Shrimp and Avocado Ceviche

It's been really warm lately and I just wanted to make something light and fresh. I happened to have shrimp already so I thought a shrimp ceviche would be perfect. Typically ceviche is made with raw shrimp or fish. The citrus in the dish "cooks" the shrimp. I felt more comfortable cooking the shrimp first. I boiled the shrimp for just a couple of minutes and then put it right into an ice bath.

This recipe is delicious! Matt loved it. I served it with tortilla chips to scoop it up. It seemed more like an appetizer than a meal, so in the future I may use tostadas. This would be a great dish to serve at a picnic or potluck.

Ingredients

• 1 pounds large shrimp - peeled and deveined
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice plus juice of 1 lime
• 4 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 white onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ketchup
• 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (or to your liking)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 avocado - peeled, pitted and diced
• tortilla chips or tostada

Directions

1. Bring water to a boil. Add the juice of 1 lime and shrimp. Cook shrimp for 2-3 minutes until fully cooked. Drain and add shrimp to an ice water bath. Let sit for about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine lime juice, shrimp, tomatoes, onion, and cilanto. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Remove from the refrigerator, and mix in the Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, hot sauce, salt and pepper.
4. Right before serving, add the avocado. Serve either with tortilla chips or tostadas.

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Baked Lemon Chicken with Mushroom Sauce

I came across this recipe on Allrecipes.com and it just sounded really fresh. The recipe is really easy and tasted really good. The mushroom sauce is really good as it mixes with the lemons. I'll definitely make this again.

 Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Cooking oil spray
• 2 lemons
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 cups fresh sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Spray baking dish with cooking spray. Place the chicken breasts in the dish, and spray tops with cooking spray. Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over all. Slice the other lemon and place a lemon slice on top of each chicken piece. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes until brown.
2. In a large skillet, melt the 1/4 cup butter or margarine. Add the sliced mushrooms. Cook and stir until the mushrooms are brown and have exuded their juices, about 6 minutes. Sprinkle with the flour and blend. Add the chicken broth, stirring to make a medium thick sauce. Allow to reduce, adjusting with a little more broth to make a creamy sauce. Add fresh parsley at the last minute. Spoon the sauce over the lemon baked chicken breasts. 

Source: Allrecipes.com

Crispy Parmesan Asparagus

Last week I made Crispy Yogurt Chicken and believe it or not it was my first time trying panko breadcrumbs. I loved it! So when I saw these Crispy Parmesan Asparagus using panko breadcrumbs from How Sweet It Is I had to give it a try. Before I go on, I have to admit that I do not like any kind of cheese crackers. To me, this tasted like I crushed up cheese crackers and used them to crust the asparagus so I didn't like it. However, for a normal person, this is probably pretty good.  Matt liked it, but he liked it better when he squeezed a little lemon juice on them.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of asparagus
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with alluminum foil. Spray with non-stick spray.
2. Snap off the tough ends of each asparagus spear. On two separate plates, add the eggs whites (lightly beaten) and the panko, flour, and cheese. Season the panko mixture with salt and pepper if desired. Coat each asparagus spear in egg whites, then lay in the panko mixture and thoroughly cover. Lay each spear on the cookie sheet in a single layer.
3. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy.

Source: How Sweet It Is

S'mores Cookies

I've seen this recipe on so many food blogs and decided it was about time to give it a try. I think the original recipe is from Cookie Madness but I got an adapted recipe from Sweet Tooth. These cookies are delicious!!  I actually took them to my doctor's office and I overhead some people say they were the best cookies they've had. I just love the gooey marshmallows. YUM!

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups mini chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows, or large ones cut up
• 2 Hershey bars, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. With an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Mix in eggs and vanilla to butter mixture until combined.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, graham crackers, salt, and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Use 2 tablespoons or a medium-sized ice cream scoop to drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheets. Bake for 8 minutes and remove from oven. Push a few marshmallows and pieces of chocolate into each cookie and return to the oven to bake an additional 3-4 minutes. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Recipe yields about 3 dozen cookies. Source: Sweet Tooth and Cookie Madness.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

My go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies has been Alton Brown's Chewy Chocolate Chip cookie. But I've been coming across this recipe on Allrecipes for awhile now and I finally decided to give it a try. It is delicious! They are still chewy even the next day. The recipe doesn't say to refrigerate but I did because some of the reviews said they had better luck when they refrigerated the dough. I also used a mixture of milk chocolate chips and semi sweet chocolate chip cookies. These were delicious!


Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon.
4. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. (I actually used a medium ice cream scoop.) Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
5. Bake for 14 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Made about 36 cookies. Source: Allrecipes.com

Green Beans with Panko Crumbs

I wanted a quick side to go with my Crispy Yogurt Chicken.  So I decided on roasted green beans. They're quick, easy, and good.  I added some panko bread crumbs to add a little crunch.

Ingredients

• 1 pound green beans, trimmed
• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste
• 1 Tablespoon panko bread crumbs

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil.
2. In a bowl, toss the green beans with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Spread out on foil lined cookie sheet. Top with panko bread crumbs.
3. Bake, stirring once partway through, 12-15 minutes until lightly caramelized.

Crispy Yogurt Chicken

I've really been in the mood to bake lately, but have been totally not inspired to cook. I've gone through tons of cooking blogs trying to find recipes that sound interesting and yet quick. I came across a blog called Erin's Eats, how appropriate, and she had made a Pioneer Woman's recipe for Crispy Yogurt Chicken. It sounded good, quick, and somewhat healthy. I'm glad I tried the recipe. The chicken came out crispy and delicious.  The lemony yogurt mixture gave it a nice tang. I didn't add very much cayenne pepper but next time I might kick it up a notch. I'll definitely be using this recipe again. I was in a rush last night and didn't get a chance to take a picture. Sorry!

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenders
• 6 ounces plain, unflavored yogurt
• 2-3 garlic cloves, pressed
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• salt & pepper, to taste
• 1 cup of panko bread crumbs (approximately)
• cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)
• Cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 365 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Spray the cookie sheet with cooking spray.
2. In a bowl, combine the yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper. Add the chicken breasts and stir to coat the chicken. Put the chicken in the fridge and let it marinate for 20-30 minutes.
3. In a shallow dish, combine the panko, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to your taste . Carefully dip the chicken breasts into the panko mixture to coat. Place the chicken on the cookie sheet and spray the top with cooking spray. Bake about 20-30 minutes or until done.

Sources: Pioneer Woman and Erin's Eats