Italian Pesto Bruschetta

Courtesy of Plated Perfection

We have started an Easter tradition at our place here in Arlington. We have a few folks over and I make beef tenderloin, au gratin potatoes, and some other goodies. This year, I decided to have an appetizer. I made a different variations of this and they were a big hit! They're also super easy...I highly recommend :) I apologize for not capturing any of the baked tomatoes in the photo -- they had already gotten eaten!

Ingredients:
French bread baguette, sliced approximately half inch thick
Pesto sauce
Prosciutto (I used about 5 slices)
Fresh mozzarella, sliced and then halved
Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced (some halved)
Olive oil

Directions:
Baked tomatoes: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with olive oil. Place a few sliced tomatoes on the baking sheet and top with mozzarella and pesto. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Baked bruschetta:  Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with olive oil. Place a few slices of bread on the baking sheet and top with pesto, mozzarella, prosciutto and tomato. Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted. (I left the tomato off some of these).

Room Temp Bruschetta: On a platter, place a few slices of bread and top with pesto, mozzarella, prosciutto and tomato. (I left the tomato off some of these).

Foil Baked Sea Bass with Pesto

Adapted from Food & Wine

Sea bass is one of my favorite types of fish. It's expensive, but whenever it's on sale, I try to get some. I also had some leftover pesto sauce to use, so this worked great! The original recipe called for zucchini and carrots on top of the fish, but I didn't have any of that on hand. I ended up just serving this without and having a side of my grandmother's canned green beans, sauteed with some garlic and shallot. Yummy!

Ingredients:
2 sea bass fillets
dash of lemon pepper seasoning
1/2 lemon
dash of pepper
4 tb pesto sauce (approx. 2 tb/piece of fish)
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tb olive oil

Directions
Heat the oven to 450°. Put two 12-inch squares of aluminum foil on a work surface and brush lightly with cooking oil. Put a fish fillet in the center of each square of foil. Sprinkle the fillets with salt and lemon pepper. Spread the fish with the pesto. Gather the foil around the fish and drizzle the fish with the oil and wine. Fold the edges of the foil to make a sealed package. Put the foil packages on a baking sheet. Bake the fish until just done, about 12 minutes. Open the foil packages and transfer the fillets with their vegetable topping to plates. Pour the juices over the top.

Mustard Roasted Fish

Courtesy of Ina Garten

This week was seafood week for us -- not intentionally, but I just ended up with a lot of good looking seafood from Teeter! I saw this recipe made on Barefoot Contessa and it caught my eye. It looked so delicious and I knew I had to try it! Ina never leads you down the wrong path :) This was very tasty. I will say that I only cooked two pieces of fish and had way too much sauce, so I would only prepare half of it if you have less than 3 pieces of fish. I just served this with my lemon pepper noodles I'm a bit obsessed with and asparagus (just mixed with some lemon, dill herb sauce)...it was a great combination. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

4 (8-ounce) red snapper fillets
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces creme fraiche
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 teaspoons drained capers

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. (You can also use an ovenproof baking dish.) Place the fish fillets skin side down on the sheet pan. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Combine the creme fraiche, 2 mustards, shallots, capers, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl. Spoon the sauce evenly over the fish fillets, making sure the fish is completely covered. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish, until it's barely done. (The fish will flake easily at the thickest part when it's done.) Be sure not to overcook it! Serve hot or at room temperature with the sauce from the pan spooned over the top.

Spicy Grilled Jalapeno & Lime Shrimp

Adapted from Cook's Country

It would appear that shrimp has been on my mind, considering the last 3 recipes I've posted have included them...just an interesting observation. Shrimp are great because they're healthy, easy, and very versatile. They usually remind me of spring/summer, so maybe I'm just subconsciously trying to bring the warm weather back! In any event, this recipe is meant to be grilled, but it's way too cold for that, so I used the broiler and they still came out great! I can thank a good friend of mine for introducing these to me -- she made them for us a couple of weeks ago and they were just delighful, so I had her send me the recipe. These would be great as an appetizer (as I did), or you could even top some pasta with them and I think it would also be good. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• Equipment needed: long skewers (I used wood -- make sure you soak in water first)
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Zest of 1 lime, plus 5 tablespoons juice (from 3 limes)
• 6 cloves garlic, minced (1 to 2 tablespoons)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (can substitute black pepper if you're out like I was)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 pounds extra-large shrimp (21 to 25 per pound), peeled and deveined
• 1 teaspoon sugar (save for later)
• 1 tb fresh cilantro, chopped (save for later)

Directions:
Combine the jalapeno, olive oil, lime zest and juice, garlic, cumin, cayenne pepper, and salt in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Set aside 2 tb of the marinade for later.

Butterfly the shrimp. Mix the shrimp with the marinade and refrigerate covered for at least 30 minutes, but not more than 1 hour. Place the shrimp onto skewers, alternating the direction of the shrimp. Sprinkle one side of the shrimp with the sugar.

Place the shrimp on a baking sheet and place under the broiler (about 3-4 inches from the top) on High. Cook with the sugared side down first, about 3-4 minutes. Flip the skewers and cook an additional 1-2 minutes. Once done, top with the remaining marinade and cilantro. Serve immediately. (I just served mine in a bowl and just took them off the skewers before adding the remaining marinade and cilantro).

Lemon Herb Shrimp & Vegetable Fettucine

Courtesy of Plated Perfection

Life has been busy...in a good way...but busy nonetheless! I apologize for the lack of postings, but here's a yummy, light dish I was able to throw together last night. It was packed with flavor and I look forward to leftovers for lunch :) as usual. You can get creative with the veggies too, so have at it! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1-2 tb olive oil
8 oz. of your favorite pasta (I used fettucine)
1 cup veggie broth (or you can use chicken broth)
1 lemon, juiced (or 2 if you feel it needs more)
1 cup zucchini, cut into quarters
1.5 cups artichoke hearts, drained and cut into chunks (I used canned because I had them on hand)
3-4 cloves of garlic, diced
1 tb capers
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half or quarters (add more if you'd like)
healthy dash of lemon pepper seasoning
healthy dash of Italian seasoning
healthy dash of Lawry's seasoning salt
healthy dash of pepper
small dash of crushed red pepper (to your liking)
handful fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup feta cheese
1/2 - 3/4 pound shrimp (I prefer peeled & deveined with the tails cut off)

Directions:
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. In the meantime, heat 1 tb olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. In a small bowl, toss the shrimp with the seasoning salt, pepper, and italian seasoning. Once mixed together, add the shrimp to the saute pan and cook approximately 2 minutes per side, until light pink. Remove the shrimp and set aside. Add a little more olive oil if need be and add the zucchini. Cook for about 5 minutes until a bit browned and then add in the artichokes, garlic, capers, and tomatoes. Cook for another couple of minutes and add in the broth, lemon juice, shrimp, lemon pepper seasoning, and crushed red pepper. Cook the pasta until al dente and drain. Mix the pasta with the sauce and top with fresh parsley and feta cheese!

Lemon Pepper Pappardelle with Shrimp

Adapted from Trader Joe's

If you've read any of my blog posts, you've probably noticed I'm very partial to Harris Teeter. However, I will walk into Trader Joe's or Whole Foods on occasion :) One thing I love about Trader Joe's is that they have very unique products -- such as this lemon pepper pappardelle! I love lemon pepper and I love pasta, so this was a match made in heaven for me. There was a recipe on the back of the pasta bag which I used and just made adjustments. This is my version. It was a very light pasta dish full of flavor. I'm glad I didn't make the entire bag because we totally would've eaten the whole thing! So go buy yourself some lemon pepper pasta and give this a go! (I apologize for the photo -- I was in a rush to eat, so took a quick snap with my phone.)

Ingredients:
1 - 8 oz. bag lemon pepper pappardelle (I used a little over half)
3/4 - 1 pd. uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined (depends on how much shrimp you like)
1 tb capers, loosely chopped
1 lemon, juiced
2 tb olive oil
1-2 garlic cloves, diced (depends on how much garlic you like)
1-2 tb fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Throw in the pasta and cook for approximately 8-10 minutes, until al dente. Drain the pasta. In the meantime, add the olive oil to a skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Cook the shrimp until pink on each side, only about 2-3 min. per side. Throw in the garlic and stir around for a few minutes. Add the drained pasta, capers, and lemon juice. Stir around and warm everything together for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and toss in the parsley.

Pork Chops with Garlic & Wine

Courtesy of Pioneer Woman

Well, it's been over a month since I've posted anything, my apologies! There has definitely been a lot going on since December -- starting a new job, celebrating the holidays, and moving into a new place! The cooking I have done has been ole' reliables from the blog :) The great thing is that we now have a newer kitchen which is awesome to cook in, so here goes my first new meal in the new abode! Note: I did cut this recipe in half, so there was a little adjustment. This recipe below is the half portion.

Ingredients:

• 3 whole Pork Chops (medium to thin; I chose medium thickness)
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• Salt And Pepper
• 3/4 cup Red Wine (I used an African blend from my wine club)
• 1/4 cup Beef Broth (more If Needed)
• 1 whole Bay Leaf
• 1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
• 9 whole Peeled Garlic Cloves
• 1 Tablespoon Butter (additional, if desired)

Directions:
Heat oil and butter in a heavy skillet over high heat. Salt and pepper both sides of the pork chops and sear them on both sides until they're nice and golden, about 2 minutes per side. (No need to completely cook the chops at this point.) Remove the chops from the skillet and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium-high, then throw in the whole garlic cloves. Stir them around and cook them for several minutes, or until they get nice and golden brown.

Pour in the red wine, then add the bay leaf. Stir around and let it reduce, raising the heat if necessary. Cook the sauce for several minutes, or until it's nice and reduced and thick.

Stir in the beef broth (you can add more if it needs the liquid) and add the chops back into the cooking liquid, arranging them so that they're swimming in the sauce. Allow the chops to cook in the liquid for a few minutes, then pour in the balsamic. Shake the pan to get it to distribute, then cook for a couple more minutes, or until the pork chops are done.

Remove the chops from the pan once more, then let the sauce reduce a little more if needed until it's very thick and rich and the garlic is soft. Swirl in 1 tablespoon of butter and sprinkle in a little salt and pepper.
Arrange pork chops on a platter, then pour the whole skillet of sauce (including garlic) over the top.

*You may substitute white wine for a slightly lighter sauce.