I had an unexpected day off and cooked most of the day. Also went to the new UBER Whole Foods....

barbara-in-va

Well-known member
in Old Town Alexandria. My little local neighborhood branch closed (big bummer!) because of the new one in Old Town. Unfortunately, I do not live nearby and will not be able to get there very often. It was a treat to go and know what they have available.

Anyway, this is what was for dinner tonight..

Shrimp in Yellow Sauce

Cooking Light March 2006

Not sure if this is an Asian or Indian dish or maybe a bit of both? It was absolutely delicious.

Spice Paste:

1/2 t grated lime rind

2 T lime juice

1-2 t sambal oelek (chile paste with garlic)

1 t fish sauce

1/2 t coriander seeds

1/2 t tumeric

3 garlic cloves

2 shallots, chopped

1 1" piece fresh ginger, peeled

Shrimp:

cooking spray

1 C light coconut milk

1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined

chopped cilantro

1. To prepare spice paste, combine first 9 ingredients in a food processor, process until smooth.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add spice paste to pan, saute 1 minute or until fragrant. Add coconut milk and shrimp; simmer 4 minutes or until shrimp are done. Garnish with cilantro if desired. Yield: 4 servings

Notes: I tried to use a small food processor to make the paste but the blades just spun around. I ended up dumping it on a cutting board and using a chefs knife. It worked perfectly. I happened to have some "whole" coconut milk in my pantry, not "lite" so that is what I used.

Cooking Light recommended some coconut rice as an accompaniment:

Combine 1 C long grain rice, 1 1/4 C low fat chicken broth, 1 t salt, and 2 t canola oil in a medium saucepan over high heat, bring to a boil. reduce heat and andd 1/2 C light coconut milk and 1/2 stalk lemongrass, smashed. Cover and simmer 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Let stand 10 minutes, fluff with a fork.

Notes: I sorta made this rice. I used brown rice (in my never ending quest to eat a bit more healthy) instead of white and added some cumin into the broth mixture. I forgot the lemongrass but stirred in some cilantro and green onion at the end.

This was a supurb Friday night dinner. We both really enjoyed it, hope you will too!

 
REC: Red Lentil Mulligatawny with Apple Celery Salsa, another CL recipe I tried today....

From the March 2005 Cooking Light issue.

Salsa:
2/3 C finely chopped Granny Smith apple
1/3 C finely chopped celery
1 T chopped fresh cilantro
1 T fresh lime juice

Soup:
3 1/2 C fat free chicken broth
1 C dried small red lentils
1 C chopped onion
1 1/2 C light coconut milk
3 T tomato paste
1 t grated peeled fresh ginger
1/2 t ground cumin
1/8 t ground turmeric
1 t fresh lime juice
1/2 t salt
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper

1. To prepare salsa, combine the first 4 ingredients, cover and chill.

2. To prepare soup, combine broth, lentils, and onion in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until lentils are tender. Pour half of lentil mixture in a blender, let stand 5 minutes. Process until smooth. Pour pureed lentil mixture into a bowl. Pour remaining lentil mixture into blender, process until smooth. Add coconut milk, tomato paste, ginger, cumin and turmeric, process until smooth. Return coconut milk mixture and remaining pureed lentil mixture to pan. Cover and simmer over medium heat 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in 1 t juice, salt and pepper. Ladle about 1 C soup into each of 4 bowls, top each serving with 1/4 C saalsa. Yield 4 servings.

Notes: DELICIOUS! No lite coconut milk in my pantry so I used the decadant one that was hiding behind the can of artichoke hearts. Also, I am not a big fan of raw crunchy celery so I used some spicy pecans along with the apple mixture--YUM.

Will have this for lunch tomorrow along with some whole wheat pitas dressed with a fancy olive oil and some Greek feta (the lady at the Meditteranian Bakery told me was the best one they carry).

Enjoy!

 
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