Skinny Shrimp Scampi

I've had a recent obsession with shrimp lately and I've made it about every possible way.  HOWEVER! It dawned on my today that I've missed one of the most iconic shrimp dishes of all - shrimp scampi!

Traditional shrimp scampi can have up to a half stick of butter in a supposedly 'light' sauce.  Now trust me, I love butter and the big flavors that come with it, but I (along with the rest of the world) am trying to eat a little healthier especially with beach season coming up. This healthy twist on traditional shrimp scampi not only takes basically no time to make, but it cuts nearly all of the butter out but it packs HUGE flavor that will make even the pickiest pallet jump for joy.  The recipe below is for two but I nearly ate all of it myself because it's that good!  Enjoy!

Skinny Shrimp Scampi

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 12 minutes

1/2 pound of raw shrimp, deveined and tail-off
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/8 cup dried, chopped parsley
1/4 cup white wine (I used pinot grigio)
1/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/8 cup lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp fresh cracked pepper
1/3 tbsp unsalted butter

Preheat your oven to 200 and place an oven-safe plate in the oven.

Heat the olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat.  When hot, add in the shrimp and sautee for 3-4 minutes just until pink.  Add in the garlic and cook for about 30-45 seconds - basically until you can really smell the garlic.  Transfer the shrimp to the plate that's been warming in the oven and return to the oven to keep warm.

Add the parsley, wine, chicken broth, lemon juice, salt and pepper to the same pan that the shrimp was cooked in.  Use a wooden spoon to scrape up the shrimp bits from the bottom of the pan and mix in with the other ingredients.  Bring the sauce to a simmer and let it reduce by about half - about 6-8 minutes.  Right before you remove the sauce, mix in the butter until fully melted.

Lay the shrimp over whole grain pasta and spoon the sauce on top.  Voila!

Per Serving:
Calories: 186 | Carbs: 8 | Fat: 8 | Protein: 23

So Worth The Anticipation...

After weeks of waiting, my much anticipation birthday present arrived this week.  My parents are exceptional birthday present selectors (i.e. new UGG boots, jewelry, etc.) and this year they really out did themselves.  As you may have guessed, I LOVE my kitchen accessories and I was probably the only 20 year old alive who was uber pumped when I got my first stand mixer for Christmas (KitchenAid Artisan Mixer in Clementine!)

This year, I got a beautiful 4 quart, All-Clad Saute and Simmer Stainless Steel Pan.   OMG BEAUTIFUL!!!  Take this combined with my new Cuisinart food processor that I got for Christmas and I was in culinary gift heaven this holiday season!

So of course, the natural question that popped in my mind as soon as I opened it was, "What do I make first?"  Well for the past few months I've really had a hankering for coq au vin, and this pan would make it absolutely perfectly.  So I developed a weeknight coq au vin recipe for you all!  It took about 2 hours from start to finish, but really about 90% of the time, it just has to cook on the stove so you can do your yoga DVDs or something productive (or not) in the meantime!  Here's the recipe; hope you enjoy!!

xoxo Betty

Easy Coq au Vin

6 strips of bacon

3 large chicken breasts - cut in half

1/4 cup flour

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 onion - rough chop into bite size pieces

4 carrots - peeled, cut into 1/2" pieces

1 pack of pre-sliced mushrooms

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 bottle good pinot noir

1 tsp thyme

2 tsp herbes de provence

salt and pepper

In large, deep saute pan or dutch oven, fry the bacon until crispy.  Remove and let drain on a paper towel.  Coat the chicken in flour and fry in the bacon fat (in batches, if needed) to brown on all sides. While bacon and chicken are working - chop your produce - it saves on prep time!

Remove the chicken from the pan, and use the remaining fat to saute the garlic, onion, carrots, and mushrooms until soft, about 3-5 minutes.  Add the wine and chicken broth to deglaze the pan and mix well to get the drippings from the bottom of the pan.  Stir in the herbs and salt to taste.  Once well mixed, return the chicken to the pan.  Cover and simmer for an hour and a half.  Remove the lid and let simmer for 15 minutes to help reduce the sauce.  Reseason with salt and pepper if necessary.  If you like a thicker sauce, add a tablespoon of cornstarch to help thicken.  Crumble the bacon and serve over the chicken.  Enjoy!

I served with a piece of french baguette from the store and I roasted some potatoes with herbes de provence.  Super easy meal and I only had to wash 1 pan and a baking sheet! 

Presenting: My New Year's Resolutions

I've seen about a million facebook posts and tweets about how people thought 2010 was horrible, but quite frankly, I thought it was a great year.  I started a new job, moved to a new town, made a bunch of new friends and rekindled some old friendships, and had a whole lot of fun.  So when I think about what 2011 has to bring, I can't help but get pretty excited. Here's what I already have lined up for this year: a trip to NC so see my friend Kyle from college, a possible Mexico trip with the family, a bazillion weddings for friends, making my maid of honor speech at my sister's wedding, DC Diva games(!!!), and of course, Murphy's nights with my besties :)


So with all this excitement in mind, I have decided on my (drum roll, please) Top New Year's Resolutions:

1. Read at least one book per month - for either work or pleasure
2. Begin my grad school quest - ultimate goal is to start classes in fall 2012, but all the school selection has to be done this year
3. Drop one to two sizes - I lost one size in 2010, so maybe one more so I'm looking (more) fabulous
4. Discover which fast food restaurant has the largest dipping sauce (completed thanks to the wonderful officers of the USSS - they're all equal at 1 oz each)
5. Complete a half or full marathon - ideally the 2011 Marine Corps Marathon

 So if all of the above fail - which is impossible because I've already completed one - I at least hope to have a fantastic year and have a lot of fun. 

Happy New Year to everyone!  I hope it's a great one!

Ringing In The New Year

So it's that time of year again when it's time to post some resolutions and pretend to stick to them.   But before we can do that, we must ring in the new year!  Normally, I would prefer some crazy night out, but this year I'm going low-key and having a few friends over for games and, of course, food!   

Being born and raised in a strong German/Irish household, we of course at pork and sauerkraut every New Year's Eve.  However, due to some taste-challenged friends of mine (Alison), I'm axing the sauerkraut (I'll make it to morrow) and making up a new menu that will be sure to please!  

I recently received the 'Cook This, Not That' cookbook and I love it!  When I cook, I like to use recipes I find and then tweek them to make them my own.  So tonight I'm letting a glaze from the book inspire me to create a great meal for my friends!  Here's the menu: balsamic-honey glazed pork chops, rosemary mashed potatoes, and sauteed garlic green beans.  Recipes below! 

Enjoy and Happy New Year!!

Balsamic-Honey Glazed Pork Chops, Rosemary Mashed Potatoes, & Sauteed Garlic Green Beans

Balsamic-Honey Glazed Pork Chops

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp rosemary (dried or fresh)
1/8 tsp chili powder
4 pork chops
salt and pepper

Cook the vinegar, butter, honey, rosemary, and chili powder over medium-low heat until the butter melts and it comes to a low boil (slight bubble).  Remove from heat.  Set aside 2 Tbsp of the glaze.  Season the pork chops with salt and pepper and coat with the remaining glaze.  Grill for 3-4 minutes on each side, brush with the reserved glaze and serve!

Rosemary Mashed Potatoes


6 medium potatoes (I'm using red-skin, but whatever you have)
1/2 cup milk (I like at least 1%, skim is too thin)
1 sprig rosemary
4 Tbsp butter
salt

Peel and cut potatoes into 1" cubes.  Boil in salted water for about 10-15 minutes or until fork tender.  While they're boiling, heat milk and rosemary in a separate saucepan to infuse the flavor.  Remove the rosemary sprig from the milk.  Use a hand mixer to mash the potatoes, butter, and half the milk.  Add more milk as needed to reach desired consistency.  And salt to taste.


Sauteed Green Beans


2 cans no-salt added green beans
2 cloves garlic, fine chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil

Heat  olive oil in saute pan over medium heat, add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Add green beans and cook until heated thoroughly . 

My Season of Receiving

For all of us who are unlucky enough to be born close Christmas/Hannukah (thanks, Mom and Dad), you know that you have to think long and hard about what you ask for because there's no short wait between present times.  I mean, let's say your birthday is in May -  well if you decide that new blender you got to Christmas isn't so cool, you only have a few months to wait until you get another cool gift.  But us December kids, have to wait the whole 12 months and then try to come up with 2 holidays worth of gifts that will be cool all year round!

Don't judge - It's not as easy at is seems.

As December draws near, I'm starting to create my annual present power point that will be distributed to my loving family so they can pick out some cool things that I will enjoy.  When I was younger the list would easily top 50 slides, but I find the older and more independent I get, the list is dwindling and half of it is gift cards for Lowe's or something practical like furniture (ack! My younger self is cringing at this thought).  So I got to thinking, what is something practical and yet not boring and grown up? A pole.




Yes, that's right.  I am requesting a pole this year.  Here's my reasoning:

 

• It's a fantastic workout
• Promotes muscle toning
• You can be the only person on the block with their own pole
• It's a conversation starter
• And the obvious: the current man-friend will love it

So if all else fails and Santa doesn't come through with my iPad, side-board table, or the latest KA stand-mixer attachment, I totally want the pole.

Why Do People Only Want What They Can't Have?

 It can be a $900 pair of Christian Louboutin pumps on a Payless budget, cannoli when you're dieting, or the super hot guy that turned you down after a few months of fun (rude), but either way, we always seem to want things that we can't have.

(side note - I like to think of the pumps as the winner in this situation because 1) they're a great investment 2) they provide a leg work out after you eat cannoli and 3) they may help with getting attention from the aforementioned guy).

Back to the question at hand.  Women go to incredible lengths to regain the attention of a guy who deep down we know isn't even worth our time.  We can turn down numerous guys (after they buy us drinks, of course) but we can never seem to forget the one guy who turned us down.  We show up places where we think/know he'll be and then act surprised to see him when he says 'hi'.  We stalk on facebook to see who's posting on his wall, or watch his tweets for any shred of evidence that he's still into us.  And for what?  So we can eventually see him in pictures with a new girl or be down on ourselves because said new girl is super pretty? -  It's not even that she's all that pretty but the drinks we previously accepted from other guys, make her prettier and us jealous.

After we've had enough of torturing ourselves, we of course head home for the night while fighting back a few tears because we've convinced ourselves that tonight was an epic fail.  Sure we got attention from lots of other guys, including Mr. Wrong's BFF, but we didn't get the attention from HIM.

When I was in college, my sorority had a great cheer that I think is perfect for this situation -

Here's to the men that we love,
Here's to the men that love us,
But the men that we love,
Will never love us,
So fuck all the men and here's to us.

So ladies - next time you feel like pulling up his facebook page or showing up places you know he'll be - DON'T!  Call up your best girl friends, get dressed up, and go have a night on the town.  And if he somehow shows up where you are (not the other way around - don't be a stalker) at least you look hot, and you're having fun with the greatest support system there is.  Besides - If you really want to have something you can't have, opt for the cannoli and work it off tomorrow.  It'll be way worth it!

xoxo - Betty