Welcome to our kitchen!

We believe that anyone can create fresh, flavorful meals - and have fun doing it - so we want to share our experiences, recipes, and tips for anyone who wants to give it a try!

All of the recipes we post will be tailored to serve two, unless otherwise noted.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Shrimp and tomato in mustard sauce

This is one of the quickest, easiest meals that we make. It is a light, healthy weeknight dinner that could also work well for a fancier lunch.

Ingredients

Smart Balance, 1/2 T
Garlic, 2 cloves, minced
Shallot, 1 T minced
White wine, 4 fl oz
Dijon Mustard, 2 T
Shrimp, 1 lb
2 Roma tomatoes, diced

In a non-stick skillet, melt the Smart Balance. Add the garlic and shallot, cook until tender. Add the wine, reduce to 1/4 cup. Stir in the mustard. Add the shrimp, reduce heat to medium-low. Cook on both sides until pink throughout. Add the tomatoes and serve.

For a more filling meal, serve over angel-hair pasta. NOTE: Nutritional info below does not include pasta.


Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 2
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 323.3
Total Fat: 5.0 g
Cholesterol: 442.0 mg
Sodium: 914.3 mg
Total Carbs: 5.5 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.1 g
Protein: 48.7 g



NEW! Nutritional Info

For better or for worse, from now on we will be including nutritional information for all of our recipes! After spending the last 6 years discovering the joy of cooking - and eating - I have found the need to pay much closer attention to calories, fat, etc. I hope that you find this information helpful!

If you want to calculate the nutritional info for your own recipes, check out the SparkPeople recipe calculator.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Beet and goat cheese salad

We are back! The last couple of months have been so busy, between work travel (Michelle) and finishing graduate school (Erich). We are finally past all of that and back to having fun in the kitchen!

This recipe is a variation on an appetizer salad that appears on many menus, most notably Bill's. Most people that we know turn their nose up at beets until they try this salad and discover that beets are a candy superfood.

Ingredients
Beets (2 for a small appetizer salad, 3 if you want something a little more filling)
White wine vinegar
1 T sugar
1 4 0z package goat cheese, frozen
Mixed greens or spinach

Cut the greens off right at the base of each beet. Do not remove the skin from the beets and do not wash them. In a large pot, cover with water. Boil for 45 minutes to one hour, or until tender when poked with a fork.

Carefully remove the beets from the boiling water and rinse under cold water. The water will stain, so watch out! The skin will peel off easily using your hands. Do this under cold water to avoid staining your skin. Cut off each end, then slice into 1/4" to 1/2" discs. 

Cover the bottom of a medium to large saucepan with about 1/4" white wine vinegar and add the sugar. Bring to a simmer and add the beet slices. Simmer for a few minutes and flip the slices. Simmer for a few minutes more and remove from the pan.

To plate:

Place the greens in the center of a plate.
Slice the goat cheese into 1/4" discs. Sandwich the sliced beets and sliced goat cheese alternating to create a stack/tower. Drizzle with the vinaigrette...toss any remaining goat cheese crumbles on top and serve!

* Substitute orange juice for the balsamic vinegar, as noted in the vinaigrette recipe.