Category: Fast Recipes

Fun Friday! Shrimp Salsa

5/24/2019

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. But, all opinions expressed are my own.

When I was a kid, it seemed to me that eating chips wasn't that uncommon of a thing with sandwiches or as a snack. But, if we had dip with our chips, that was something special. Dip meant that we had company or it was a special celebration of some kind. Dip was what you got to have at birthdays or church luncheons. Dip elevated the meal from ordinary to FUN!
I still get a craving for onion dip sometimes, and I remember when we first started having RANCH! Man, that makes me feel old. I lived before Ranch!
It seems like salsa became popular after I was married as well. Before that we always used taco sauce on our Mexican Food, or other more runny sauces were served with tortilla chips back then. It seems weird that we lived without salsa when we love it so much now! (Here is our recipe for fresh salsa!)

Another food that was a bit more rare to have at our house when I was a kid was shrimp! Being the seafood lover that I am, I loved it, but we were pretty poor back then and shrimp was a treat that we didn't have too often. Sometimes we had the canned little ones in salad, but those tiny treats weren't very practical to feed our large family.
So, today, for Fun Friday I am bringing you a recipe that is not only fun because it is a dip, but also because it is made with shrimp which was once a delicacy to me! Since Memorial Day is this weekend, it is a great time to break out the dip!

I saw a version of this shrimp salsa in a store flyer. It looked so colorful and summery that I decided to try it. The flyer didn't give proportions or measurements and I noticed that the ingredients didn't include any flavorful spices that would give it that Mexican taste. So, I came up with my own version and served it to may husband one night at dinner. He loved it! I know that you will, too!

Buy the small, precooked frozen shrimp. Defrost it and pull off the tails. I cut the shrimp in half to give a big enough piece to shovel up on a chip!

Throw in the pineapple tidbits, mango, and avocado. Now it is looking colorful!

Mix in cilantro, seasonings to taste, and lime juice and mix it all together. Let it sit in the fridge for awhile to let the flavors blend.

Here is the recipe. Just remember to add the seasonings to your taste!

Shrimp Salsa

Enjoy! And Have a fun and safe weekend!

2 Comments

Broiled Salmon

5/21/2019

4 Comments

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. But, all opinions expressed are my own.

Salmon is probably my very favorite food and when it is prepared with this recipe, I could eat the entire fish. I know that you may hear from famous TV chefs that you should never mix fish with cheese. But, I am here to tell you that salmon with Parmesan is delicious. My son had friends that would ask if I was making salmon for dinner to see if they could come over and have some. That is how good this fish is. I am fairly surprised that I haven't shared this with you before because I prepare it and eat it as often as I can and never tire of this salmon.
I am not giving you a recipe to print out because it doesn't have exact measurements. I will just tell you what I do. It is super easy, quick and I never like any preparation of salmon better that this one.

Another reason I am not giving exact measurements is that each fillet of fish will be a different size.

Line a baking sheet that fits in your broiler with aluminum foil. Pour some olive oil on it in a large squiggle, maybe about 4 Tablespoons. Heat your broiler to medium heat.
Wash your salmon off and lay it skin side up on your baking sheet. I don't like to deal with the scales or the skin, so I have found this easy way to remove the skin.
Place the pan with the salmon under the broiler for a few minutes until the skin begins to brown or blacken slightly. (I have a gas oven/broiler, so you need to watch how your fish cooks in your broiler.)

It will look like this.

Carefully, because it will be hot, pull off the skin. I use a fork or knife to help me get under the skin, but it will peel off really well. Discard the skin.
That side of the salmon will be cooked nicely. Flip the fillet over to the other side.
On the uncooked side, sprinkle on seasoned salt, garlic powder and Parmesan cheese to taste. I have used both the fresh, good kind of Parmesan and the green box kind, both are delicious.
Put the fish back under the broiler and cook until lightly browned and the fish is cooked through. Again, this will depend on your broiler. You can cut the fillet in the middle and check it if necessary. Don't over cook it! You want the fish to be moist and flaky.
Slice the fillet into serving portions to serve. It is delicious with a green veggie and rice or just about any side that you want.

Just out of the broiler. The crispy bits of Parmesan on the foil are delicious.

See how the salmon is flaky and moist?

Let me know if you give it a try! I am pretty sure you will love it!

Something to serve the fish on and something to get the fish smell off of your hands!

4 Comments

Tomato-Basil Tea Sandwiches

5/14/2019

7 Comments

This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated for purchases made through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your continuing support!

If you saw my Instagram post this past weekend, you would have seen that I am so excited about it being the time of year when tomatoes start to get ripe on the garden vines. Now I am even more excited because my DIL's mom, Anita, gave me some special tomatoes that she is growing. They are called San Marzano.

As you can see, San Marzano are an elongated tomato and they are very fleshy with fewer seeds or watery juices. They also have lower acidity, so if you have trouble as I sometimes do with a sore tongue after eating tomatoes, these will be better for you. (Even with a sore mouth, I love tomatoes so much, I eat them anyway!) Anita uses San Marzano to can tomato sauce and finds them to be the best for that application because the large amount of flesh lends them to making a thick, rich sauce. Anita is Italian, she knows her sauce, so I trust her when she says that these tomatoes are the best for tomato sauce! But, if you need more proof, you can purchase San Marzano Tomato sauce if you don't want to make it yourself. It really is touted as the best by many chefs. Or, you can buy some San Marzano seeds to grow your own plants next year!
Today I am using my tomatoes in a different way. I wanted to showcase these beautiful, red, fresh tomatoes because this is the time of year to enjoy them that way! These Tomato-Basil Tea Sandwiches are perfect for a bridal shower or baby shower or a mid-morning brunch! The basil spread can be made in advance and the bacon....Yes! I said bacon, can be crisped and crumbled in advance, but the assembly should be done just before the event. That is when you will thinly slice the tomatoes and prepare your bread. Here is what the San Marzano tomatoes look like sliced.

Lay the slices on paper towels to drain a little. San Marzanos don't need a lot of draining.

You can see that there are very few seeds.

See how fleshy those tomatoes are? If you don't have San Marzano, you can use cherry tomatoes.

Any type of bread may be used as the base. I used a Tomato Basil loaf from Panera, staying with the Tomato-Basil Sandwich theme. The nice thing is that the bread is firm and holds up to the toppings, even with the crust cut off. Since Panera makes a large sized loaf, I cut the slices in half and then removed the crust to make them all fairly uniform. I also considered a sour dough loaf which I think would also be a delicious alternative.

Panera Tomato Basil Loaf. You could also cut circles or other shapes. I just did squares that are about palm size.

Tomato-basil Tea Sandwiches

They look pretty on the platter. I simply used a couple sprigs of basil flowers on my tray. They are edible!

Oh! I was so excited about the tomatoes, I forgot to mention that the basil is from my garden! I cut off the blossoms to send the energy back to the leaves. They make a pretty garnish, or you can dry them to use later as a dry basil spice.

I can't get over how vibrant and pretty these fresh, vine ripened tomatoes look! I love the simple basil blossoms.

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Fun Friday! Shrimp Salsa

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