Seafood Marinara with Zucchini Noodles

Courtesy of Plated Perfection

Do you love Italian food? Fresh seafood? Me too! However, we've been trying to lighten up the diet, so I've been on a zucchini noodle roll -- they're just delicious and so easy (especially when Whole Foods now prepares them and sells them ready to boil)! Yes, I am paying for convenience, but sometimes I'm OK with that! This dish was tasty -- I bought some fresh scallops and shrimp today and decided to toss it in with some other ingredients I had on hand. Give this a shot! You can put in whichever seafood you want too, so get creative!

Ingredients:
1/2 pound peeled, deveined shrimp
1/3 pound sea scallops
1 tb Italian seasoning (I use salt-free)
1/2 lemon, juiced
1-2 cups of your favorite marinara sauce (mine is Rao's)
~ 1-1.5 pound zucchini noodles
1 tb olive oil
1 tb butter
splash of dry white wine
parmesan cheese (topping at end)
fresh basil (optional)

Directions:
Bring your water to a boil with a dash of salt. Have the zucchini prepped and ready to go. Meanwhile, pat the shrimp and scallops dry - sprinkle with some pepper. In a separate saute pan, heat 1 tb olive oil and 1 tb butter. When hot, sear the scallops approximately 2-3 minutes per side, depending on the size of the scallops. You want to brown these and cook them through. Set aside on a platter and place the shrimp in the saute pan. Add a bit more oil if necessary and a splash of dry white wine. After about 1 minute on each side, turn and brown the other side until these are also done. Set these on the platter with the scallops. Drain the liquid from the pan, and add the marinara sauce over medium heat. Add the seafood back to the pan with the sauce, and sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Simmer for just a couple of minutes and then serve with fresh grated Parmesan cheese! I didn't have fresh herbs on me, but fresh basil would've been a great addition!

Crock Pot Salsa Verde Chicken

Adapted from Skinnytaste.com

I needed a quick and easy dinner for last night, so the crock pot immediately came to mind. I really don't use it enough! We both love salsa verde, so this seemed like an easy choice. I decided to use chicken breasts since we're trying to be a bit healthier and I had them on hand. The chicken came out SO delicious and we just couldn't stop eating it - oops! So much for portion control! I decided to make the chicken into tacos, so I just threw in some corn tortillas (low carb of course), avocado, tomato, low-fat mexican cheese, and lettuce. Give it a shot, you won't regret it! This would also be great on top of rice with the sauce - yum.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs raw skinless chicken tenders (or breasts)
2 tsp salt-free Itailan seasoning
16 oz roasted salsa verde (I love Trader Joe's)

Directions:
Season chicken with garlic powder, oregano, cumin and salt and place in the bottom of the slow cooker. Cover with salsa verde, cover and cook HIGH 2 hours. Remove chicken, shred with 2 forks. Remove 2/3 cup of liquid from the slow cooker, and discard (unless you want it over rice). Place shredded chicken back into the crock pot with remaining salsa, adjust seasoning to taste if needed and keep warm.

Pan Seared Scallops with Citrus Mojo Vinaigrette

Adapted from Skinnytaste

If you haven't already, you must check out www.skinnytaste.com. It's a fantastic blog with lots of healthy recipes and lovely pictures that has been around for several years. I've found many great recipes on this blog, and tonight was a new one involving one of my favorites - scallops! This original recipe was meant to be a salad, but I just used the scallop portion with the dressing, and paired it with asian green beans (also from skinnytaste.com). The green beans can be found on an earlier blog post from me - http://platedperfection.blogspot.com/2011/10/garlic-lime-pork-chops-with-asian-green.html. The scallops were very light with a great citrus zing to it! I was fortunate to find fresh, local scallops today at the store which really made this dish! Below is my adapted piece of the recipe.

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

3/4 lb (12 oz) sea scallops - this was 10 large scallops in my case

1 tsp unsalted butter

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/2 navel orange, juiced

1 small clove garlic, crushed

kosher salt and fresh pepper

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

In a small bowl whisk olive oil, juice from half lemon, juice from 1/4 of the orange, crushed garlic, salt and pepper. 

Wash scallops and pat dry with a paper towel. Season with salt. Heat a medium size pan on a high flame. When pan is hot, melt butter and place scallops in the pan. Sear without touching them for a few minutes until the bottom forms a nice caramel colored crust. Turn over and cook about another minute while their centers are still slightly translucent (you can check this by viewing them from the side). Be careful not to overcook. When done, drizzle half of the marinade over the scallops in the pan. 

Additional dressing can be added as desired on the plate.

Broiled Salmon with Herb Mustard Glaze

Courtesy of Food Network (Giada de Laurentiis)

It's hard to pass up salmon, especially if you're lucky enough to get it fresh at the seafood counter. It's also super healthy and I'm trying to incorporate more of it into my diet. I also love, love, love mustard -- so this recipe had me immediately. This was very juicy salmon with a nice crust on top, and would go with just about anything. However, I chose to pair it with some simply sauteed haricots verts (just sauteed with salt, pepper, garlic - nothing fancy!).

Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves
3/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
3/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon dry white wine
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
Nonstick olive oil cooking spray
6 (6 to 8-ounce) salmon fillets
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 lemon wedges (or however much you prefer)

Directions:
In a mini food processor, combine garlic, rosemary, thyme, wine, oil, Dijon mustard, and 1 tablespoon of whole-grain mustard. Grind the mustard sauce until combined, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a small bowl. Add remaining 1 tablespoon of whole-grain mustard to the sauce and stir to combine. Set aside mustard sauce. NOTE: If you don't have a mini food processor, you can chop the herbs finely and mix together in a bowl.

Preheat the broiler. Line a heavy rimmed baking sheet with foil. Spray the foil with nonstick spray. Arrange the salmon fillets on the baking sheet and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Broil for 2 minutes. Spoon the mustard sauce over the fillets. Continue broiling until the fillets are just cooked through and golden brown, about 5 minutes longer for medium. If a thick cut piece of salmon - you may want to cook a bit longer if you like it cooked more well done or medium well, but be careful not to burn the top of the salmon under the broiler. Transfer the fillets to plates and serve with lemon wedges.

Chicken & Artichokes in Wine Sauce

Courtesy of the kitchn 

My apologies blog followers - I haven't given you much at all to follow recently! I've been stock piling pictures and recipes and am finally getting a few minutes to upload some of them. The first one I wanted to post, I made last week. It was healthy and really flavorful. I modified the original recipe to use zucchini noodles instead of actual pasta, and I didn't use as much butter was suggested, but that is a personal preference. It still came out really delicious and you didn't even miss the pasta! Enjoy!

Ingredients: (serves 4 - although not gonna lie, we ate most of this between the 2 of us -- if you're hungry)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 1 pound
1 1/2 cups flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided (I used about 1 tb)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 cups dry yet mellow white wine, such as Chardonnay
1/2 lemon
Flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, to garnish (optional)
2 cups artichoke hearts, frozen and thawed, or canned and drained (I used marinated in a jar)

Directions:
Cut the artichoke hearts in half lengthwise. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, about 1 inch to a side. In a medium bowl, mix the flour with about 1 teaspoon salt and a generous quantity of black pepper. Toss the chicken pieces in the flour.

Set a large skillet (at least 12 inches wide) over medium-high heat. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the artichokes. Cook for about 5 minutes or until lightly browned on each side. Remove the artichokes from the skillet and transfer to a plate. Set aside.

Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in the skillet along with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Lift the chicken pieces out of the flour and arrange in the skillet. Sauté the chicken pieces for 5 to 7 minutes or until well-browned on both sides. (For best flavor, look for a golden crust to develop, and make sure both sides are browned.) Add the browned artichokes back to the pan.

Pour in the white wine and and stir and scrape up any bits on the bottom of the pan. Bring to a simmer and let it simmer for 8 to 10 minutes over medium heat. The sauce will thicken. Stir well to coat everything with the wine sauce. Stir in a few squeezes of fresh lemon juice. Top with parsley, if desired.