Lemon Garlic Shrimp with Broccoli
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Don’t worry, you’re on the right blog. This is Nosh With Me. But now we’re cooking!
This may come as a surprise to many of you, but I don’t eat cookies, cakes, and candy for every meal. I do try to cook every now and then, but I have to admit, I am horrible at it. I think what makes me a good baker is what also makes me a terrible cook. In baking there are always exact measurements and specific ingredients, and in order to make a substitution you need to know about the ingredients. In cooking, if it tastes good, it works.
What I do cook is always very simple and usually something that either can be grilled or steamed, or comes from the freezer section of Trader Joe’s. I do have a few actual recipes that have proven successful, but they tend to have lots of cheese and aren’t very healthy. Now that I’m back to counting points, I’m constantly searching for easy low-fat yet still yummy recipes. Fortunately for me, shrimp is both delicious and a good protein, and the last time I was at the market, I bought a two-pound bag (hello, I live alone) of fresh frozen shrimp (it was on sale and the fish guy said it was an amazing deal–I’m a sucker) and I immediately got to work searching for recipe that seemed foolproof. Fortunately, I stumbled upon this one.
The original recipe includes peppers and asparagus, but I’m more of a broccoli fan, so I swapped that out. It also says to cook the vegetables in oil and add lemon zest and salt, but I steamed my broccoli and left out the salt and zest (I’m living on the edge here). I didn’t make any additional changes, but I did omit the parsley, just because I can’t stand the stuff (why yes, I am a picky eater). I am quite pleased with the results–the sauce is garlic-y and lemony and it was great spooned over the broccoli and shrimp. And the way I prepared it made it only three points so I enjoyed it with some brown rice (from Trader Joe’s, naturally), yum!
Ingredients
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
steamed vegetables
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound raw shrimp (26-30 per pound), peeled and deveined
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Preparation
Steam vegetables and cover to keep warm.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add shrimp and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Whisk broth and cornstarch in a small bowl until smooth and add to the pan along with salt. Cook, stirring, until the sauce has thickened slightly and the shrimp are pink and just cooked through, about 2 minutes more. Remove from the heat. Stir in lemon juice and parsley. Serve the shrimp and sauce over the vegetables.
Adapted from Eating Well.
Thin Mint Fudge
Remember the Cookies and Cream Fudge? Same idea, different cookies.
Whoopie Pies*
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It’s official, I’m back to counting points (if you don’t know points are, consider yourself lucky). But have no fear, I will still be making yummy treats, I just won’t be eating any as many of them, and I hope to find some tasty lower fat/calorie recipes as well. Speaking of lower fat, I first saw this recipe about six years ago when I did WW for the first time, but wasn’t as into baking back then so I never tried it. Fortunately, the recipe was just a Google search away.
These cookies were simple to make, quite good, and have a nice mild chocolate flavor (and not at all bad for two points!). And while marshmallow fluff adds a little bit of sweetness, it also caused a whole lot of problems. First, I was using my small cookie scoop to scoop the fluff on the cookies when the scoop broke. The spring popped out, it made a horrible noise, and it ended up in a few pieces. Who knew fluff was so sticky and stiff? Secondly, after adding the fluff and sandwiching the cookies, they all started to tilt (they aren’t flat after all), causing the fluff to leak out, thus making a huge mess and some ugly looking cookies. (I know WW chose fluff to help keep the fat and calorie count down, but there must be another option that won’t spread and leak. Any suggestions?)
*I understand these are not true Whoopie Pies. They are simply a Weight Watchers version of them. If you have an issue with the name, complain to Weight Watchers, not me. Thanks in advance.
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 egg white
1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk (I used buttermilk because that’s all I had in the house)
3/4 cup marshmallow cream
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.
- With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the sugar, shortening and egg white in a medium bowl until fluffy and well blended (about 2 minutes).
- Stir in the flour mixture, then add the milk until just blended.
- Drop the dough (it will be a cross between cake batter and cookie dough in consistency) by spoonfuls onto large, ungreased baking sheets (I used Silpats), making 36 cookies.
- Bake until top springs back when lightly touched (5-7 minutes).
- Cool completely on the sheets on a rack.
- Spoon 2 tsp. marshmallow fluff and spread on the bottoms of half of the cookies.
- Top with remaining cookies.
Yields 18 cookies (I got 15). Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Lemon Meltaways
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I had never heard of meltaways until I read about them on my friend Jami’s blog. They sounded so light and delicious and I was all set to make her recipe until I measured out my flour and had just barely 1 1/4 cups. So off to the Internet I went, and I came across this recipe which was super easy to make.
The cookies are so light that they really do melt in your mouth. But the flavor? Just didn’t do it for me, and I found them to be really bland. I brought them into the office today and while they weren’t a hit with everyone, they did seem to attract quite a following. It seems people either love or hate these cookies. Me? I’m a hater.
Cookie Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup LAND O LAKES® Butter, softened
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel
Frosting Ingredients
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup LAND O LAKES® Butter, softened
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Preparation
Combine all cookie ingredients in large bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed.
Divide dough in half. Shape each half into 8×1-inch log. Wrap each in plastic food wrap. Refrigerate until firm (1 to 2 hours).
Heat oven to 350°F. Cut each log into 1/4-inch slices with sharp knife. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes or until set. (Cookies will not brown.) Cool completely.
Combine all frosting ingredients in small bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until fluffy. Frost cooled cookies.
Recipe from Land O’Lakes.
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In other cookie news, Aunt Helen’s Mandelbrot recipe won a Hallmark Magazine Cookie Contest, and I got some really fun prizes!
Oatmeal Caramel Bars
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Have you ever read reviews of a five-star recipe that everyone is raving about it and then gotten excited to make it, because you know it’s going to be spectacular and your coworkers will just love it? OK good, I thought you have. But have you ever made the five-star recipe that everyone is raving about only to be incredibly disappointed and left wondering HUH? This is one of those recipes.
I took the bulk of the reviewers suggestions and implemented them only to find the end result very eh. The cookie is an ooey, gooey mess of oatmeal, too much chocolate (I know, I never thought I would utter those words either), and a thin layer of caramel. Disappointing. And I’m guessing there will be some left at the end of the workday tomorrow.
Ingredients
32 individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9×13 inch baking pan lined with foil or parchment paper. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt together the caramels and heavy cream, stirring occasionally until smooth.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Stir in the melted butter until well blended (I used my hands). Press half of the mixture into the bottom of pan. Reserve the rest.
- Bake the crust for 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Pour the caramel mixture over the top and then crumble the remaining crust mixture over everything (I used my hands to pat the mixture down).
- Return to the oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until the top is lightly toasted (you may want to check it around 15 minutes). Cool then cut into squares.
Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.
