Penne with Squash and Prawns

When my mom was visiting, she used this recipe to make a delicious meal. It is so different and flavorful. We made a few changes. We mashed the squash right in the pan witn a potato masher instead of pureeing it. We used chicken stock instead of vegetable stock and didn't needed to use milk since we used about two cups of stock. We omitted the basil and it was still delicious. We used penne instead of rigatoni and two pounds of shrimp rather than one. This was a great meal!

Cajun Flounder Caeser Salad

This is a quick and easy meal that we always love. Dust fish filets (I have used salmon and flounder but I think this would work with just about any fish and would also be great with shrimp) with Cajun seasoning. Put into oven to broil. Meanwhile, make and dress a Caesar salad (I keep it simple with romaine, tomatoes, bottled dressing, and shredded parm). Divide salad between plates and when fish is cooked, place on top of salad. I like serving this with garlic bread.

Broiled Sea Bass with Pineapple-chili-Basil Glaze

Thank you to Shireen for sending me this great recipe. She used it with Salmon and loved it. I tried it with Tilapia and it was great. I think it would work well with most fish. It is such an easy recipe and tastes wonderful.

Broiled Sea Bass with Pineapple-chili-Basil Glaze (from Cooking Light)
3 T Pineapple preserves

2 T rice vinegar

1 tsp. chopped fresh basil

1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper

1 garlic clove

3/4 tsp. salt

4 (6 oz) sea bass or other firm white fish

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1. Preheat broiler

2. Combine first 5 ingredients and 1/4 tsp. salt in small bowl

3. Salt the fillets with 1/2 tsp. salt and black pepper. Place the fish on a broiler pan lined with aluminum foil (easy cleanup!) Broil 5 minutes. Remove from oven brush fillets evenly with glaze and broil an additional 5 minutes or until the fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

Crispy Breaded Shrimp with Garlicky Beans

When I was going through some of my old magazines, I came across this recipe in Real Simple. I love Real Simple but I've never been too impressed with their recipes. After reading one of the reviews I was inspired to use panko for breading the shrimp and I opted for not using the rosemary. So really, I totally changed the recipe. But, I still made the shrimp. This made for quite an interesting combination in the meal. The beans were okay, I wouldn't make them again. The shrimp, though, was really tasty. All I did was dip them in panko, spray them with olive oil cooking spray and then cook them for about 10 minutes at 400. I had some plum sauce that we dipped them in and it was a great combination.

Baked Dijon Salmon

This salmon is so delicious! A big thank you to Erin for sending me this recipe. We loved it! The pecan breadcrumb mixture with the dijon and honey--so good! Try this recipe!

¼ CUP BUTTER--MELTED
3 TBS DIJON MUSTARD
1 ½ TBS HONEY
¼ CUP DRY BREAD CRUMBS
¼ CUP CHOPPED PECANS
FEW DASHES OF DRIED PARSLEY
4 SALMON FILETS

PREHEAT OVEN TO 400. IN SMALL BOWL, MIX TOGETHER BUTTER, MUSTARD AND HONEY--SET ASIDE. IN ANOTHER SMALL BOWL, MIX TOGETHER BREAD CRUMBS, PECANS AND PARSLEY.- BRUSH EACH SALMON FILET WITH HONEY MIXTURE THEN SPRINKLE THE TOPS WITH THE BREAD CRUMB MIXTURE--LIGHTLY PAT THE TOPS TO COMPRESS TOPPING. BAKE SALMON FOR 12-15 MIN OR UNTIL FLAKY.

Tilapia with Balsamic Browned Butter and Creamy Farfalle

I saw an episode of 30-minute meals (I love that it's on when Jack is taking his nap) where Rachael Ray made this meal. It looked really good and I gave it a try. The tilapia turned out great and was so easy. I burned the balsamic sauce, I think my pan was too hot when I added the butter, but I don't think the fish needed anything at all. The pasta was pretty good. I used San Marzano tomatoes but I'm not sure that they were worth the extra money. I thought using the mascarpone cheese to make the sauce creamy was a great idea and it seemed to help the sauce a lot. Trying this recipe has induced me to try tilapia more often.

Grilled Salmon

Well, this dinner turned into grilled chicken. I was going to use this recipe to make salmon last night but the seafood department at the grocery store was out of the salmon filets that were on sale. I thought the marinade sounded really good, though, so I made it and marinated four chicken breasts and then grilled them on the grill pan. It was tasty on chicken but I bet it's even better on salmon. I served the chicken with garlic bread and spinach salad.

Shrimp Scampi

Thank you Erin for sending me this recipe for Shrimp Scampi. Erin, one of my best friends from high school, got this recipe from her mom who got the recipe from Mariah's mom. Mariah is another best friend from high school. Oh, the recipe chain. I love it!

I love shrimp and this dish is really fast, easy, and satisfying. As Erin recommended, I served it with some sourdough bread to sop up the delicious sauce. Here's the recipe:

Shrimp Scampi
1/4 cup Olive Oil
6-7 cloves chopped Garlic
3-4 Tbs Melted Butter
20 Raw Shrimp (peeled and deveined)
Shredded Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup Chicken Broth
Juice of 1 Lemon
Salt
Pepper
1 tsp Basil
1 Tbs Parsley
Cooked Angel Hair Pasta

Heat Oil in large pan over medium heat. Sautee garlic for 2-3 min. Add melted butter and shrimp to pan and sautee for 5 min. Sprinkle some cheese into pan at the end of 5 min. Add broth, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste and cook for 1 min or until shrimp are done. Remove from heat, add parsley and basil. Stir. Spoon over cooked angel hair and serve with additional parmesan cheese.

Slippery Shrimp

A few summers ago when we were visiting my cousin (and great friend, and former BYU roommate) Lindsey in L.A., she took us to a restaurant in Chinatown called Yang Chow. We shared her favorite dish, Slippery Shrimp. It was so good and we talked about it for weeks. When my mom came to visit she brought the March issue of Bon Appetit magazine and as I was reading it I came across the "R.S.V.P./readers' favoriter restaurant recipes" section and was thrilled to see a recipe for Yang Chow's Slippery Shrimp. The recipes from Bon Appetit and Gourmet magazines can be accessed at epicurious.com and there is an awesome restaurant recipe section, http://www.epicurious.com/bonappetit/restaurant_recipes, where you can search by location, restaurant name, or course. The slippery shrimp recipe is on page 26 of the March issue of Bon Appetit. I can't access it on the website but I'm sure there is some sort of purposeful delay in getting recipes from the printed issue onto epicurious. I served the shrimp over rice and with a side of steamed broccoli. This meal turned out amazing! The only thing I changed was substituting white grape juice for the sherry. The cayenne pepper gives the sauce a really good kick so if you don't love spicy foods, I would cut down on the cayenne. We loved, loved, loved this dish and it will be among the regular rotation from now on! Here is the recipe from the magazine:

Yang Chow's Slippery Shrimp, 6 servings

2 pounds uncooked large shrimp, peeled, deveined

6 tablespoons plus 4 teaspoons cornstarch

4 teaspoons water

1 cup corn oil or vegetable oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup tomato sauce

2 teaspoons unseasoned rice vinegar

2 teaspoons dry Sherry

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon thinly sliced green onions

Mix shrimp and 6 tablespoons cornstarch in large bowl to coat. Mix remaining 4 teaspoons cornstarch and 4 teaspoons water in small bowl to blend. Heat oil in heavy large skillet or wok over high heat. Working in batches, fry shrimp until cooked through and golden on both sides, about 3 minutes. Using slotteds spoon, transfer cooked shrimp to plate. Drain all but 1 tablespoon oil from wok. Heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic, sugar, cayenne, and salt; stir constantly until garlic begins to brown, about 15 seconds. Add tomato sauce, vinegar, and Sherry. Stir cornstarch-water mixture if separated and add to sauce. Cook until sauce boils and thickens, stirring constantly, about 1 minute. Add reserved shrimp to sauce and toss to coat. Remove from heat. Add 1 cup green onions to shrimp; toss. Transfer to plate; sprinkle with remaining green onions and serve.