The salads and deviled eggs

Next up...Shrimp and Pasta salad.

I always buy shelled, deveined, tail off, RAW frozen shrimp.  I think the frozen cooked shrimp can get rubbery when you reheat them.  My trick to flavorful shrimp it to add Old Bay Seasoning and garlic powder to the water you cook the shrimp in.  Add a lot because most of it stays in the pot.

Shrimp Salad

shrimp

Hellman’s Mayonnaise

Trader Joe’s Goddess salad dressing

bow tie pasta

corn

pine nuts

Boil the shrimp, and cool them.  Don’t rinse them because you’ll wash off the spice.  I scooped them out of the water and reused it to thaw the corn.  Don’t waste the spicy delicious cooking water.  You could probably toss the pasta in there too but I just boiled it normally.  I chipped the shrimp into smaller pieces to make it easier to eat.  The corn and pine nuts add some nice crunch.  

Note- I’m not a brand snob but I only use Hellman’s Mayo in my cooking.  Don’t get the reduced fat or Canola or some other new fangled variety.  The taste is ok for a sandwich but the salads with not taste right.  You can splurge on the fat grams twice a year.

Salad dressing adds a nice punch of flavor.  You can use Ranch or Caesar for the best taste but it’s all up to you.  Use what you have.

Deviled Eggs

They are a southern summer favorite.  There are many ways to make them.  I’ll give you the recipe from the weekend and a few variations.

boiled eggs

liquid smoke

salt

pepper

Trader Joe’s Garlic Aioli Mustard

Hellman’s Mayo

chopped garlic

Tip- Don’t over cook your eggs.  Over cooked boiled egg yolks get that grayish color that makes your eggs look yucky.  They taste fine but appearances are important.  I won’t lie and say I know how long to boil the perfect egg but I’m sure you can find it on GOOGLE.com

Variations

You can substitute sour cream for the mayo for creamy lighter eggs.  Consider adding feta to the yolk mixture for some tang.  Dill, chives, chopped hot pepper and other herbs can really pep things up as well.  You can also add some chopped ham or bacon.

Last up, tomato and cucumber salad.  This one is super easy.  Slice the cucumber and tomato.  Add a little acid (lemon, lime, balsamic/regular vinegar), olive oil, salt and pepper.  This dish can be a side or a condiment.  It’s delicious on a burger.

No guacamole recipe.  My fella is the guac expert.  Hit him up for the how to…

Happy eating!

Turkey Burgers

Turkey Burgers

ground turkey

chopped onions and green pepper (from the frozen aisle..shhh don’t tell)

pepper

salt

Trader Joe’s South African Smoke seasoning flakes

garlic powder and chopped garlic

Nando’s sauce

I don’t measure anything.  Just throw it in.  Ground turkey needs a lot of spice so  don’t be scared to season liberally.  Special shout out to Traders Joes Smoke flakes….  Try them if you can.  They add a lot of flavor.

4th of July food on the 5th

It’s been a while since I've blogged anything but moving, wedding plans, new job and more has kept me pretty busy during the last year.  I’m going to try to write more often now that things have settled down a bit but don’t hold me to it.  Today’s post is inspired by my Apartment-Style 4th of July.  When you live on the 17th floor with no balcony you have to get creative   Enter the George Foreman Grill.  On the menu we had:

Turkey burgers

Shrimp and pasta salad

Tomato and cucumber salad

Hotdogs

Guacamole

Deviled eggs

My Uncle Jim and Aunt Paulette called to request recipes so here they are.  I experimented with smoked flavors to try and get a more BBQ taste in most of the dishes.