Shrimp tacos with chopped salad. 5/10/24

Posted on May 11, 2024 by Beebamom
Shrimp tacos

I used crispy stand-up taco shells for our shrimp tacos tonight. John cooked the shrimp to perfection and three large shrimp per taco made for a filling dinner. Along with the shrimp the taco was completed with shredded cabbage, tomato salsa, and sliced mango.

I also made a chopped salad which echoed the tomato, cabbage, and mango from the taco. The dressing was a combination of ranch and spicy avocado sauce.

Chopped salad with avocado ranch dressing and mango

This has been a Mexican-inspired week what with vegetarian nachos on Sunday, chicken enchiladas on Wednesday, and tacos on Friday. Add to that an Asian dinner on Tuesday and an Italian one on Thursday and it really reflects the versatility of American dining.

Posted in American, Easy, Hot weather meals, Mexican, pescatarian, Salad, Shellfish, Southwest U.S., Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Penne with mushrooms and asparagus. 5/9/24

Posted on May 10, 2024 by Beebamom
Penne with mushroom and asparagus

I really like the look of penne and asparagus. The asparagus mimics the shape of the penne. Plus this is super simple and quick to make. While the water is heating up for the pasta is plenty of time to cook the mushrooms with some chopped onions and garlic. In the last couple of minutes that the pasta is cooking it is time to add the asparagus to the mushrooms with a little pasta water. When the penne is al dente drain it and add it to the vegetables with 1/4 cup additional pasta water and a tablespoon of olive oil.

When serving add additional olive oil and (optional) parmesan cheese.

Posted in Pasta, Vegetarian, Vegan, Vegetables, Italian, Easy, Weeknight dinners, Methods | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Chicken enchiladas. 5/8/24

Posted on May 9, 2024 by Beebamom
Chicken enchiladas with spicy black beans

We went to Costco today and bought a rotisserie chicken. Out of the chicken we will fashion our enchilada dinner, a classic chicken and gravy dinner, and a couple of lunches. Each enchilada is a combination of salsa verde, shredded chicken, onions, and cheese. I roll them up and snug them into a casserole dish. They cook for about 35 minutes at 350F with a 5 minute broil at the end. I usually make around 15 enchiladas so there are plenty for dinner and some leftovers over for lunches.

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Salmon bowl with soy vinaigrette 5/7/24

Posted on May 8, 2024 by Beebamom
Salmon bowl with soy vinaigrette

We make this bowl three different ways—one with shrimp, one with tofu, and one with salmon. This is a good hot weather meal since it is basically a salad with rice and a quickly cooked piece of fish.

The vinaigrette is a whizzed up combination of garlic, ginger, green onion, soy sauce, and rice wine vinegar. I usually add a splash of water and a little sweetener. The oil is handled individually at plating.

In addition to the fish and rice there are cucumber slices, edamame, shredded cabbage, avocado, Serrano chiles, and cilantro.

Yum, this is so good!

Posted in Asian, Fish, Hot weather meals, Methods, pescatarian, rice, Salad, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged | Leave a comment

Stuffed peppers. 5/6/24

Posted on May 8, 2024 by Beebamom
Stuffed peppers

Stuffed peppers takes some work. Rather than use some overly sweet jar of tomato sauce I always opt to make my own. Luckily we had some leftover brown rice from the chicken stir-fry the other night. I seasoned and browned one pound of ground beef along with some onions and then mixed the rice and meat together. Next I added my tomato sauce until it was a thick ragu. After microwaving the bell peppers to soften them I spooned in the rice, meat, tomato sauce mixture. The peppers cooked in a 350F oven uncovered for 40 minutes.

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Cinco de Mayo vegetarian nachos 5/5/24

Posted on May 6, 2024 by Beebamom
Vegetarian nachos

Usually on Cinco de Mayo we are enjoying tacos or enchiladas and washing it all down with margaritas. But this year of the very-stubborn-pneumonia when I am still on a bunch of drugs we had a much more sedate celebration—nachos washed down with water.

I was going to scramble some eggs and dot the top with them but ran out of steam. So I settled for beans, corn, cheese, green onions, and tortilla chips. The plate looked pretty, was filling, and tasty.

Interesting thing that happened. I defrosted some corn kernels and then put them in the microwave for a quick heat-up. In less than a minute, boom, they exploded all over the microwave. Huh. This ever happen to you?

Posted in American, Easy, Mexican, Southwest U.S., Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged | Leave a comment

Weekly Menu. May 6 – May 12, 2024

Posted on May 5, 2024 by Beebamom

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Chicken stir-fry with brown rice. 5/4/24

Posted on May 5, 2024 by Beebamom
Chicken stir-fry with brown rice

Tonight we used the vegetables left in the crisper for a simple chicken stir-fry. John manned the stove while I chopped up all the vegetables. I had made the brown rice using the oven method earlier in the day. It comes out perfectly every time.

John sautéed some chicken tenders pieces that I had marinated earlier in soy sauce, garlic powder, and ginger powder. When they were almost cooked through he set them aside and stir fried mushrooms, onion, garlic, carrot, celery, broccoli, and cabbage. Then he added back in the chicken and created a sauce using soy sauce, chicken stock, sesame oil, and corn starch. The chicken stir-fry was served over the brown rice.

Posted in Asian, Easy, Methods, Poultry, rice, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged | Leave a comment

Gochujang shrimp fettucine. 4/3/24

Posted on May 4, 2024 by Beebamom
Gochujang shrimp fettucine

Korea meets Italy in this new recipe we tried tonight. This is a really simple and quick dish. In the time it takes to get the water to boiling and cook the pasta you can make the sauce.

Although John was pretty happy with the outcome, I thought the dish needed a little help. First of all it was not spicy or tart enough. Some sriracha fixed that. It also needed more salt than called for. I am also not a fan of the cherry tomato sauce. I felt it imparted very little flavor and its main contribution was a bunch of tough tomato skins. I would use canned tomatoes next time. Some different texture would be great too. I am just not sure what would fit. Lastly I have a long-standing dislike of the combination of seafood and tomatoes but that’s just me.

Here’s the recipe. It serves 4 but is easily divisible for 2.

Posted in Asian, Easy, Italian, Pasta, pescatarian, Recipes, Shellfish, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Roasted tilapia, rice/quinoa mix, zucchini 5/2/24

Posted on May 3, 2024 by Beebamom
Roasted tilapia with a sriracha tartar sauce, rice/quinoa mix, and sautéed zucchini, onions, and garlic

Originally dinner tonight was supposed to be the fish, polenta, and broccoli. But I was feeling a bit broccoli-ed out so we decided to switch gears. The result was quite tasty!

John seasoned and roasted the tilapia in a 400F oven for about 12 minutes. I heated up the rice mix and sautéed the zucchini, onions, and garlic in a bit of oil and butter while the fish cooked. When the fish was done I quickly mixed up a mayo-sweet relish-lemon juice-sriracha tartar sauce to give the tilapia a little more personality. Our gear-switching for dinner produced a really satisfying meal!

Posted in American, Easy, Fish, Methods, pescatarian, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , | Leave a comment