what's for dinner tonight: shrimp and spinach pasta with pimento peppers and feta

Ingredients:

Shrimp (I only used about 1 cup)

1 lbs of linguine pasta

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 handfuls of fresh spinach

1 can of artichoke hearts

1 4 oz. container of pimentos 

2 tbsp. of chili flakes

1 tbsp. of basil

4 tbsp. of olive oil

2 tbsp. of lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste

In a big pot of boiling water, cook your noodles until al dente. Make sure to add olive oil and salt to prevent the noodles from sticking, and also to season the pasta.

In a large skillet, heat your olive oil on medium-high heat. Add the garlic, chili flakes, and basil. The chili flakes will release their heat, and the basil will release their aromas.

Add the shrimp once the garlic begins to brown.

After sauteing for a couple of minutes, add the pimentos and artichoke hearts. The pimentos added some sweetness to the dish, which really complimented the chili flakes. Saute for a few minutes.

Then add your spinach. No worries, the leaves will begin to sweat and will decrease in size dramatically. 

Season the veggies with some salt and pepper and add your lime juice.

Drain the pasta and add to the pan. Toss, toss, toss!

Add some feta cheese on top and you are set!

Nom, nom, nom...

what's for dinner tonight: tilapia tacos

I am so glad I was able to get myself to the grocery store today, because my section of the fridge was completely out of any fresh ingredients. I bought myself a big bag of tilapia, mostly because it's my birthday month, and I figured a girl should pamper herself for the entire month of her birthday with glorious, healthy eats and excessive spending on whatever produce I want. 

This recipe makes two tacos, and had a medium-spicy taste. I love really hot and spicy food, but sometimes you pick out a jalapeno that just makes you say, "...eh." That was the case for this jalapeno. Add as little, or as much jalapeno as you'd like! I topped my tacos off with some hot salsa as well.

Ingredients:

1 tilapia filet

1 cup of chopped onion

1 cup of diced tomato

1/2 a jalapeno, minced

1 large clove of garlic, minced

1/4 Hass avocado 

2 tbsp. of lime juice

2 tbsp. of olive oil

1/4 tsp. of basil

1/4 tsp. of ground coriander 

1/4 tsp. of ground cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

2 soft taco shells

In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, lime juice, garlic, jalapeno, basil, cumin, and coriander. 

In a large skillet on medium-high heat, add the marinade, and let it simmer for a minute or so, to release the heat of the jalapeno. 

Add your tilapia filet and pan sear both sides.

Turn the filet over after a few minutes of cooking.

Once both sides are white, not opaque, cut the fish up into small pieces. I just used my tongs and tore up the filet into little pieces. 

Add the tomato and onion and let it simmer until the onion has cooked, about 3 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Cut up the avocado into small slices. Transfer the filling onto taco shells, add the avocado and garnish with whatever you want! I added some cheese and extra hot salsa for an additional kick. What was so great about this recipe is that you couldn't taste the fish. When I get fish tacos at a restaurant, there's often a nauseating fish smell which accompanies the tacos. The tomatoes and onion brought a nice, sweet taste to the meal, and the spices really worked well together. 

Enjoy! Nom, nom, nom...

what's for dinner tonight: creamy, roasted garlic and avocado pasta

Avocado's are one of my favorite things to eat. Anything with avocado is delicious to me, so when I thought of this recipe, I could wait to head over to Checker's to get myself some Hass avocados. They're on sale for 88 cents each, too! This recipe was amazingly simple to make, and it tastes so, so yummy!

Ingredients: 

1/2 lbs of spaghetti pasta

1 Hass avocado

2 garlic cloves

A small handful of basil

1 tbsp of lime juice

1 cup of vegetable stock 

Grated Parmesan 

1 tbsp. of olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the spaghetti until al dente, about 8-10 minutes. Pour some olive oil and salt into the water to season the pasta, and to prevent it from sticking together. 

Oven roast the garlic by broiling the two cloves of garlic for a couple of minutes of each side.

Meanwhile, cut and pit the avocado.

In a food processor or blender, spoon out the avocado bits, and add the garlic, basil, olive oil, lime juice, veggie stock and salt and pepper.

It kind of looks like goopy guac after it's completely processed.

Drain the pasta and put it back into the pot, pour out the sauce into the pot.

Mix well!

Garnish with some Parmesan. 

Enjoy! Nom, nom, nom...

what's for dinner tonight: oven roasted pesto and parmesan asparagus with mac and cheese

Homemade macaroni and cheese? Yum!

Ingredients:

Oven Roasted Pesto and Parmesan Asparagus

1/2 lbs of asparagus

3 tbsp. of Pesto sauce

1/2 cup of grated Parmesan 

1 tbsp. of garlic powder

1 tbsp. of olive oil

Pepper

Mac and Cheese

1 lbs. of pasta, I decided to use Rotini 

1/4 cup of butter

2 cups of milk, I used half whipping cream, half water

1/4 cup of flour

1 lbs. of cheese

Salt and pepper

Oven Roasted Pesto and Parmesan Asparagus

Slice the asparagus in half

Either in a ziploc container, or in a ziploc baggy, set the asparagus inside, along with the pesto sauce, parmesan, garlic powder, olive oil, and a pinch of pepper. Cover the lid, and shake what your mama gave you!!

Set on a baking sheet and bake at 400 for about 11 minutes.

Voila!

Mac and Cheese

Cook the noodles until al dente.

In a deep skillet, melt the butter on low-medium heat.

Gently add the flour...

And whisk until combined. Continue to whisk for about 5 minutes. This will be the roux.

Add in the milk...

Continue to whisk until it is completely combined. Set the heat to low to thicken the sauce. Then add your cheese. I used a combination of monterey and cheddar.

Whisk the cheese into the sauce until it has completely melted.

You can turn off the heat at this point. Add in the desired amount of salt and pepper.

And mix, mix, mix!

Add in the noodles and mix some more.

There was a lot of mixing and shaking in this recipe, but it's all worth it in the end!

Enjoy! Nom, nom, nom...

what's for dinner tonight: Arabian shakshouka (poached eggs in a spicy, tomato sauce)

I've been battling some sort of viral/bacterial infection these past couple of days. 102.1 degree fever and achey joints definitely made it difficult to cook any meal, but I figured I could make a bunch of this yummy shakshouka to last me at least a few days-- or at least until a doctor could figure out what kind of infection I had. I can trek to the grocery store once I'm a little bit more stable, and not so contagious. Plus this warm tomato-sauce dish soothed my pained tonsils. Ohhh, the pain!!

Ingredients

1 28oz. can of tomato sauce

1 12 oz. can of diced tomato

2 cups of broccoli florets (broccoli is not in original shakshouka recipes, but I figured I needed some extra vitamin C in my life)

1 yellow onion, diced roughly

5 cloves of garlic, sliced

1 handful of fresh basil, torn in pieces (I go to Checker's for fresh basil)

1/4 cup of sliced green onion

1/4 cup of cottage cheese

1/4 cup of oil

1 tbsp. of crushed red pepper (add as little of this, or as much of this as you'd like. This recipe made medium-hot shakshouka)

1 tbsp. of chili powder

1 tsp. of ground cumin

1 tsp. of cayenne pepper

4 eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

Dice and slice your onion and garlic.

On medium-high heat, add the garlic and onion, along with the cayenne pepper, chili powder, ground cumin, chili flakes and salt and pepper. Saute until they begin to soften, about 2-3 minutes. 

Meanwhile, drain the can of diced tomatoes.

Add the broccoli and basil into the skillet and stir fry until the broccoli start to become tender. About another 3 minutes.

Add in the can of diced tomatoes, and using the back of your mixing spoon, mash the tomatoes into the skillet.

Then add your tomato sauce.

Cover with a lid, and let this simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add each egg individually into different sections of the skillet.

You can add as many or as little as you'd like.

Cover and lower the heat to medium-low for about 10 minutes, or until the whites are completely cooked. Use your mixing spoon to scrape the egg whites around, be careful not to break the yolk!

Sprinkle the cottage cheese and and green onions on top.

Serve over a bed of rice, or with some pita.

Enjoy! Nom, nom, nom...