Ceviche Topped Beer at SXSW

Genius Idea: Ceviche-Topped Beer

I encountered all sorts of tasty treats at SXSW this year, but one of my favorite food moments was this:

Ceviche Topped Beer at SXSW

This is cans of Modelo on a block of ice, topped with fresh shrimp and fish ceviche and surrounded by oysters on the half shell. Have you ever seen something so beautiful?! I enjoyed this glorious seafood and booze buffet at Weather Up here in Austin, but you could easily recreate a display like this at home for your next dinner party or barbecue. Just make sure you keep that shellfish nice and cold!

Spicy Shrimp Salad

Spicy Garlic Shrimp Salad

Spicy Shrimp SaladShrimp! And white wine! When it comes to this combo, consider me a regular Beaver Boy. (And if you aren’t a Tim and Eric fan, that video might not make sense, but roll with it.)

Another thing that’s great together, besides shrimp and white wine, is shrimp and avocado. Also, shrimp and garlic. This salad mixes up all of these things! You sauté fresh shrimp in coconut oil, lemon, white wine, lemon, and of course lots of garlic and red chili flakes. Then It’s tossed with a delicate green salad full of fresh avocado, cherry tomatoes, and lots of fresh cracked black pepper. Since shrimp cooks so quickly, this entire salad takes about 10 minutes to throw together. You’re welcome.

Spicy Garlic Shrimp Salad

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Port Aransas Shrimp Breakfast Taco

Food Porn Champion: Tacos for Breakfast

Port Aransas Shrimp Breakfast Taco

If you haven’t had a breakfast taco in your life, you (a) have never been to Texas, and (b) are doing yourself a huge disservice. And if you haven’t had a breakfast taco while hungover, you are doing yourself a HUUUUUGE disservice because breakfast tacos are some of the best hangover cures ever. This particular breakfast taco is from a teensy diner in Port Aransas, on the Gulf Coast of Texas. It features fresh gulf shrimp, battered and deep-fried, topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and shredded cabbage. Oh, and on the side? Hashbrowns. Why? WHY NOT.

Zucchini Noodles with Sweet Potato Red Pepper Sauce

Zucchini Noodles & Shrimp in Sweet Potato-Red Pepper Sauce

Zucchini Noodles with Sweet Potato Red Pepper Sauce

I am SO in love with the new spiralizer I got for Christmas! (It’s this fancy-pants Paderno 4-blade variety… kind of complicated to put together at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s great.) I’m about to spiralize everything up in this kitchen. Well, within reason.

Obviously, one of the best things to do with a spiralizer is to make faux-noodles. I’ve been trolling Pinterest for some spiralizer inspiration and I happened upon this recipe from Shape. Instead of heavy dairy, it uses puréed sweet potatoes to make a creamy, thick sauce. (Thankfully I also received a shiny new Cuisinart food processor at Christmas this year!)

The original recipe also uses spiralized sweet potatoes to make the “noodles” and while I love me a sweet potato, this was a little too… overly sweet potatoey for my liking, so I subbed zucchini for that component. So technically you can call them “zoodles” but I haven’t fully given into that terminology yet. I also added some shrimp for protein, it went really well with the rest of the flavors and textures. If you’re trying to keep things vegetarian/vegan, you could omit the shrimp and add some firm tofu.

This meal was SO filling and satisfying while also managing to be extremely healthy and low calorie. Rob and I split this entire recipe, and I was wondering if it’s unhealthy/weird for adults to eat 1.5 zucchinis each in a single sitting, but I guess that’s just #spiralizerlife.

Sautéed Zucchini Noodles & Shrimp in Sweet Potato-Red Pepper Sauce

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Putting it all on There: Cauliflower Crust Pizza with BBQ Shrimp and Veggies

BBQ Shrimp Pizza with Cauliflower Crust

I don’t think I had my head on straight when I grocery shopped this week.  The fridge, freezer and pantry are stocked with the most random ingredients.  It’s really working my culinary brain, that’s for sure.

Well, I decided I wanted to use certain things for last night’s dinner and this is what came out of it.  Random, but packed with nutrients and deliciousness.  I just simply couldn’t NOT share this with you!

This is a light option to satisfy pizza cravings without packing on the pounds, but I also made a Shrimp Poboy Pizza, if you want something a bit more indulgent.

 

BBQ Shrimp & Veggie Pizza with Cauliflower Crust

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New Year’s Resolution: Eat More Healthy Poboys

Healthy Poboy

You know what time it is.  Time to lighten things up.  Time to acknowledge our jeans are a little tighter after all the holiday treats.

Time for food makeovers.

I just got back from a New Years’ trip to New Orleans and had my first “authentic” shrimp poboy.  After 2 hours of waiting (1 hour in line to order and 1 hour waiting on the food–seriously), I was ready to dig in. Honestly?  I was kind of disappointed.  I’m not going to name the famous establishment in which I ate, but it definitely made me go “hmmm..”

original poboy

Ahhh, the picture is beautiful, no? Unfortunately, the shrimp was bland and overly coated in dry cornmeal batter, there was waaay too much bread, and there was no remolaude sauce.  What?  Isn’t the sauce the whole point??

Sigh.

Well, I’m not eating that sort of thing anymore.  I’m cleaning things up.

The irony is, that this one was so much better.  Trust me guys.  I’m incapable of telling lies.

Healthier Shrimp Poboy

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When Inauthentic Is Delicious: Weeknight “Gumbo”

Ok, let me preface this by saying that this is not authentic gumbo.  No need to point it out to me.  I am aware.

I set out to make authentic gumbo with the brown roux and what not, but if you know anything about gumbo, it’s pretty labor intensive and time consuming.  That’s not my bag, baby.

I am going to tell you a little anecdote (if you can even call it that) from my week, so you get a feel of how I work in the kitchen.

I went to three different stores looking for fish sauce for this gumbo recipe.  Not sure why.  I read it in a cookbook, so I figured it’s important.  So, 3 stores and nothing.  Then my Dad found it and got it for me (love you, Dad!)  It was such a huge bottle of fish sauce, so I  suppose I was set for many future gumbos.

Except, I couldn’t get it open.  That dang top would not come off.  I guess this would be where an extra set of (not weak old lady) hands would have been beneficial.  Honestly, I probably could have gotten it open, but I have no patience or perseverance for such a task.  Don’t I sound like a fun person?

Long story short: no fish sauce made it into this dish.  So sad.  But true.

Here’s how it all went down.

Weeknight “Gumbo”

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