Seafood

Shrimp and Fried Rice

Posted by Rachel Ashley on Jun 13, 2012 in Asian Favorites, Fashionably Organic, Seafood, Side Dishes | 0 comments

On Monday night I made my husband brown fired rice and mini shrimp. The recipe was very easy and tasty! I wish I would have had peas and carrots to add to the rice, but I made due with what I had. I had a cup of leftover brown rice, that I wanted to use up from the weekend., shrimp and I always have eggs! He loves fried rice and shrimp, so I thought it would be a quick and easy way to use up a few ingredients I had on hand. This is a healthy dinner filled with protein, healthy carbs and omega-3′s. The recipe takes less than 15 minutes and has five ingredients; how easy is that?

Ingredients:
1 cup of cooked brown rice
1 organic egg
1 cup of mini pre-cooked shrimp (deveined and no tail)
3 drops soy sauce
3 drops sesame oil
1 tablespoon of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Recipe:

In a small pan drizzle a tablespoon of EVOO. Crack one large organic egg and scramble. Add 1 cup of cooked brown rice to the pan and warm through. Add the shrimp, I used pre-cooked shrimp, so I cooked the shrimp for no more than a minute, to heat through. You know the shrimp has been heated through when they start to curl up tighter. You don’t want to cook shrimp too long, otherwise they become tough and rubbery in texture. If you aren’t using pre-cooked shrimp, be sure to devein and remove tails and cook for about a minute in a seperate pan. Once the brown rice and shrimp have been heated through add 3 drops of soy sauce and 3 drops of sesame sauce and freshly cracked black pepper to taste. I am always really careful with how much salt I add to a recipe, that being said, soy sauce and sesame sauce has a lot of sodium so you may or may not need to add salt. If you have peas and carrots they would definitely be a great addition to the rice. Plate and serve with your favorite tarter sauce!

Enjoy!
XO,
Rachel Ashley

In House Picnic

Posted by Rachel Ashley on Oct 3, 2011 in Fashionably Organic, Seafood | 0 comments

The other night, I decided to surprise my husband with a candle lit dinner when he came home from work. I get tired of doing the same thing every night, eat dinner at the kitchen table or eat dinner in front of the T.V., I wanted to switch things up a bit. It was still too hot outside to have a picnic so I decided to have a picnic in our family room. I laid down blankets and pillows and put candles all around the outside edge of the blanket. I made my hubby’s favorite fish salmon with squash and a side of creamy polenta. I didn’t have much time, so I didn’t make my own homemade polenta, but I did use Trader Joe’s polenta from France, and it is so good! I had yellow and green squash so I cut it into thin slices sprinkled with fresh garlic and salt and pepper and then grilled salmon and tilapia seasoned with lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper…yum-oh! I popped open a Michigan beer I had picked up from Total Wine and a bottle of Pellegrino with a squeeze of fresh lime and we enjoyed a romantic dinner just the two of us!

XO,

Rachel Ashley

Ingredients:
Fish
1 fillet of salmon
1 tilapia
2 cloves fresh garlic
1 lemon
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp Herbs De Provence
1 tbsp EVOO

Squash
1 yellow squash
1 zucchini
1/2 tsp of fresh garlic
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp EVOO

Polenta
1 bag of creamy polenta with carrots and spinach from Trader Joes : )

Recipe:
Start by mincing two cloves of fresh garlic. Then take one lemon and zest it, be sure to not zest too deep (avoid the white part, it can be bitter). Once the lemon has been zested roll it underneath your hand to get the juices moving and then slice in half. Open your fish from the butcher and squeeze the lemon juice over both pieces of fish. Sprinkle with garlic, 1 tsp of salt, fresh ground black pepper and Herbs De Provence. Drizzle EVOO in a hot pan and grill fish for about 2-3 minutes on each side.

Take the squash and cut into thin slices. Toss into a pan with EVOO, sprinkle with salt, pepper and fresh garlic. Cook for about 3-5 minutes depending on how soft you like your vegetables.

As for the polenta, follow instructions on the bag.

Salmon and Tilapia

Posted by Rachel Ashley on Feb 24, 2011 in Fashionably Organic, Grilling, Seafood | 0 comments

The other part of my Valentine’s Dinner was simple…. salmon for my husband and tilapia for myself! I love cooking fish, because it is good for you and full of omega-3′s, but it is quick and easy too! For my husbands salmon and my tilapia I went to the butcher and picked up some fresh cuts. I then took them home squeezed fresh lemon juice over them and seasoned with salt and pepper. For the salmon I picked fresh mint from the herb garden, chopped, and sprinkled on top. On the tilapia I added some springs of thyme. I placed the salmon skin side up and cooked for 4 minutes, then flipped to the other side. The tilapia is a thinner so I cooked it for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. I always like to have good grill marks on each side, it makes for a pretty presentation!

Baked Cod w/Sour Cream and Green Onions

Posted by Rachel Ashley on May 23, 2010 in Fashionably Organic, Seafood | 0 comments

Today, I was searching through the Internet for recipes on my lunch break and I saw an amazing picture of baked cod! It was at that moment that I wanted to leave my desk to run home and make a dish that resembled the picture. It literally made my mouth water! I knew my husband would appreciate a change from our usual chicken and beef dinners. I had plenty of fresh green onions, garlic, a tub of organic sour cream, Parmesan Reggiano, all that was missing from my ice box (a.k.a refrigerator) was the cod fillets. After work I ran by the local market to pick up the cod. As I was walking through the market I saw a fresh bunch of asparagus, I knew grilled asparagus with a little EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) salt and pepper would pair perfectly with the bake cod, so I picked up a bunch and continued to the seafood section. On the way home I was thinking how easy this meal was going to be and how simple the clean up would be too (my husband would appreciate having to do less dishes!).

Recipe: 2 pieces cod or other mild white fish, thawed if frozen and patted dry with paper towels
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
3 T organic sour cream
1 garlic clove, finely minced
2 T finely ground Parmesan Reggiano
3 T sliced green onion (about 3 green onions)

Preheat your oven to 375F/190C. Take a baking sheet an line it with aluminum foil. Salt and pepper each side of the cod fillets and place them on the baking sheet. Finely chop 1 clove of garlic, and 3 green onions. In a separate bowl combine the sour cream, Parmesan reggiano, and garlic. Spoon the sour cream mixture on top of each fillet and spread evenly. Next, sprinkle the green onions on top of the sour cream mixture, allowing the sour cream to be an adhesive for the green onions. Place the fillets in the oven for 25 minutes. If your fillets are thick place a meat thermometer in them and make sure the temperature reaches 145F; if you don’t have a thermometer cook the fish until it is firm, but not hard to the touch. A good rule to always remember, is fish should be cooked 10 minutes for every inch of thickness.

Side Dish:
For a perfect side dish, take a bunch of asparagus and chop off about an inch from the base. On a grill pan drizzle EVOO and place the asparagus in the pan. Again, drizzle about 2T of EVOO on the asparagus and then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Grill on medium heat for about 2 minutes per side. The asparagus should have pretty grill marks and still have a slight crunch to them. This is one of my favorite sides!