Honey Garlic Shrimp Bowl

Last Year's Post: Three Sisters Quesadilla
Two Years Ago:  Dried Fruit Sauce

I thought this recipe sounded and looked good, but was a little concerned that it would be too sweet.  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the honey adds a smoothness and a lightly sweet note that's much nicer than sugar.  It's also not overly garlicky despite having a tablespoon of minced garlic - I'm not sure how that works but it does.

If you use a quick-cooking brown rice this would be a very easy dinner to prepare in less than 30 minutes during the week and it's also very healthy.  A total win in my book.

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Honey Garlic Shrimp Bowl

Serves 4

Note: the shrimp need to marinate for at least 15 minutes, giving you time to prepare the rice and broccoli. Cooking the shrimp takes only a minute or two.

1/3 cup honey

¼ cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 large cloves)

1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tablespoon olive oil

Hot cooked brown rice

Steamed broccoli

Sliced green onions, for garnish

Whisk the honey, soy sauce and garlic together in a medium bowl.

Place the shrimp in a zip-top bag and add about a third of the marinade.  Seal, shake the bag, and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes and up to 10 hours.  Cover and refrigerate the remaining marinade.

Prepare the rice and broccoli while the shrimp marinate.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Remove the shrimp from the marinade and place in the pan, discarding the remaining marinade.  Cook on one side about 45 seconds, then flip the shrimp and add the reserved marinade.  Cook an additional 1 minute more, or until the shrimp are cooked through.

Divide the brown rice, broccoli and shrimp between shallow bowls and drizzle with the remaining sauce from the pan.  Garnish with sliced green onions.

Fall Spiced Pecans

Last Year's Post:  Whipped Goat Cheese and Green Olive Dip
Two Years Ago:    Split Pea Soup

A year ago I published a recipe for spiced pecans that are spicy, sweet and salty - one of my favorites.  Most recipes along that line have cayenne and other spices along with sugar and salt, but not everyone likes heat.  So, this recipe uses all those wonderful fall spices - cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg - instead of cayenne.  The taste is very reminiscent of pumpkin pie spices and would be great for a big gathering where children and adults can both enjoy the nuts.  The original recipe called for the higher amount of sugar given in the recipe, which would result in a definitely sweet nut.  I cut the sugar in half because I don't particularly have a sweet tooth and found the result to be lightly sweet and warmly spiced.

The typical way to use spiced nuts is for an appetizer or for a gift, but as I snacked on these nuts they also seemed very suited as a garnish for a number of other dishes:

• chopped and sprinkled on roasted or mashed sweet potatoes
• on top of roasted squash
• sprinkled on an ice cream sundae with buttered rum sauce or butterscotch sauce
• chopped up in wild rice
• sprinkled over pumpkin pie 

You get the idea.

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Fall Spiced Pecans

Makes 3 cups

Note: Using the lesser amount of sugar results in slightly sweet nuts; if you want them sweeter, use the higher amount.

1 egg white, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon water

3 cups pecan halves

¼ cup - ½ cup white sugar (see note)

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 250d.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg white with the water until foamy.  Add the pecans and stir well.  Transfer the nuts to a strainer and shake, then let drain at least 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, rinse and wipe out the bowl, then add the sugar, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg and mix well.  Add the nuts back to the bowl and stir until all the spices have evenly coated the nuts and none are left in the bottom of the bowl. 

Spread the nuts in a single layer on the baking sheet and bake at 250d for 40 minutes, stirring once at 20 minutes.  Reduce temperature to 200d and baking 20-30 minutes longer until dry, watching to make sure the nuts don’t get too dark.

Remove the foil from the baking sheet and let the nuts cool, then loosen any that are stuck to the foil.  Store in an airtight container or freeze.

Jerusalem Salad

Last Year's Post: Lemony Green Beans with Toasted Almonds
Two Years Ago:  Dutch Baby

The reason I'm posting this particular recipe now is because Thanksgiving is coming up, which means one thing: leftover turkey.  Serving this salad in the days following Thanksgiving will accomplish several things, all good - it's a dramatic departure in taste from what you'll have been eating, it's very light and healthy, and it's very easy to make.  Since it's served at room temperature, it's also very accommodating for a house full of guests.  And if some of them happen to be vegetarians (or you are), this salad is excellent with tofu in place of turkey, or without either one because it has plenty of fiber and protein already.  It would be fun to set out a big bowl of each of the ingredients and let everyone make their own salad, taking as much or as little of each as they want.

I call this recipe Jerusalem Salad because I found its inspiration in a recipe from the cookbook "Jerusalem" by the famed chef Yotam Ottolenghi.  I'm a big fan of his Middle Eastern style of cooking and the flavors and textures of that cuisine.  The original recipe was for the vegetable salad and the spiced chickpeas; I added the rest of the ingredients to make it an entree salad.  But the vegetable salad and the chickpeas are the stars.  The vegetable salad isn't just tomatoes and cucumbers and onion, but adds radishes and red peppers for additional crunch and flavor.  It's delicious on its own.

The chickpeas are the exotic taste in the salad due to the spice mix of cardamom, cumin and allspice.  I toned down the amount of spice slightly from the original recipe solely due to personal preference.  My suggestion is to toss the chickpeas in the spice mix as written and then taste one before putting them in the skillet, adding more of one or all spices to your taste as desired.

The key to success for salads is to have a variety of textures, colors and flavors so I added pistachios for crunch, quinoa for nuttiness, and yogurt for creaminess.  Sumac is a fun garnish for the yogurt because it adds a little color and has a slightly sharp taste, but paprika would be a good substitute.  Or just don't worry about a garnish.  I'm aware that I worry more about garnishes than most people, although I'm not completely sure what that says about me.

Split, toasted pitas broken into large pieces are excellent served on the side.

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Jerusalem Salad

Serves 4

Note: this salad is excellent served with toasted pita on the side.

For the dressing:

5 tablespoons olive oil

Grated zest of 1 lemon, plus 2 tablespoons juice

1 ½ tablespoons sherry vinegar

1 clove garlic, grated

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt and pepper

For the spiced chickpeas:

1 (15.5 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or the equivalent amount of dried chickpeas, cooked)

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon cumin

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

For the salad:

½ English cucumber

2 cups cherry tomatoes

4-6 radishes, trimmed

1 red pepper, seeded and ribs removed

½ red onion

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/3 cup chopped Italian parsley

2 cups cooked couscous or quinoa

8 large leaves of Bibb or butter lettuce

½ cup pistachios, coarsely chopped

2 cups cooked shredded turkey or chicken, optional, or can use tofu instead

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

Ground sumac or paprika for garnish, optional

To make the dressing, combine all ingredients in a small jar with a lid and shake vigorously.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Set aside.

To make the spiced chickpeas, put the spices in a shallow bowl and mix well.  Add the drained chickpeas and stir to coat evenly.  Heat the 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet and toast the chickpeas in a single layer for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid sticking (you may have to do 2 batches).  Set aside.

To make the vegetable salad, chop the cucumber, tomatoes, radishes, red pepper and red onion into bite-sized pieces.   Toss together with the cilantro and parsley.

To plate the salad, place 2 lettuce leaves on each of 4 plates.  Top with optional turkey, spiced chickpeas, vegetable salad, couscous or quinoa, and pistachios.  Add a dollop of yogurt to each plate and garnish with sumac or paprika, optional.  Drizzle with dressing and serve.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Last Year's Post: White Chicken Chili
Two Years Ago:   Baked Potatoes with Broccoli Cheese Sauce

I used to actively dislike Brussels sprouts until I tried this recipe which was a total revelation.  For some reason, roasting them until tender gives them an entirely different flavor.  They're so good you'll want immediately start popping them in your mouth like a snack, which is why I like to serve them with a little crunchy salt on top as an appetizer with drinks.  Of course, they're a perfect side dish to any meal and a great addition to a holiday table but they're so good you really need to eat them more often than just at holidays.

Try to get the smallest Brussels sprouts you can find, because they're easier to eat and more tender.  Plus they're cute.  I had to go to three different stores to find these because the big box grocers had giant, unappealing sprouts. I finally found these cute fresh ones at guess where, my local Sprouts store.  :-)

If you think you don't like Brussels sprouts, try them this way to see what you think.  And if you like Brussels sprouts already, you'll love this.  They even smell really good when they're in the oven.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Serves 6

1 ½ pounds small Brussels sprouts

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Coarse salt for garnish, optional

Preheat oven to 400d.

Cut off the brown ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves.  Mix in a bowl with olive oil and a good sprinkling of salt and pepper.  Spread them out in a sheet pan and roast for 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until crisp and browned on the outside and tender on the inside.  Sprinkle with coarse salt (or more regular salt) and serve immediately.