A Young Favorite Returns

Today was a Thursday with Morgan day!  I love when Morgan comes over...great conversation and great food are always in order. 

Tonight we had an old fashioned recipe made somewhat different by one modification.  I got the recipe for Meatball Stroganoff out of a Cuisine at Home recent issue.  Yes, it is what you are thinking: beef stroganoff with meatballs instead of chunks of meat, pretty clever.  I actually began making this dinner a couple weeks ago when I made the meatballs for this an tomorrow night's recipe and flash froze them.  They had a great deal on ground sirloin, so I jumped on it and made enough meatballs for two completely different recipes.  I have to say these meatballs are stand-alone good.  I highly recommend the recipe from this mag for meatballs.
The dinner is very easy to prepare once you have the meatballs thawed out.  It takes about 30 minutes from start to finish.  I was hoping the sauce would be a little spicy because of the addition of paprika and cayenne, but was surprised to find all heat missing.  If I were to do it again, I would double the ammount of cayenne to give it a little kick. 

I paired dinner with some asparagus.  We found great thin asparagus at Henry's Farmers Market yesterday and I was pleased with the result.  Don't you just love when you find a great, fresh ingredient at a great price?

After washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen a little bit, and an episode of the Golden Girls (yes, I introduced Morgan to Rose Nyland), we got started on the dessert.  This one was interesting.  Morgan and I made a Chex cereal based recipe a while back.  When she got in the car today, she told me she was craving it again.  So, I set about creating the recipe as I remembered it.  Well, I got the recipe completely wrong, but we ended up with a nice after dinner treat.  She will also be taking some of it in her lunch tomorrow because we don't need the temptation around here for very long. The recipe is Snickerdoole Chex Mix and can be found here.  We will have to try the one she was craving next time.

Cinco Salsa

After a long day of shopping for and working out with our new fitness equipment device, we were not so hungry for a big dinner.  So in celebration of Cinco de Mayo, I threw together a few of my favorite ingredients for a salsa before the produce went bad and made some plates of nachos for us.  Oh, and Drew made some sort of adult beverage to go with dinner - and who said he wasn't festive?
Simple dinners are the best, in my opinion.  There is nothing like great fresh ingredients working together to bring about the most flavorful and enjoyable meals.  What is your go to "easy" dinner that makes all your tastebuds smile?

Summer Shrimp Salad

Continuing the Mexican theme for this week, I found a great recipe for a Shrimp Taco Salad out of the current issue of Cooking Light. 

Let me just begin by saying this was a fabulous salad.  I am surprised it was so light in calories.  I am not sure if it is still light in calories when you take seconds, but I don't think the food scientists at Cooking Light take that into consideration. 
The salad is pretty simple.  It starts with a dressing made with lime, cumin, chipotle, and (oddly enough) maple syrup.   I did a little modificaiton on this one because I didn't have any chipotle hot sauce (haven't seen that in the store before, will have to check on that), I used some Knorr chipotle seasoning and a little Tobasco.  Drew must have liked the combination because he commented on the spice of the dish. While getting the corn going on the George Foreman, I got the shrimp skewered and put in on the grill.  After adding the rest of the ingredients (beans, avocado, cilantro, I added red onions, and lettuce) to the deskewered, cooked shrimp and the decobbed (new word, I think) corn, and tossing; it is ready to go! 
It turned out beautifully and I will definitely add this one to my list of summer salads because it did not heat up the house at all!  As stated above, we did have seconds and didn't feel guilty or ashamed.  Thanks Cooking Light!

When Cinco de Mayo becomes, Dos, Tres, Quatro and Cinco

Around here we enjoy foods with a Mexican flavor.  Blame it on our love of Tex-Mex.  Blame it my small obsession with cilantro and avocados.  Blame it on my constant search of something good enough to make repeatedly.  Whatever it is, Cinco de Mayo ends up stretching into a few days from that lonely old one day at the beginning of May. 

So, tonight, I gave a new one a try, messed it up slightly, yet it was still good.  I got the recipe for Mexican Ceviche Tacos out of a recent issue of Bon Appetit.  We went by Henry's to get some fresh fish this afternoon, and at the recommendation of the butcher, we decided on sea bass.  When I got home, I washed my hands and got started on the ceviche.  I was all excited about getting to use my awesome knives Drew bought me for Christmas, that I ended up adding ingredients before the intended time, but I stirred it all up and chilled it in the fridge while I took a nap. 
When I woke up it was time for dinner (no comments on the length of my siesta), and it only took a couple of minutes to stir in the remaining ingredients avocado, cilantro, and romaine lettuce and stuff them inside corn taco shells. 
The result:  A nice spring/summer dinner (no heat necessary).  I think we might try another fish next time, just to change it up.  Oh and the avocado was PERFECT!