Monday, July 30, 2012

Recipe-Shrimp Fried Rice

This one is not an experiment, but rather a staple in my kitchen.  It is my version of shrimp fried rice made at home.  Since I'm so much into coconut oil these days I've replaced the olive oil with coconut oil.  It doesn't alter the taste at all, but is a healthier option. 

I normally cook up an entire bag of uncooked shrimp that you can buy at any supermarket.  I either buy medium or large shrimp.  I remove the shell and clean the shrimp all the way to the tail.  There is still some bowel line in the tail and you really want to not eat that.

I place the cleaned shrimp on a cooking sheet and sprinkle the top only with old bay seafood seasoning and black pepper.  Place the seasoned side down in a heated oiled pan and season the other side.  Season the shrimp on one side only because the under part is wet and will wipe out the seasoning.  The beauty of these is a slight crust that is formed from the seasoning and oil.  Makes the finished product super yummy!   

After the shrimp is cooked and removed from the pan add the veggies.  I normally use a mixture of diced peppers and onion.  If frozen rice is used add it after the veggies are cooked to desired doneness.  Add a few splashes of soy sauce.  Add the shrimp back to heat through.

If using precooked rice add it at the very end.  Cook the shrimp..then veggies....add the soy sauce and shrimp to pan and stir.  Add in the cooked rice.  In this recipe I used Trader Joe's Brown Rice Medley.  I love the seeds in this rice!  However, prior to this I used the frozen vegetable fried rice by Trader Joe.






End result!  Super yummy!








Saturday, July 14, 2012

Recipe Experiment-Pumpkin Hummus

It's been a while since I've posted.  I upgraded my blender from a ninja pod version (on the left) to the ninja 1100 (on the right).  Today is my first day using it and I thought I'd experiment.  












A coworker brought in a container of pumpkin hummus.  I never heard of pumpkin hummus, but it was very yummy.  In reading the ingredients it contained mostly wholesome ingredients and some ingredients I didn't think were needed like guar gum and lemon juice.  I sure I could duplicate it at home.

I used a standard can of chickpeas, an equal size can of pure pumpkin, a little soybean oil, lots of vanilla extract, lots of pumpkin, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg and a little bit of dark agave.  The spices and extract I pretty much added based on smell and taste and viola!  I ended up with a nice size bowl to pic off of for the week.  Pic below shown with a small apple sliced on a saucer.