I Pintered-3 Easy Meals

I have been using Pinterest for awhile and I love Pinning stuff to my boards.  This past weekend I decided it was time to turn my pins into a reality again.  So I made a few recipes that I had pinned.

Let's start with the healthy one.  I love What's Gaby Cooking and she had a delightful looking raw kale salad on there the other day.  Raw kale scares me a little but I trust Gaby, plus it looked insanely healthy.  So I went for it. 

My Raw Kale Salad...

Results-I think I did a good job following the recipe and I loved the flavor of the lemon vinaigrette but I'm just not a huge fan of the raw kale.  I prefer my kale cooked down.  But yeah, I still think eating this benefited my body somewhat.

2 Ingredient French Dip.
Ok I didn't exactly follow this recipe.  I was looking for easy slow cooker recipes that weren't chicken and I found this 2 ingredient recipe at Six Sister's Stuff .  There recipe called for a beef roast and beef consomme but I couldn't find consomme.  So I bought a beef roast and cooked it in the slow cooker for 8 hours on low with a box of beef stock and a packet of onion soup mix.

I also added cheese to the sandwich and a side of the au jus made from the juice/broth that was left in the bottom of the slow cooker.  Both my husband and I really enjoyed this although I think it's on the high sodium side (but it's ok, we ate kale the day before).

Last but not least, I made these Slow Cooker Pork Chops (ok I actually made these first but whatever).  Again this recipe was really simple.....pork chops, cream of chicken soup and a ranch dressing mix packet.

I like the flavor of this (I used cream of celery soup instead) and I think it would have turned out slightly better if I cooked it a little less.  I used less pork chops than the original recipe called for.  (I also used frozen mashed potatoes instead of making my own garlic ones like the recipe suggests.)  But overall it was good and far easier than trying to grill a pork chop.

In conclusion, Pinterest is cool.  These recipes were easy (especially the last too).  And if you want to feel healthy, eat a bunch of raw kale.  Not only is it good for you but I think you burn extra calories by chewing on the kale for so long. 

What have you pintered for dinner lately?

Oh and let me know if you Pinter so I can follow you.  You can click on the big P at the top to go to my Pinterest and see all these recipes (and a bunch of other stuff I have pinned).

Coming soon...my recent craft Pinters.

The Best Food I Made This Weekend-Shrimp, Avocado and Tomato Salad with Quinoa

I made several food items this weekend but my favorite was the Shrimp, Avocado, Tomato and Quinoa Salad that I made Sunday.  I got the inspiration from this salad I found on Pinterest then I made some changes and additions.

I forgot to upload the photos I took so here is a photo of my inspiration
salad from here.  Mine had quinoa though.

Shrimp, Avocado and Tomato Salad with Quinoa and Lime Vinaigrette
1/2 pound of shrimp (I like easy peel)
cumin
chili powder
garlic salt
olive oil-for cooking shrimp
1/2 cup quinoa
1 small lime
2 tablespoons olive oil (can vary depending on how you like your vinaigrette)
sugar
2 small avocado's (or 1 large), cut into small bite sized pieces
a cup of cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 small red onion, chopped

1-Peel shrimp and sprinkle with a little cumin, chili powder and garlic salt.  Cook these in the olive oil and set aside to cool.  Once cooled, cut the shrimp into smaller pieces.
2-Cook quinoa per directions and let cool
3-Make a vinaigrette by whisking together the juice of one lime, the olive oil, a couple sprinkles of cumin, chili powder and garlic salt.  Add a small sprinkle of sugar.  You can adjust this all to your own taste and preference.  I mix it and taste it and add more as I go.
4-Add veggies to the vinaigrette and then add in the shrimp and quinoa once they've cooled some.  Mix everything together and refrigerate before serving.

This is a very refreshing and healthy summer salad!

What's your favorite summer salad/dish?

Vegetarian Fare

B has decided to cut out the red meat and chicken for a bit so this has given me the perfect opportunity to experiment with some vegetables.  Plus people at work keep bringing tons of veggies in for me to have.

Jumbo green peppers were on sale at Harris Teeter last week so I decided to attempt some stuffed peppers.  I have only ever made stuffed peppers with ground beef in them so I decided to try something different.  I have been using Pinterest a lot lately and used it as an inspiration for my peppers.  I went for a Mexican theme and they ended up pretty good.

Mexican Style Stuffed Peppers
3 jumbo green peppers (or 4 regular)
1 cup instant brown rice
1 can tomatoes with green chillies
1 can black beans
1 envelope of taco seasoning
pepper jack cheese
salsa-optional

Preheat oven to 400.  Cook rice per directions.  Cut peppers in half and seed them and then microwave them for about 5 minutes.  Then in a sauce pan add rice, tomatoes, black beans and taco seasoning and cook until heated.  Put peppers cut side up in a baking pan and stuff each pepper with rice mixture.  Top each pepper with a slice of pepper jack cheese.  Then cover the whole pan with foil and cook for 15 minutes.  Take the foil off and cook for 5 more minutes.

These came out pretty good.  I would have liked my peppers to be a little softer (maybe microwave them more) but B really enjoyed them.  The next day I microwaved one of the leftover peppers with some salsa and extra cheese.  It was really good.

Yesterday Harris Teeter had lemon artichoke pesto on sale so I decided to make some pasta salad out of that.

Lemon Artichoke Pasta Salad with Veggies

1/2 box of shell pasta

1 medium zucchini

1 medium yellow squash

sun dried tomatoes

Parmesan cheese

lemon artichoke pesto

Cook pasta.  Slice and seed the zucchini and squash and then blanch them for a couple minutes.  Mix pasta, squashes, chopped sun dried tomatoes, some fresh Parmesan cheese and some of the pesto.  I also added in garlic salt, pepper and some red pepper flakes.  My vegetarian sister approved this recipe.

Do you use Pinterest?

What is your favorite vegetarian dish?

Making Stuff is Hard-The Pizza Stone

I know what you are thinking.  Wow I am an amazing chef to get that pizza in the shape of a triangle.  How neat. 

No, not neat. 

I finally attempted to use the pizza stone my mom bought for me.  What I did not realize was just how hard it is to transfer your pizza onto the stone once the stone is already in the oven (heating up).  I do not have one of those paddle things so I literally sat/stared/attempted to move my pizza dough (which was round and very pretty) onto the stone in the oven for about 20 minutes.  I almost cried.  Once I finally got it on, it was in this sort of triangular blob with sauce and cheese falling off the sides instead of the beautiful round pizza I had before I moved it.

It still tasted ok though.  (I mean who doesn't like the taste of fresh melted mozzarella?  Plus pizza is definitely one of my top 3 favorite foods.)

Have you ever used a pizza stone?

PS-Mo, this was not the craft fail attempt of your bday present.  I had many fails this weekend.

Dinner...Southern Style, Y'all

I decided to make dinner at home on Saturday.  I already had some chicken and bbq sauce that I had planned on making last week but never got around to so I went ahead and made The EZ PZ BBQ chicken.  I decided to southern up the rest of the meal and make collard greens and cheesy grits.

Greens

Washed and torn

Bacon

Remove the bacon and leave the fat and add the greens to the pan (I know, healthy right?)

Add a little chicken broth

Add a little vinegar after they have cooked down a little bit (also a little sugar)

Cover them and let them cook until they shrink down (keep checking on them)

Add the crumbled bacon back in at the very end

Ok I know I am telling you to cook something in bacon fat, but trust me, it was awesome.  I have never actually cooked collard greens on my own so I asked my mom for some tips.  The bacon fat was definitely a great addition to the flavor. 

For the grits (which I know some people still hate) I cook them in chicken broth instead of water.  It adds a lot of flavor.  Then I just added some Cheddar and Monterrey jack cheese once they were cooked.  Good stuff.

BBQ chicken, cheesy grits and collard greens=Dinner!

Fin


But seriously this dinner was pretty awesome if I do say so myself.
How do you feel about southern-ish food?
Do you like collard greens?
Is cooking in bacon fat awesome or gross?  (I also make some sauteed kale in balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil if you are interested in a healthier version of greens)
Grits?
Or are you a hater?

PS-I made a Facebook page for MSIF.  Feel free to fan me so we can be BFFs.

How to Make an Easy Affordable Dinner for a Lot of People...

1-Make something in your slow cooker...
I decided to make pot roast.  It seemed easy and like it would be a nice Fall comfort food dish which was my goal.

Do I look scared in this picture?  Uh yeah, I'm browning a four pound piece of meat.  Of course I'm scared.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast (Adapted from allrecipes.com)

4 pound Roast-(I think it was a bottom round roast that I got on sale, not positive on the exact cut)

1 envelope of Onion Soup Mix

1 can of beef broth

1 can of water

1 large (24 oz?) can of Cream of Mushroom Soup

Carrots (like 4)

Medium Onion

Red Potatoes (about 5 small/medium ones)

Salt/Pepper

To make this I.....browned the meat in some oil with salt and pepper.  This was the hardest part just because the meat was so heavy.  Then I stuck it in the slow cooker.  I mixed the soup, can of beef broth, one can of water and mushroom soup together and covered the meat.  I cooked this on low for four hours.  Then I added in the veggies and cooked on high for about 4 more hours.  I probably could have taken it out sooner but it was very tender and falling apart when I finally took it out and that's how I wanted it.
This pot roast cost less than $20 to make and served like 16 people.

2-Make an easy vegetarian dish

Ok I also made a semi-homemade ravioli bake. Aka I bought some spinach/cheese ravioli in the refrigerator section and I cooked it. Then I layered it in a baking dish with marinara sauce, topped it with Italian Blend Cheese and baked it at 350 for 30 minutes. People also liked this and it was good for the people who were not super in to meat.

3-Have people bring side dishes and appetizers

People pretty much always offer to bring stuff if you invite them to a dinner party.  My friends brought appetizers and salad and wine (lots of wine).  Then I conned my mom in to making her (my grandmothers) delicious mac and cheese.  It is a crowd pleaser.  She also made green beans.

4-Have it on your birthday

If it's on your birthday someone is definitely bringing/making a cake.  So then dessert is covered.

Yes I had my birthday party at my house.  But I enjoy entertaining and people brought tons of stuff.  I don't know the etiquette on throwing your own birthday party so we'll just say B threw it for me but I offered to do some cooking and decorating.

Do you like pot roast or would you have stuck with the ravioli?
Have you ever cooked a four pound piece of meat?
Does this count on my 30 for 30 list as having a dinner party at my house?  I think it does.

2 for 1 Dinners-Mini Pizzas and Pasta Bake

I'm not a huge fan of leftovers.  However, I'm usually only cooking dinner for my husband and me (or just me as he goes out of town a lot for work) and most food items are not portioned for 2 people.  So instead of having leftovers, I like to find ways to create 2 different (but similar) meals out of some of the same items.

This week at Harris Teeter, I found some Italian style chicken sausage on sale.  One time for my birthday when I was younger, my mom made mini pizzas using refrigerated biscuit dough as the pizza crust.  I decided to try this with the sausage as a topping.  Then the next day I used to rest to make a pasta bake.  I bought a package of Italian style chicken sausage (4 Links), a jar of Spaghetti sauce, frozen mixed bell peppers and shredded mozzarella cheese to be used in both dishes.  Then I just needed a can of refrigerated biscuit dough and some type of pasta (which I typically already have at my house).

Mini Sausage and Peppers Pizzas-Makes 10 mini pizzas
1 small container of refrigerated flaky biscuit dough (5 biscuits)
1 link of Italian style chicken sausage chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup of frozen mixed bell peppers chopped in to smaller pieces
1.5 cups of tomato sauce (I used Prego Spaghetti Sauce)
3/4 cup of shredded Mozzarella cheese

1-Split biscuits in half to make 10 circles of pizza dough.  Cook these at 400 F for about 5-6 minutes.
2-While the biscuits are cooking, heat up the sausage and peppers in a pan on the stove.  Add one-two spoonfuls of tomato sauce to that and set aside.
3-Pull biscuits out of the oven and top each with some sauce, then the sausage and pepper mixture and then some cheese. 
4-Put back in the oven and back for 6 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Sausage and Pepper Pasta Bake-For 2 or 3
2 links of Italian style chicken sausage cut into small pieces
1 cup of frozen mixed bell peppers
1.5 cups of spaghetti sauce
1 cup of mozzarella cheese
1.5 cups of pasta

1-Cook the pasta
2-While you are cooking the pasta heat up the sausage and peppers.  Then add in the spaghetti sauce.  Let this simmer a little.
3-Mix pasta and sausage mixture in a baking pan and top with cheese.
4-Bake at 400 F for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Ok, yes I realize that these two meals are very similar (at least ingredient wise) but it's enough of a difference to make me feel like I made two different things.  And I still have a sausage left over.  What should I do with it?
How do you feel about leftovers?

Vegan Quinoa Salad

L-Fab decided that I should make some sort of salad with chickpeas in it.  So I went a head and decided to make a vegan recipe this week.  I went with my old standby vegetarian grain, quinoa.  This is similar to a salad I made before but I went ahead and took out the cheese and added some other healthy stuff.

Vegan Quinoa Salad-
1 cup quinoa
2 cups vegetable broth or water
2 roasted red peppers (I used the jarred kind)
cherry tomatoes (a handful)
1 medium sized cucumber
1 can chickpeas (or less, probably less)
1/2 of a medium sized red onion
4 teaspoon olive oil
4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 of a lemon
4 teaspoons honey mustard (I used Maille, I love that stuff)
2 teaspoons minced garlic

1-Cook the quinoa according to directions in the broth or water.  (My quinoa said to use 2 parts liquid to 1 part quinoa and to put them both in the pan at the same time and bring up to a boil.  Then turn down to a simmer, cover, and wait for the liquid to evaporate which was about 15 minutes)
2-Chop up all the veggies (ie-quarter or halve the tomatoes, chop the cucumber, red pepper and onion into small pieces) while you are waiting for the quinoa to cook.
3-Mix the olive oil, vinegar, juice from the lemon, honey mustard and garlic to make a dressing.
4-Then mix your quinoa, veggies, chick peas, and dressing together.

I chilled mine for about an hour before serving.  The only change I would make would be less chick peas.  Apparently I do not like chick peas that much.  I mean some are ok but a whole can was too much for me.  As far as the dressing goes, I just mixed the ingredients until I liked how it tastes.  If you don't like it sweet you can use regular mustard or change the ingredients based on your taste preferences.

OK, so this has to be healthy, right?
Do you ever make vegan dishes?
Does cheese really make everything better or is some stuff ok without it?

OMG and who is super excited for the LIVE 30 Rock episode tonight and the return of Jan on The Office?  I am!

Impromptu Dinner Party

Me: What should we do tonight?
B: I dunno, what do you want to do?
Me: I dunno, what do you want to do?
B: I dunno.
Me: Well I don't know either.  Give me some ideas. 

Somehow this convo lead to me and B deciding to have people over for an impromptu dinner party.  Our two guests confirmed at 5 that they would be over at 7 so we headed off to the store to pick out food.   When I saw that salmon was on sale at the Harris Teeter, I went ahead a put B in charge of the main dish.  He made me this salmon on like our 4th date and it's his signature dish (really his only dish).  Then I decided I wanted to try this "healthy" mac and cheese recipe that I found online.  So we gathered up our ingredients and some dip for appetizers and of course some wine and headed home.

B's signature salmon dish is actually a Rachael Ray recipe (Oven Poached Salmon with Dill, Onion and Cucumber Relish).  From what I can tell, it's pretty easy and pretty much always ends up being good.  Here is the recipe.  Since I've never made it myself I am assuming he just follows the recipe.  The cucumber, onion, radish relish actually makes the recipe in my opinion.  Everyone liked it last night.

The mac and cheese recipe I found was from Ellie Krieger.  The thing that makes it healthy is the addition of winter squash in to the cheese mixture.

Macaroni and 4 Cheeses (adapted from Ellie Krieger's recipe,  I made a couple of small changes)

Cooking spray
1 pound elbow macaroni
2 (10-ounce) packages frozen pureed winter squash
2 cups skim milk
4 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (about 1 1/3 cups)
2 ounces Monterrey jack cheese, grated (about 2/3 cup)
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon powdered mustard
pepper
2 tablespoons unseasoned bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon olive oil
another 1/2 cup of Cheddar or Monterrey jack cheese

-cook the pasta
-cook the milk and frozen squash in a separate pan
-mix all that together with the cheese, salt, pepper, and mustard
-grease the 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and then pour the pasta mixture into dish
-top with a mixture of the Parmesan, bread crumbs and olive oil
-cook for 20 minutes
-add the rest of the cheese to the top and cook for about 5 more minutes on a higher heat to brown the top

I just added more cheese at the end because I thought it tasted a little too squashy.  It was pretty good.  I think everyone liked it and it has to be a little healthier than the traditional kind of macaroni and cheese.  I thought it could use a little more flavor but I'm not sure what I would put in it.  B said he liked it how it was.

So that was my impromptu dinner party.
Did you do anything fun this weekend?
Is it wrong to sneak vegetables into a classic like Mac and Cheese?

PS-Happy 10/10/10 everyone!

Easy Chicken Taco Soup

I made up this Chicken Taco Soup recipe the other day.  It made a lot and was very easy to make.  Feel free to add other spices or vegetables or whatever to it.  I'm sure it will be good, especially once you add the cheese and tortilla chips.

Easy Chicken Taco Soup
3 chicken breasts
oil, salt and pepper
1 carton of chicken broth (32 oz I think)
1 large can of diced tomatoes (or 2 normal sized cans)
1 can of rotel (tomatoes with green chillies)
1 can of corn (drained)
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 package of taco seasoning
water
toppings-shredded cheese (I like pepper jack), sour cream, hot sauce, crushed tortilla chips

-Cook the chicken in a little bit of oil in the bottom of a big pan or dutch oven.  Season with salt and pepper.  Remove the chicken and shred it. 
-Add everything else to the same pan and then add the chicken back in.
-Add a couple cans of water depending on how thick you want the soup to be.
-Let simmer for awhile (I let it cook for about an hour).
-Serve with the toppings.

I made some burnt grilled cheeses to go with this.  I suck at making grilled cheese but my husband is really good at it so we've made that his specialty in the kitchen from now on.

PS-Obviously don't make this if you are currently in one of the states that having record breaking temperatures this week.  However it's been rainy and cooler here so it worked for me.

You should probably make this tonight since there's so many tv shows on.  You don't want to be making something hard while you are trying to watch 8 tv shows at the same time.  Or maybe that's just me.

Dinner on the Cheap-Tuna Noodle Casserole

So awhile back I decided that I was going to attempt to make some reasonable priced meals.  I am one of those people who tends to go to the grocery store 4 times a week and just buy whatever I feel like at the time.  I'm not great at planning out a week of meals in advance or even one dinner.  I have walked up and down the aisles of the grocery store for long periods of time before just looking for something to make for dinner.  So anyways, I have decided that I probably waste a lot of money doing that.  So I will be doing a series on cheap meals.  Apparently this is a popular topic.  There are at least 2 shows on the Food Network about saving money on meals (Money Saving Meals and $10 Dinners) and I also noticed a food magazine featuring 5 meals for 4 for under $10 each while standing in line the other day.  So I can totally do this too.  Right?

Sometimes I get annoyed at these low price meal shows.  Awhile back there was one that I used to watch and the guy would make supposedly affordable meals but he would say well this spice doesn't count because you already have that in the pantry.  Or he would buy some weird cheese that would be super expensive at my grocery store.  Stuff like that.  I will try not to do that.

Onward.  When I think of cheap dinners, I think of casseroles.  And when I think of cheap meat, I think of canned tuna (which is pretty much the only canned meat I will eat).  So I was thinking of making a classic...Tuna Noodle Casserole.  That can't be too expensive, right? 

Ok, here is my breakdown....

So essentially this meal cost $7.50 to make but buying all the ingredients new cost $14.25.  However, I have used those remaining ingredients for other stuff.  The remaining cheddar cheese was used in a soup I made last night.  The Parmesan cheese (which you could probably leave out anyways) was used in a pasta salad I made for the baby shower.  The milk was used in my cereal.  The bread crumbs were already half used on something else anyways. 

(Oh and if you want to make this just cook the noodles and mix it with the next few ingredients, then top with a little melted butter, bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.  Then bake it at 350 for 30 minutes.)

So there you go.  I think this meal was actually cheap to make.  Some people might not be a big fan of tuna noodle casserole though so next time I will try to make something with fresh meat or vegetarian.  I know you can't wait.

Making Dinner on the Cheap...Baked Salmon with Feta and Tomatoes

I was going to write a post on how to make a really cheap dinner for four (based in part on recently spending all my money on a new AC) when my mom called me and asked if I wanted some extra salmon that she had.  Well what is cheaper than free food from your mom?  Nothing.

She even prepped it for me.  She put tomatoes and feta and olive oil on it and some seasonings too I think.  Her instructions were to cook it at 500 degree F on the bottom rack of the oven for a bit then switch it to the top rack for a bit until it was sizzling and looked cooked.  Uh that seemed hard.  But I did it.  Switching back from top to bottom a few time for about 18 minutes.  It was good.

So in the future I am going to do a series on cheap dinners.  What would you consider a cheap price for dinner for four?  Less than $10?  Less than $5?  And I'm not talking ramen noodles here.   Something with meat or a least a significant vegetarian meal.  I watch Money Saving Meals sometimes with Sandra Lee on the Food Network and it has inspired me.

Do you live close to your mom?
Does she ever offer you free food?
What's your favorite cheap meal?

Shimp and Scallop Pasta...

After eating out for 3 nights in a row at the beach with my brother and sister (who decided to come up to visit us), B and I decided that we would eat in one night.  We headed on over to Captain Jack's Seafood Stand and bought some fresh shrimp.  Then I got some bay scallops at the grocery store.  I decided to make a shrimp and scallop pasta.  I made this up as I was going so it is definitely not perfect...........

Shrimp and Scallop Pasta (for 2-3)
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled
1/2 pound small scallops
3 cloves garlic, minced
butter
olive oil
white wine
mushrooms
red pepper flakes

cooked linguine

lemon wedge

I basically just cooked the shrimp in some butter and olive oil and then set them aside.  Then I cooked the scallops in the butter and olive oil and set them aside.  Then I cooked the garlic and the mushrooms in some butter and olive oil.  I added some wine to that.  Just a splash.  I cooked it down a little and then added the shrimp and scallops back in until everything was hot.  I mixed it all with some linguine and added some red pepper flakes. I squeezed some lemon on before serving.   Like I said, I was kind of winging it.  It was pretty good.  I could have used a little more flavor but still it was not bad for making it up as I went.

I had a hard time with the photos because every time I went outside my camera would fog up.

So, do you like shrimp and scallops? 
Do you hate peeling shrimp as much as I do?
What's your favorite food to eat at the beach?

Wedding Week-Shrimp N Grits

Maybe you already know this from reading this blog, but I'm kind of in to food.  So for my wedding, food was on the top of my list for things that had to be awesome.  My brother had been to a bunch of weddings and he claimed that the best thing he'd had at any wedding were shrimp and grits.  Also, I like shrimp and grits.  So we decided to have a shrimp and grits station at our wedding (with martini glasses).  It was neat and people seemed to enjoy it.  We also had meat, potatoes, salad, chicken cordon blue bites, etc.  The food was pretty awesome.  I was very happy.

After our wedding I found this awesome shrimp and grits casserole recipe.  It is really good.  It's really just grits with a bunch of cheddar cheese and pepper jack cheese, some onions, peppers, rotel and shrimp.  Spicy and Tasty. I pretty much follow those instructions.  Sometimes I add in a little bacon and I usually use regular onion instead of green onions.

The wedding coordinator at the place I had my reception was all like, "you will not eat at your own wedding."   And I was like "uh, yeah I will."  And I did.  I also had someone save me a plate of appetizers from cocktail hour (that I missed because of photos).  I definitely recommend doing that.  Also if you make your bridal party take tons of pictures right after the ceremony, it's nice to have someone bring them drinks and food if possible.  I couldn't do this because I was at a Church but yeah, do it.  They will like you more.

So do people really hate grits?  I mean I get it if you are not super interested in plain grits.

But add a cup of cheese and they are delish.....

So in conclusion.....I really like food, I did eat at my wedding and grits taste great with tons of cheese.

Feelings on grits?
If you are married, did you eat at your wedding?
What is the best food you have ever had at a wedding?

MuckLuck-Another Dish Made with Vegetables (and some Meat too)

Apparently it's Vegetable Week here at Making Stuff is Fun.....  While perusing an issue of Southern Living (thanks mom) I found this recipe for Maque Choux.  According to wikipedia that is pronounced Mock Shoe or MuckLuck as B calls it.  Either way.  I thought it would be great to make since Farmer Gene gave me a bunch of okra and I have never really cooked fresh okra before.

I made a few changes to the recipe so here is my version.

Maque Choux with Shrimp (aka Muckluck)
2 links of Spicy Andouille Sausage (about 1/3 lb)-diced
1/2 medium sized onion-chopped

2 cloves garlic-minced
a little green bell pepper (it was all I had)-chopped
1 cup fresh tomatoes-seeded and diced
1 cup cut fresh okra-sliced in to small pieces
2 cups frozen corn
1/2 pound shrimp peeled and deveined (I always buy easy peel)
cumin
chili powder
lime juice
salt and pepper

1-Brown the sausage a little and then add the onion, garlic and pepper and saute until the veggies are tender
2-Add in the rest of the vegetables and cook until everything is hot (I think okra might take the longest) about 10-15 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.
3-While the veggies are cooking put cumin, chili powder and lime juice on shrimp and saute in a pan until they are cooked
4-Top the vegetable mixture with a few shrimp and enjoy!

I thought this was a really good dish especially with fresh vegetables in the summer.  Next time I'll make it with fresh corn too!  OK I think I'm veged out for a bit. 

Happy Thursday!  It's almost the weekend.  We can do this.