red pepper, avocado, corn and jicama salsa, and 2-3 crab cakes. Put chipotle aioli in a plastic baggie and cut the tip off. Pipe aioli across crab cakes and serve.

Honey Glazed Salmon

Ever since we made this recipe from this book, it has been our favorite way to make salmon. The original recipe called for pure maple syrup but since pure maple syrup is so expensive, we substituted honey and it was delicious. We love eating fish so its always to nice to find a new way to cook it. Its a really quick and easy recipe. We usually serve it with some steamed broccoli and some wild rice.

Ingredients:
4 salmon fillets
1 cup soy sauce
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 cup pure maple syrup (we used honey)

Directions:
Marinate salmon for 1-24 hours
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Bake for 18 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Quinoa Salad With Lime Ginger Dressing and Shrimp

I've been making an effort to look for healthier recipes lately and I came across this one from NYTimes.com(their healthy recipes section is awesome by the way!) I made a full recipe, enjoyed some that day, and put the rest into 3 containers so now I have healthy lunches for the next few days! This salad tasted so fresh and had so much flavor and wasn't too hard to make! Oh and apparently quinoa is pretty expensive so I swapped it out for some bulgur, but I'm sure you could use any sort of healthy whole grain. I also left out the buttermilk in the dressing because I didn't have any, and it tasted fine to me. You could also make this vegetarian by leaving out the shrimp and substituting avocado instead. SO good and SO good for you:)

For the dressing:
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger (more to taste)
1 small garlic clove, minced
Salt to taste
Pinch of cayenne
2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil or walnut oil
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons buttermilk (** I left this out)

For the salad:
3 cups cooked quinoa (3/4 cup uncooked) (** I used bulgur instead)
4 scallions, white and light green parts, sliced thin
1 small cucumber, halved, seeded and thinly sliced on the diagonal
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
12 to 16 cooked medium shrimp, peeled (**I tossed the raw shrimp with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper and then roasted them for 5 min. in the oven at 400 degrees)

Directions:
In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the lime juice, rice wine vinegar, ginger, garlic, salt, cayenne, sesame oil, canola oil, and buttermilk.

In a salad bowl, combine the quinoa, scallions, cucumber, and cilantro. Toss with the dressing and divide among salad plates. Top each portion with 3 or 4 shrimp, and serve.

Yield: Serves 4

Advance preparation: The cooked quinoa will keep for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator. You can make the dressing and prep the ingredients for the salad a few hours ahead.

Cilantro Pesto Shrimp Pasta

After we made the Shrimp Tostada Bites, we had quite a bit of leftover pesto and shrimp. We were trying to figure out what to do with it and decided to make a pasta.

Ingredients:

1 12oz. bag pasta (we used rigatoni)
3 Tbsp. Chipotle Cilantro Pesto
1/2 cup shrimp, chopped and cooked (you could also use chicken)
fresh tomato, chopped
red onion, chopped
avocado, chopped
shredded parmesan cheese
toasted pumpkin seeds (optional)

Directions:

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain and stir pesto into hot pasta. Add shrimp. Portion pasta onto plates, and top with tomato, onion, avocado, cheese, and pumpkin seeds.

Shrimp Tostada Bites

We got the idea for this recipe from an appetizer we really like at Z Tejas. This recipe is one we sort of made up as we went, so the measurements aren't really exact.

Ingredients:

1 two-pound bag frozen shrimp, thawed and tails removed
5-6 Tbsp. Chipotle Cilantro Pesto
4-5 large flour tortillas (burrito size)
cooking spray
4 avocados
1 roma tomato, chopped
3 Tbsp. red onion, chopped
fresh lime juice
salt
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:

Chop thawed shrimp into small pieces (about the size of your thumbnail). Place in mixing bowl and stir in 3-4 Tbsp. Chipotle Cilantro pesto. Cover and marinate in fridge for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. With a 2-inch biscuit or round cookie cutter, cut tortillas into mini circles. Place on a foil lined baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Lightly spray the tortilla rounds. Bake in oven for about 6 minutes. Watch closely and if any begin to puff up, flatten them with a fork. Broil them until they are lightly browned. When they're done they will be hard and flaky, almost like a cracker.

For guacamole, mash avocados in a bowl. Add chopped tomato and onion. Stir together and add fresh lime juice and salt, to taste.

Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a large frying pan over medium to medium-low heat and add marinated shrimp. As shrimp cooks, stir in another 1-2 Tbsp. pesto. Cook until shrimp is light pink.

To assemble, top tortilla round with a small scoop of guacamole and 2-3 shrimp pieces. Arrange on serving platter and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.