I took the zest and juice from one lime, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 hot sliced fresh red pepper, 1/4 c. chopped & mixed green onion  and cilantro (fresh from the garden!) and mixed it up well.  I poured it into a large freezer bag over 1 lb. of cod (she used mahi mahi, which stands up to a grill much better  than cod, haddock, etc., though pretty much any white fish would work my way*), and let it marinate for 1/2 an hour. 

Next, I put a patch of foil down on the grill.  I turned my grill on high, and used the foil like a grill surface (* my way).  When it was hot, I put the fish down on top of the foil, and discarded the remaining marinade.

While that was cooking, I went in the house and mixed 1 tsp of mayo, a splash of cider vinegar, and lime zest to taste- taste it and make sure you like it!- then I threw in a handul of broccoli slaw, which is coleslaw with broccoli instead of green cabbage.  Toss around.  Mmmm!

The fish on the grill you’ll need to flip once.  Depending on the thickness, it should take about 10-12 minutes till it’s time to take off the grill for good.  General rule of thumb- when the fish is flaky and opaque, you should be good to go.

Put in a low-carb, whole grain wrap (lowest carb count you can find-I used 1/2 of a Wrap-itz lo-carb Wheat Wrap), top with the slaw, and ENJOY your zesty fish taco!

Granted, I’ve never had a fish taco, and this probably isn’t even what they look like (I know they’re typically fried),  but this was SO DELICIOUS!

Thank you, Trish!

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Just wanted to share a quick post. Maybe not food related (aside from the fact that I had an AWESOME lobster roll : ), but I wanted to share with my readers a wonderful day with my children, as well as some seafood tips!

First of all, here’s me and my kiddo’s on the boat, headed out onto the Atlantic Queen II, on the Atlantic Whale Watch in Rye, NH:

So did we see any whales? Oh, you bet we did!

Here’s a pretty good shot of a pair of fin whales that were very close

but, the videos were WAY better (this first one gets REALLY cool right around the 30 second mark):

(both are so worth checking out!!)

Ok, so in spirit of my trip so close to the coast, I’m going to give you a few SEAFOOD tips:

1. When cooking fish with skin on, cooking it skin side-down (skin touching the pan) allows the skin to stick to the pan it’s cooking in, basically discarding the skin FOR you! Awesome!

2. Your Nose Knows: Seafood should not have a strong “fishy” odor; the filets or steaks should be pretty, moist, shiny, appealing to the eye and nose, and look “perfect.”

3. Did you know your seafood counter will more than likely steam your fish or seafood for you??? And season it, too?? That’s right!! Most chain stores in particular, offer “steam-while-you-shop” services. Tonight, I had steamed both tilapia and salmon. Quick, and free of charge, this is THE way to go!

4. When dealing with live shellfish (lobsters, clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, and other mollusks) deal with the LIVE animal only. Do NOT cook an already-dead animal, or you risk getting sick!!!!! If the animal does not open upon boiling, that means it was dead before you tried to cook it, and you don’t want that anyway!

5. White-fleshed fish (haddock, tilapia) are usually done, but still juicy, when their centers just turn opaque. (Opaque means you can’t see any light through it.)

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So I took 1 tablespoon of olive oil, drizzled in a skillet, and slowly sauteed 2 cloves of chopped garlic. Then, I added 1 and a half pounds of small sea scallops, covered the skillet, and let then simmer for a bit till cooked (they’ll be white and milk-colored, rather than opaque and raw looking).  They release a bunch of water, hence why I say “simmer.”

Next, when they’re cooked, put scallops in a collander and rinse well.  Add 1 tablespoon mayo, 4 slices of crisp-cooked bacon, 1/4 cup of red onion diced, and you’re good to go!!!

Yum!!

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So check out the news section, to the bottom right of the NEW and IMPROVED lK site!

P.S. My first restaraunt/”victim,” Hemenway’s Seafood Grill and Oyster Bar in Providence, Rhode Island was a FABULOUS first “review”.

Not only did they totally hook us up when I told them what I was there for (and p.s. the VIP section is something I can get used to!!), but the food, atmosphere and service were bar none.  Thanks again to the folks at Hemenway’s.  HIGHLY recommended! 

The crunch, delicious Macadamia Crusted Shrimp…sweet Lobster and Crab cakes…the perfectly grilled Swordfish Steak..and the Poppasquash Raw Oysters- don’t even get me started on how amazing those were!!  Yum!

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Next, dip the shrimp and press coconut on both sides.  Put on a cookie sheet, and bake till the coconut is crunchy and slightly browned (Note: these won’t get dark brown, and the shrimp are already cooked, so keep an eye on em- ten minutes should be plenty!)

For a quick pineapple dipping sauce, simply blend pineapple with some water, till it’s the consistency of a sauce, and enjoy cold or warmed!

Enjoy your delicious treat!

Note: I didn’t dip the shrimp in anything before I coated them, simply pressed coconut on them, and then put on the baking sheet.  You can simply use egg if you want more coconut, or a more “batter-ish” consistency.

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First, I covered the bottom of a heavy-bottomed skillet with olive oil.  While that was warming up, I chopped 3 cloves of garlic, pre-sliced mushrooms (prepped-for-me veggies are a huge time-saver!), and peppers (I had orange ones on hand).  I put them all together in a pan, and sautéed, uncovered, on medium-high heat till they were still crisp, but a little cooked.  Just Fyi, this is called Crisp-Tender, and it’s a term that means a state of a cooked food, usually referencing vegetables, where it’s cooked to give color and change it’s original texture, but still has some resistance when you bite it, or stick a fork in it.  Make sense?  Good.  Now, moving on, class :- )

Peppers, Mushrooms, and Garlic in a pan!

While that was cooking down, I took my 1/2 pound of medium-sized shrimp, took the shells and tails off, and rinsed.

TIP:  When you buy seafood, a great place to “house” it until it’s ready to go in the pan, is right in the sink, on top of the butcher-type paper it came in.  This of course depends on your grocery store, but at my store, fresh seafood comes in a plastic produce-type bag, then wrapped in brown butcher paper.  I simply remove the brown paper, put it in the sink (usually the price sticker/outside of the packaging is sink-side down), then rest my rinsed seafood there until it’s ready to go in the pan.  It doesn’t necessarily DO anything, I just find it’s out-of-the-way and frees up counterspace, as well as keeps me from having to dirty (and consequently have to disinfect) another dish or cutting board.   

Shrimp in the sink

Once the shrimp were on the brown paper, I made them “Spicy Shrimp” by doing what I do best with regards to seafood: coated it with Old Bay! (I love that stuff!) Season well, and let them hang in the sink for a while.

Next, I took 1/4 cup lite soy sauce mixed with 1/2 c water, and brought that to a simmer.  When that was done, I stuffed all the quick-cook stuff on top (for me this was a bag of frozen brocoli, 1/2 pound of pea pods and the shrimp) and packed a cover down on top of it so the stuff on top would steam.

Raw Veggies and Shrimp, Ready to Stir Fry!

I steamed ’till all was fully cooked, and enjoyed!  You know it’s done when the shrimp are pink and curled (But not too curled! Overcooked seafood is rubbery, and just nasty!), and the peapods and broccoli were bright green.  Here’s what mine looked like:

Spicy Shrimp Stir Fry

This is wonderful the next day as leftovers!!  Also, you can put some cooked chicken or beef atop this, or leave out the meat for a nice vegetarian option.

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While it does have it’s variations from place to place, one thing remains:  it typically is shrimp broiled in garlic and butter.  A lot of the time, it’s served over pasta.  The reduction/sauce usually also contains wine, which I’ve omitted from this recipe.

So to cut corners are far as time went, I bought 1 lb. pre-cooked and shelled lobster (my favorite!), 1/2 pound of cooked shrimp (medium to large, really whatever you like), and 1/4 pound of raw sea scallops.  You can use the little ones, I just like mine jumbo!  You can also substitute fish, use other seafoods, use raw instead of cooked, etc. to suit your tastes and needs, just be careful.  This is shellfish.  Keep it in the forefront of your mind to keep the raw stuff TOTALLY separate from the cooked stuff ’till they meet in the skillet, cook the raw seafood first, and add the cooked stuff at the very end to prevent overcooking (as well as cross-contamination).

Scallops, Lobster, and Shrimp

First, I coated the bottom of a heavy-bottomed skillet with olive oil, eye it, but it was roughly 2-3 tbsp. of oil.  Turn the heat to medium, and to that, add another 1-2 tablespoons of butter (Yeah, I know, but this serves 4, so you’re not really eating 5 tbsp. of fat…and scampi’s not scampi without the butter!), 2 + cloves of chopped garlic (more or less to your taste- I used 4 or 5 cloves, ’cause I love it!).

When the butter is fully melted, add the chopped garlic.  This infuses the butter with the garlicky goodness!  When it starts to slightly bubble, add the scallops gently to the pan.  Before you add the scallops, however, you need to rinse them, paper towel them, and sea-salt-and fresh-cracked-black-pepper both sides.

Scallops in Olive oil and Butter with garlic

To that, you next add and 1/4 of a red onion, diced small, that you have prepped and waiting on the side, plus the pre-cooked (and re-rinsed and paper-toweled previous to adding to the skillet) shrimp and lobster.  In the event that the oil/butter mixture starts to reduce too much, add more drizzles of oil.  You don’t want this to cook hard, you’ll want gentle heat, so that the seafood doesn’t overcook, you don’t burn your garlic, and the liquid doesn’t reduce too much or too fast!  Your goal here is to keep the liquid part as semi-clear and pale as possible, not burnt/dark orange.  The butter will burn if too much is used, hence why the higher concentration of oil to butter.

Only keep the shrimp and lobster in long enough to warm through-basically, add to the pan, cover, and remove from the heat after a few quick stirs.  Mine looked like this:

Ready to put on the Spagetti Squash!

Next, take your spagetti squash out of the microwave (that you’ve prepared using this technique), put it in a serving dish or bowl, and top with the scampied seafood with some fresh chopped parsley, and small strips of sundried tomatoes.

Seafood Scampi

This was unbelievably delicious, with a hint of decadence, while staying true to supportive eating.  You can top with cheese, and add any other add-in’s you’d like (black olives, spinach, artichokes, etc.).  This was a HUGE hit in my house.

Don’t like seafood?  My mom didn’t, either.  You could definitely subsitute chicken or veggies here, and serve the same way!

Bon Appetit’!

(Oh, and while we’re on the subject of garlic, do you want to know my method of easily peeling the skins?  Click here to see how the leanKitchen does it!)

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……Alright, that was a lie. 

Really, this recipe was a fluke, but a wonderful one!  See what happened was, last night when making dinner, I thought I had a MUCH bigger container of basil than I really did.  I realized when I was cleaning my basil that I didn’t, in fact, have anywhere near enough.  So, I pulled out my thinking cap, and here’s what I did:

I took my 2 oz clamshell container of basil (rinsed, then stripped the leaves from the stems), ¼ c. of pine nuts,  1 clove of garlic, ¼ cup of cheese (it’s usually parmesan, I used shredded sharp cheddar cause it’s what I had).  Next up came the replacement for the Basil…what in the world was I going to use??  I looked in my fridge and saw I had a 8.5 oz. container of sun-dried tomatoes in oil (Bella Sun Luci, my favorite if I have to buy them in jars), so I dumped half of them, plus the olive oil (which had infused with that awesome sun-dried tomato flavor) into my food processor.

Pesto!

Then, I pulsed for literally 4 seconds.  It was super fast.

SUNNY SUNDRIED TOMATO PESTO

I enjoyed this on a nice hot bowl of spaghetti squash (that I prepared the same way as I always do), topped with more cheese and some shrimp I’d thawed (and of course, topped with Old Bay, my favorite!!).  Supportive, nutritious, and incredibly delicious!!!!! (Yes, I’m aware that rhymed : )

Sundried Tomato Pesto with Shrimp over Spagetti Squash

…and yeah, the kids were fooled again ;- )

This would be fabulous with chicken, or with maybe marinated tempeh or veggie meatballs as a complete vegetarian option.

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Tonight was my grocery shopping night, but I stayed late at work, then ran a couple of errands, then grocery store last.  Looking at my clock and seeing it was already past 7PM, I knew I was going to have to do something, or risk eating something unhealthy and unsupportive.  Remembering I had some Fresh Mango Salsa (cherry salsa would work, too!!)  leftover in my fridge, I pulled my favorite trick, and used my resources.  I asked my Price Chopper Seafood department to steam up some fresh Cod, and had him season it with a lemon pepper seasoning.  They will do it for you, free of charge, in four minutes.  What could be better?!  Upon my arrival home, all I did was pull out a plate, transfer the fish on, scoop on the salsa, and stick a fork in it!

Weeknight Cod with Mango Salsa

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Sirloin Strip Steak topped with shrimp and cheese

It’s such a delicious and QUICK meal to recreate!  First up, take your sirloin steak (or whatever kind-the better the quality, the better your dinner will be), and grill or broil it with salt and pepper until it’s cooked to the temperature you like yours.  I personally like mine in the broiler, for about 6-8 minutes per side (mine’s about 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches thick, flipped halfway through).  If you cook it till just UNDER your prefered temp, you’ll end up with steak perfection, as when you stick it in the boiler the second time, it cooks a bit longer.   I have made garlic butter before, but this is such an easy cheat- top the steak with a heaping spoonful (more or less if you like it more or less) of chopped garlic, a tablespoon of melted butter, a sprinkle of parm (any other cheese will also work), and then stick it back in the broiler till cheese is melted, and the steak is done.  Serve with a side of broccoli, and VOILA!  A delicious, restaraunt-style, supportive meal!

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