lemon

Maple Glazed Carrots

February 24, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

Carrots are one of my favorite vegetables. I love that they are inexpensive, accessible and versatile to cook. The night I cooked these, I wasn’t planning on having carrots for dinner, but I was drawn to their beautiful colors in the supermarket. As most people do, I eat with my eyes first and knew these would look beautiful on my dinner plate. Impulse shopping can be forgiven if its related to grocery shopping, especially if it’s the in produce section. I’m always prepared with a grocery list, but will make a change if needed. If you are one of those people who sticks to baby carrots with ranch dressing, I’m here to show you this can be an alternative option.

I love learning and try to share some of what I discover in each post about the ingredients I use. Carrots, I would say, have been one of the more interesting ingredients I’ve ever researched. It felt as though their history was kind of like a soap opera; hard to believe I am talking about a vegetable! Every part of the world has had their hand in contributing to their history. Dr. Green’s website summarized it best, so I’ve decided to quote an excerpt from his website. “Orange is not the original color of carrots – purple is! The carrot seems to have started in Afghanistan, and what appears to be a purple carrot is featured on Egyptian temple walls dating back more than 4000 years. The purple carrot was the norm in India, Europe, and throughout the Middle East. Then, 400 years ago, in another burst of patriotism, Dutch farmers bred an orange carrot to match their country’s color. Today the purple carrot is making a comeback, and green, yellow, red, white, and black varieties have been bred. These natural pigments contain healthy nutrients. The “traditional” purple variety tastes sweeter, and is especially rich in anthocyanins, which also act as antioxidants.” http://www.drgreene.com/blog/2002/05/17/rainbow-carrots

Isn’t this interesting? I hope you give this recipe a try and share what you’ve learned at the dinner table too! 😉

Ingredients

1 bunch carrots, chopped into ½ inch pieces
1/3 cup of water
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Heat the butter, maple syrup and lemon zest in a pan on medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add carrots, salt, cinnamon and mix until they’re coated in the sauce. Allow the carrots to sit in the sauce for a few minutes before adding water. Cook covered for 8 – 10 minutes on medium heat. Be sure to check the carrots to see if they are tender before the listed time, you don’t want to overcook them. If they are done but the liquid has not reduced down, take the carrots out of the pan and allow the sauce to thicken. This shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.

Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: butter, carrots, cinnamon, lemon, maple syrup

Baked Salmon with Brown Sugar and Chili Topping

January 3, 2013 by admin Leave a Comment

Salmon is a crowd pleaser that’s easy to entertain with. The best dinner parties I’ve attended have featured salmon as the main dish. Every host appeared to be relaxed with a drink in one hand and a big smile to greet you at the door. Life, like food should be pleasurable, relaxed and easy.

Making a simple marinade, setting it aside and getting the rest of your meal together is the way to go. I’ve tried my share of salmon recipes but settled on trying my own marinade with the flavors I love. The topping for this recipe was suggested to me from a girlfriend whose husband loves his fish sweet and spicy. I serve it with just about anything, but mash potatoes or greens continue to be the repeating favorite.

I highly recommend purchasing wild caught seafood instead of farm raised. If you purchase your fish at the seafood counter and have no plans to cook it within a day, buying frozen is the better option. In some cases, the fish you see at the counter has been previously frozen. You can find this out by reading the label next to the price tag where the seafood is displayed, or asking your fishmonger.

Ingredients

1 1/5 pounds of salmon
1/2 cup of orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup sliced green onions
1 teaspoon salt

Topping

1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons of chili powder

Directions

In a ziploc bag, prepare marinade by mixing orange juice, lemon, olive oil, green onions and salt. Marinade in the refrigerator for 1 hour, turning occasionally. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place salmon in a baking dish with the marinade and topping mixture. Bake for 15 minutes, and broil for another 5 minutes.

Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: brown sugar, chili, green onions, lemon, orange juice, salmon

Shrimp Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Capers

December 23, 2012 by admin 2 Comments

This dish is my go to meal when I don’t feel like cooking or just don’t have the time. One of the biggest challenges that I hear from working mothers, and fathers is managing work and home life. Providing our families with a home cooked meal is something we all work hard to do. I can hear my single girl/guy friends saying “What about us”, yes, you too can enjoy this fab meal, and the leftovers taste even better the next day.

I’ve combined pasta with one of my all time favorites “Sun-dried tomatoes” and capers; the added lemon compliments the shrimp nicely. A few tips: I personally like to rinse the capers in a small colander to control the amount of salt in my dish. When it comes to the sun-dried tomatoes, unless they are packed in oil, they need to be re-hydrated before use. This is done by setting the tomatoes in a bowl of boiling water, and letting them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. The biggest time saver is buying shrimp that has been peeled and deveined. If its on sale do not pass this up. Hope this becomes one of your go to dishes, like its been for me!

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup white wine or broth
Juice of 1 lemon
1 pound of pasta
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, diced
2 shallots, diced
4 garlic, minced
1/3 cup capers
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

Heat a pan on low to medium heat and add 1 tbsp of olive oil, shallots and garlic. Let this cook for 5 minutes, until the shallots become translucent. To keep the garlic from burning, stir continuously or be sure to keep an eye on your mixture. Another option is to wait until the last minute to add the garlic to the pan with the shallots. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, capers, white wine (or broth) and lemon juice to the pan. Stir to combine all ingredients. After 2-3 minutes or once you see the liquid start to simmer, add the shrimp and season with salt/pepper to taste. Be sure to spread your mixture in an even layer in the pan. Saute until the shrimp turns pink, no more than 4 to 5 minutes, stirring often. Turn off your heat, add remaining olive oil, butter and cooked pasta. Toss well, and serve.