Like most days recently, today was a very busy day, I did a lot of running around with the kids. To my very pleasant surprised when I finally arrived home, there was a fed-ex box on my door step. My son Amari gets really excited when there are gifts left at the door, he jumped out of the truck and ran over to grab the box. I wondered what could be in the box???? I knew I hadn’t ordered anything from Amazon.com recently and I knew for a fact that Curtis hadn’t order anything. What could it be?
I open the box and inside were several packages of Amazing Taste seasoning packs. I was contacted last week by Sara from AT and she sent over a few seasoning packs and recipes for me to try-out. Thanks goodness, because I had no plans for dinner and I had a hungry bunch waiting for me inside. My daughter Keira defrosted and peeled a bag of frozen shrimp, SN: It’s wonderful having extra hands in the kitchen. In about 35 minutes (prep time, cook time and photo shoot) dinner was one the table.
The smell was amazingly good, so that was a good start. I was thinking I hope this is as good as it smells…..
The recipe for Shrimp Scampi called for shallots , well I didn’t have any on hand so I used onions and because I love garlic so much I added an extra tablespoon. I added the garlic, lemon juice and white wine to the pan, then I taste the sauce before adding the shrimp. It was a bit tart for my taste so I added a teaspoon of sugar.
OK, it was now time for the shrimp to take a yummy bath in garlic, onion, lemon juice and white wine.
I tossed in the tomatoes and simmered for a few minutes. Keeping in mind not to over cook the shrimp.
This is the product of all my hard work and tears that resulted from chopping onions and mincing garlic, actually not too much work at all. A quick and easy dish. It was really delicious. I surveyed the family and got all thumbs up on the meal, they were all in agreement that we should keep this recipe around. I also have a Garlic Butter Shrimp Pasta recipe, it’s one of my favorite recipes. You can check out Amazing Taste for more details on where to purchase their products.
Amazing Shrimp Scampi
recipe by Amazing Taste with few adjustments by Shelisa ~ Big2Beautiful
1 (16 ounce) box dried pasta (I used thin spaghetti)
2 pounds raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 packet Amazing Taste for Seafood seasoning mix 1 onion, diced 3 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
3/4 cups olive oil
1/3 cup white wine 1/8 cup lemon juice 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved 1 teaspoon sugar
Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside.
1. Preheat skillet over medium heat. Once hot add in the oil olive, onions, garlic and packet of Amazing Taste seasoning. Stir.
2. Add the white wine and lemon juice.
3. Add the shrimp and tomatoes and continue cooking until shrimp are light orange and no longer translucent.
4. Add basil and serve over pasta.
The very first time I saw a Daikon radish in the grocery store, I had no idea what it was, or what to do with it. Of course reached for the radish up, examined it closely and promptly placed it back in the vegetable cooler.
Some time went by and I never ventured back over to the radish section. But, thank goodness, (yes there’s a but!~ I ordered a Sunomono Salad at one of the best sushi bars in Tampa Bay. I asked the chef what were the stringy, long white strands in the salad…. he informed with it was Daikon. OK, great, now I have something to work with.
Within a few days I zoomed back to my Asian grocery store, grab the radish and commenced to making the dish. I got everything all prep and sadly realized I didn’t know how to make the dressing.
Sooooooo…..experiment number one consisted of apple cider vinegar and salt (nope that’s wasn’t it), then I tired white vinegar, salt and sugar (almost, but not quite) and finally the third try was a charm, rive vinegar, sugar, salt, water and ginger. I thought to myself, this is not an American dish so use a different type of vinegar, it worked!
So this recipe is very simple, especially if you use a Chinese Mandolin or a food processor to complete the prep work. The key is to get the radish and cucumber sliced as thin as possible.
Then soak the vegetables in a salt water mix. This will remove the bitterness for the radish and the cucumber skin. Make sure to drain and squeeze out any excess water.
And there you have it, my take on Japanese Cucumber Salad. What else can I cook using Daikon, any suggestions?
Using a vegetable peeler, remove the outer skin from the Daikon (radish). Use a mandolin, food processor or sharp knife to slice the radish and cucumber into very thin slices. Place the vegetables in a bowl with 1 tablespoon salt and 3 cups water. Let soak in salt water for 10 minutes, then drain and squeeze gently to remove any excess water.
Combine vinegar, water, sugar, ginger and the remaining salt in a medium bowl, whisk to dissolve. Place the cucumbers and radish is a serving dish, top with the krab meat and shrimp, pour the dressing over the entire dish and sprinkle the black sesame seeds.
The kids are away…. so mommy and daddy can play! Yeah, right we are missing the kids like crazy. One good thing about the kids not being home is, now dinner is for two. Nothing is better than mussels. In less than 15 minutes I had dinner on the table. These mussels are full of flavor. Add a half of loaf of crusty french bread and a glass of beer or wine and you have a wonderful quick and easy summertime dinner.
Beer Steamed Mussels recipe
Recipe by Shelisa ~ Big2Beautiful
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 pounds mussels
16 ounces beer of your choice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon finely minced fresh basil
Heat a large saute pan or pot over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the olive oil and the onions and saute for about 2 minutes, then add in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for another minute.
Add the mussels. Pour in the beer and season with salt. Once the sauce starts to boil, cover tightly. Cook for a few minutes until the mussels have opened.
Squeeze the lemon over the mussels, sprinkle with basil and serve.
