Picky Palate's South West Quinoa Salad

For my birthday I received Picky Palate's cookbook, and we have been enjoying the food we have tried.  This salad was great to make in the morning, then eat for dinner with some pork quesadillas.  This is quick and refreshing, and pretty healthy.  I added some chicken broth and avocados to the original, and cut down on the dressing a little.  We split this into 10 servings, and each serving was 310 calories.  Aaron gave this a 6, Owen a 7, I gave it a 9, and Noah gave it a perfect 10.  Here's what I did

1 1/2 c quinoa
2 c chicken broth
2 c water
15 oz canned black beans, drained and rinsed
15 oz canned corn, drained
1 roma tomato, chopped
20 olives, sliced
1/2 chopped green pepper
1/2 c cilantro leaves
3/4 t salt, divided
scant 1/2 c (a little less than that really) olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
pinch of sugar
1/4 t ground cumin
1 avocado, diced

Rinse the quinoa in warm water and bring chicken broth and water to a boil.  Add the quinoa, bring it back to a boil, and cook until the liquid is absorbed.  Let sit for 15 minutes, then fluff with a fork and place in a bowl.  To that bowl add beans, corn, tomato, olives, green pepper, cilantro, and 1/2 t salt.  In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, lime, sugar, cumin, 1/4 t salt, and cumin.  Pour it over the salad ingredients, and place in the fridge to serve.  When ready to serve, add the avocado and mix it all together.  Serve.

Pioneer Woman's Chimichurri Shrimp

Yum!  These were super good, and all of us gave them a 9.  We found the recipe in the Pioneer Woman's newest cookbook, and we will have these again.  We split this into four servings, and each serving was 263 calories.  Easy, fresh, and really delicious, these are worth trying soon!

1/2 bunch cilantro leaves
1/4buch flat-leaf parsley leaves
3 garlic cloves
2 limes, juiced
1/2 t cumin
1 dash cayenne pepper
1/2 t salt
1/4 c olive oil
1 lb shrimp
1/2 T olive oil

In a food processor, process the cilantro, parsley, lime juice,cumin, cayenne and salt.  Cover and begin processing, then add in the oil in a slow stream, processing until smooth.  Drizzle half of the sauce, reserving the other half, over the peeled and deveined shrimp, stir, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Heat the olive oil in a pan, then cook the shrimp until done.  Serve with the reserved chimichurri sauce.

Slash and Burn Grouper (Rock Cod)

We had a great fish dish the other night, and we really liked it.  The calories per serving, the way the recipe is written are 237.  Noah gave it a perfect 10, I gave it a 9, Aaron gave it an 8, which is really high for him because he doesn't like fish, and Owen gave it a 6, because cod is fishier than he is used to.  I love that this is ready in 15 minutes, and so it's great for a busy weeknight meal.  I found this recipe in Michael Symon's Live to Cook cookbook, and I modified it a little, and we obviously didn't use all the sauce.  The picture is terrible, sorry :(

1 lb rock cod
1-2 T Jamaican Jerk Seasoning (I used less, since my kids don't like the spice)
1 t olive oil
Kosher Salt
1/2 c chicken stock
Juice of 2 limes
4 T unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 green pepper, finely diced
1/2 c fresh cilantro leaves

Preheat the oven to 375.

Pat the fish and sprinkle the fish with jerk seasoning and salt.  Heat an ovenproof sauté pan over medium heat, and when it is hot, add the olive oil.  Let the fish brown for 3 minutes and then gently turn them.  Place the pan in the oven for 3-5 minutes, until the fish has reached an internal temperature of 140.
Remove the pan from the oven and the fish from the pan.  Add the stock and lime juice to the pan, bring to a simmer, and reduce by half, 2-3 minutes.  Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter and then the bell pepper.  Pour over the fillets and garnish with cilantro leaves.

The cilantro tastes so good with this fish, and it's so fast and easy.  Love it!

Halibut with Cilantro Sour Cream, Pepperjack Potatoes, and Strawberry Cream Cheese Danishes

Today we had http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/pepita-crusted-pacific-halibut-with-cilantro-serrano-cream-recipe/index.html, but we used Panko instead of pepitas, and since I didn't have eggs, we didn't do the eggs or flour.  Calorie count was 294/serving of fish and sauce.  This was delicious, and we had http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pepperjack_potatoes/ to go along with it.  We like them mashed.  Calorie count was 290/serving.  The cream for the fish was great, the potatoes are delicious, and of course corn is always good :)  Unfortunately I oversalted the fish, so it wasn't as good as it could've been.  Sigh... The potatoes get an 8 out of 10, and the fish gets a 7 out of 10.  For breakfast this morning I made easy strawberry cream cheese danishes, I tweaked a few recipes I had found on the internet a long time ago, and just made do with what I had.  411 calories/danish.  I used crescent roll dough, and since I didn't have eggs (again), I just used cream cheese, whipping cream, sugar, and lemon juice, then sugared the strawberries just a little.  These were delicious right out of the oven, but the bottoms became soggy as they set.  5 out of 10.  Tomorrow night--chicken fried steak.  Yummy!!!