Monday, January 30, 2012

Thai Seafood Curry

I convinced Tobey that we should do our grocery shopping at PA's on Fort yesterday afternoon, and I got so excited in the seafood section that I pretty much bought everything. When we got home and realized that our groceries were barely going to fit in the fridge so, I decided to come up with a recipe that would use a lot of the ingredients we bought. Now, what to do with shrimp, mussels and squid? I used some inspiration from some of the Thai and Vietnamese dishes I tasted on my travels over the summer and came up with a Thai curry stew. So here it is (lightened up of course)!

Thai Seafood Curry

Ingredients
20 live mussels, cleaned (make sure you throw out any damaged mussels)
20 shrimp, peeled
8 oz squid, sliced into rings
2 cups bok choy, washed and sliced
1 medium sliced onion cut into large chunks
1 large orange bell pepper, cut into large chunks
1 cup broccoli florets and stems, chopped
1 cup small mushrooms, halved
1 can light coconut milk
2 cups low-fat soy milk
2 tbsp Thai red curry paste (look for Thai Kitchen brand at most grocery stores)
1-2 tbsp fish sauce to taste
1 tbsp brown sugar


Directions
In a wok, heat the coconut milk, soy milk and red curry paste until bubbling then redice the heat. Add the peppers, onions and squid and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables have become almost cooked. After 10 minutes add the brocoli and mushrooms and simmer for 2-3 more minutes. Stir occasionally. Finally, add in the shrimp, mussels and bok choy and stir. Replace the lid for 1-2 minutes or until the mussels have opened and the shrimp have turned pink. Be sure to remove and mussels that have not opened because this means they were dead prior to cooking.

Serve hot with rice or alone as as a soup.

** If you don't like seafood you can make this recipe with chicken or tofu (fry them first) or any other vegetables you like. If you are substituting or adding vegetables make sure to put ones that take a long time to cook, like carrots, in first and faster cooking vegetables in at the end.

Squid, shrimp and mussels

Chopped orange pepper

Cubed portobello mushrooms

Squid, cleaned and sliced into rings

Chopped bok choy, ends removed

That Seafood Curry
Serve with rice or noodles, or eat as a soup!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Stuffed French Toast

What perfect way to spend New Year's morning by indulging in a cheesy sweet treat? This recipe is another one adapted from my new WeightWatchers Complete Cookbook. This book is golden! So here is my version of their recipe for stuffed French toast.

Ingredients
Serves 2 people
4 pieces of whole wheat, no sugar added bread
1/4 cup egg white substitute
1/4 cup skim of 1% milk
1 tbsp Splenda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 oz brie cheese
2 tbsp jam (I used raspberry but you can use your favorite)

Directions
Heat a non-stick pan on medium heat and spray with cooking spray. In a shallow bowl whisk together the milk, eggs, cinnamon and Splenda. Using a fork dip a piece of bread in the mixture and turn it over to coat. Cook in the pan for about 1 minute on each side. To make the processes easier cook two pieces of bread at once. Once you have flipped the bread place the brie cheese on one piece of bread and spread 1 tbsp of jam on the other. Flip the piece of bread with the jam on it onto the bread with the cheese. Once the cheese has melted place the stuffed French toast on a serving plate. Repeat the same process with the other two pieces of bread. Serve the stuffed French toast with maple syrup and enjoy!




Golden French toast

Raspberry jam and brie


Finishing touch: maple syrup