Shrimp & Spinach Stuffed Portobellos

Sometimes, when I have way too much time on my hands, I think about how it was discovered that certain foods are edible.

I'm sure everyone's thought about who the first guy was to eat a chicken egg - imagine his wife's face when that happened. "Honey, what are you doing? Don't play with that. Stop bothering the chicken! What are you doing with that frying pan...? OH MY GOD."

Similarly, the potato (once deemed poisonous), escargot (Seriously, who thought that one up? Whoever you are though, thank you!), and caviar seem equally as unappetizing when the attempt is made to look at them as if you'd never seen them before. Who's going to pull up a plant, see some weird looking round tuber thing stuck to its roots...and then decide to put it in their mouth? Also, how many raw potatoes were eaten before it was discovered that they're way better cooked?

All that being said, the mushroom is another one of these mystical, extremely tasty foods that frequently makes its way to our dinner plates that, at any point in our culinary history, could easily have been discarded as poison - or just plain gross. I mean, picture it in your head, walking through the damp woods your boot kicks over a bit of leaf litter revealing a spongy, brown plant. It's covered in dirt and leaves, possibly some kind of protective mucus - who's first thought is, "Gee, I should put this in my mouth"? (I know that question mark isn't where it's supposed to be - sue me.)

Again, whoever it was that tried them first - thanks. Because mushrooms are insanely delicious. Especially when they're stuffed with spicy shrimp, cheese, and spinach and then baked until they're hot and bubbly with yummy goodness.

My brother-in-law gave me the idea of pairing shrimp with sriracha - a spicy Asian condiment - while I was in Florida. For this idea I will be forever grateful. It's quite possibly my new favorite thing in the world. If you've never tried sriracha (pronounced sir-a-cha), or never tried shrimp cooked in a little butter and sriracha - you must immediately drop everything that you are doing and go make some right now. NOW.

I decided that instead of using ridiculous amounts of mayo or cream cheese to hold it all together that I'd use Laughing Cow Cheese. It's a spreadable cheese (great on Wheat Thins) that's only 35 calories per serving. I used the Garlic & Herb one - they're pretty tasty. I keep those and the little Babybel cheeses in the house at all times. They're been a great snack while I've been trying to lose weight (23 lbs. so far! 10 more, I'll be at 120, and life will be good!). Now that I recognize the versatility of the spreadable ones though, I definitely won't be giving them up when I quit trying to lose weight.

Even if you don't try the whole recipe, for whatever reason, I cannot stress this enough. Every single person in this world (except those allergic to shrimp) should try shrimp cooked in sriracha.

It will change your life.



Shrimp & Spinach Stuffed Portobellos

Serves 2

8 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained of all water
1/4 small onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Laughing Cow Spreadable cheeses
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 Babybel Light, cut into small pieces (substitute mozzarella or other light cheese)
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
10 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon sriracha
2 portobello caps

Preheat oven to 375 F

In a medium mixing bowl combine spinach, onion, garlic, cheeses and mayo. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside. In a skillet over medium-high heat melt the butter. Cook the shrimp until just pink, toss with sriracha. Set aside. Place the portobello caps gills side up in a casserole dish. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Top each cap with half the shrimp and half the spinach mixture. Return to oven and bake for a further 15 minutes, or until the spinach is heated through and the cheese is warm and bubbling.

Nutritional Estimate

This is a nutritional estimate, I do not claim it to be exact - although it is pretty close.

1 serving equals one whole stuffed portobello cap

Calories: 245
Carbohydrates: 15g
Fat: 15g
Protein: 18g

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CORRECTION 6/27: I am a numbskull and forgot to include the tablespoon of butter in my nutritional estimate. Therefore, the new estimate is:

Calories: 296
Carbohydrates: 15g
Fat: 20g
Protein: 18g

I would also like to point out that in omitting the mayonnaise saves 180 calories and 20g of fat, effectively halving the fat content of the recipe. This would make each cap only 206 calories and 10g of fat.

Lemon-Pepper Shrimp

This is another recipe courtesy of my MiL (Marinating MiL? The MiL who marinades? hmmm...)

It's quite the quick and tasty treat, especially when grilled with some mushrooms. It was a rather nice recipe to break out the hibachi for the first time this year.

The only problem with using a hibachi is that they're such a pain to get lit it almost seems like a travesty to not use it for as much as possible while it's going.

Cue the s'mores and my healthy lemon pepper shrimp dinner soon turned into a rather disappointing calorie count for the day.

Nonetheless, this recipe is outstanding. Nice tanginess, a good deal of spice, but not too much.

I added a tablespoon of Dijon mustard.

It was yummy.

Lemon-Pepper Shrimp Marinade

1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoone extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon white pepper
4 teaspoons rosemary
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Mix and let shrimp marinate for at least one hour. Grill. Devour.

Monterey Bay Sand Dabs

I must admit after moving to Monterey I was curious about seeing Sand Dabs on menus at nearly every restaurant we visited. A sand dab, after all, sounds less than appetizing. It more conjures up thoughts of gritty shellfish than a mildly flavored, delicate fish.

Sand dabs are flatfish, like flounder, and are indigenous to the Pacific Ocean. They're very popular along the California coast and are considered a delicacy. They're not as popular elsewhere, though after trying them I can only assume it's because they're not available everywhere.

Last night I finally decided to try them out after being convinced by my local fishmonger. Unfortunately the only way I could get them was pre-breaded, but after a little fry in some olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon I'm thinking breaded may be the way to go when preparing sand dabs.

I really can't recommend them enough if you happen to be on the California coastline. They couldn't be simpler to prepare and they're so fresh you might as well be catching them yourself (obviously dependent upon where you buy them).

Superpowers and Mussels

I would like everyone to know that I have super-powers.

That's right. I'm a genuine, bona fide, non-cape wearing, spandex-eschewing super hero.

Would you like to know what my super power is?

Bringing the frigid cold to any tropical climate I visit. Isn't that nice?

Honestly, the moment a warm climate learns I am coming to visit the sun goes on strike, the wind starts a-blowin' and the icy fingers of doom start creeping their way towards my locale.

How else can you explain 22 degree weather in Florida? Especially when the week before I got there it was 80 and the day I left it warmed back up to 75. I'm cursed. And yes, this has happened on a few trips to Florida.

I think my brother-in-law may actually start barring my entrance to his state if I keep this up. I'm totally harshing his surfing mellow...yo.

In any event, that explains my silence for the last ten days - a trip to Florida to see my lovely sister A., her husband, also A., and my nephew R. My sister is pregnant with her first child (R. is technically a step-nephew), and though I'll be traveling out when she delivers this summer, I was anxious to see her one last time before she was a mom. I swear she's the most gorgeous pregnant woman I've ever seen too - it's not very often I'm jealous of a pregnant woman's figure, I'll tell ya that much.



I had actually uploaded photos so I could post while I was away, but I forgot to write down the recipes for this mussel dish and totally forgot what I did. Thankfully they still needed some improvement, so it's not like I lost some epic recipe. I'll just have to post about mussels again when I make them next time. I will say this - Applewood Smoked Bacon and Mussels are great friends. They should never be separated. Not ever. It's like heaven in your mouth.

Even though they weren't exactly what I was looking for, they were still very quickly devoured with a nice sourdough baguette.



Up next I'll be posting the next segment from my mushroom foraging class with a bunch of pictures illustrating what we found on our hike. There are some real pretty ones I'm excited to show.

Now I just have to get it up before spring semester starts on Saturday and I'm once again mired in piles of homework...

Greek-Spiced Baked Shrimp

I am addicted to Gourmet magazine's Gourmet Everyday section. Every month I eagerly await the arrival of the mag, set myself down with whatever tasty beverage-of-the-minute I'm craving, and pore over that baby like it's fine literature. I subscribe to Bon Appetit as well, I just haven't quite developed the appreciation for it that I feel with Gourmet. I've found so many great recipes in Gourmet that I'm pretty sure at this point I'll be a subscriber for life.

This month's luscious find was Greek-Spiced Baked Shrimp. It has an unusual (for American cuisine at least) combination of spices, cinnamon, allspice, and red pepper flakes with a sprinkle of dill over the top. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it, but figured it was worth a shot. I shouldn't have hesitated, because it is most definitely one of our favorite new meals. Mr. Totally Awesome and I downed nearly the whole recipe in one evening, sopping up the juices with some herbed-butter bread. The interplay of piquant tomato sauce, salty feta, and the fresh shrimp was just right.

I did switch a couple things up, I used tinned diced tomatoes instead of chopping up whole tinned tomatoes - that seemed like a useless extra step - and I was all out of fresh dill, so I just sprinkled some dried over the top after baking. With the dried it was tasty, I can only imagine how much better it is with the fresh. I'm a sucker for fresh dill.

For a quick and easy weeknight meal, Gourmet hit a home-run on this one. I urge you to try it out with some nice big 15 count shrimp. I used little bitty 25 count guys and they were nice, but I bet some big-ass prawns would seal the deal like no other.



Greek-Spice Baked Shrimp

1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon hot red-pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes in juice, drained, reserving juice, and chopped
Pinch of sugar
1 1/4 pound large peeled and deveined shrimp
1/4 pound feta, crumbled (2/3 cup)
2 tablespoons chopped dill

Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle.

Cook onion and garlic in oil with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a 4-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in spices and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Add chopped tomatoes with juice and sugar and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

Season shrimp with 1/8 teaspoon salt, then stir into tomato sauce. Transfer to a 2-quart shallow baking dish and top with feta. Bake until just cooked through, 18 to 20 minutes. Serve sprinkled with dill.