Israeli Couscous with Shrimp and Summer Vegetables

Tomatoes, zucchini and corn. Tomatoes, Zucchini and Corn. TOMATOES, ZUCCHINI, and CORN! Yes, it's that time of year and whether you are a gardener, a CSA recipient or just an average shopper who loves seasonal goods, you are swimming in them. That's fine, in a few weeks you'll start to miss them and by mid-winter you'll be dreaming of them.  That's because there is nothing like the taste of these veggies (and fruit) in the heart of summer.  Today's recipe makes the most of these fresh flavors.

One of my favorite parts of this dish is the use of fresh corn. It's a method used in another recipe here on my blog, Pappardelle with Corn and Tomatoes.  Parboil the corn, slice it off the cob and mix it into the recipe.  It also utilizes a bit of the water used to boil the corn, so don't dump it out.  I love how the sweetness of the fresh corn permeates the entire dish.

You could make this dish with regular couscous or even any type of pasta you like, but if you haven't gotten into Israeli couscous, you've got to give it a try.  The small pearl sized balls of pasta are a favorite in our household.

Israeli Couscous with Shrimp and Summer Vegetables
Serves 3

3 ears corn
olive oil
1 lb extra large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/3 cup onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup reserved corn water
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 large zucchini, quartered and sliced
1 1/2 cup Israeli couscous
3 Roma tomatoes (or 2 regular), chopped
Kosher salt and pepper

Boil corn in a large of water for 5 minutes. Remove corn and set aside to cool.  Once cool, cut the corn off the cob. Reserve some of the water for use in the recipe.

In a large saute pan, in 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat, cook onion until slightly soft. Add 2 cloves pressed garlic and saute 1 minute longer.  Add the wine, broth and 1/4 cup reserved corn water. Bring to a boil and add the zucchini and corn, make sure to bring the liquid back to boil and then add the couscous.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, cover and simmer another 3 minutes.

Once the couscous is simmering, in a separate pan heat 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium high.  Add the shrimp and 1 pressed clove of garlic then quickly saute until the shrimp begins to curl. Empty the contents of the shrimp saute pan into the couscous mixture, add salt and pepper to taste.  Stir to mix, add a few teaspoons of reserved corn water if needed.  Cover simmer a minute or so longer, remove from heat and let set for 5 minutes before serving.

My Favorite Lasagna

Nothing says comfort food like lasagna, and nothing lasts for several meals like a nice big lasagna. In fact doesn't that just bring more comfort knowing that dinner is ready for more than one night.  I love lasagna and even though it may seem like a production, it's really quite easy and well worth the effort.

One of the most important factors is the sauce, please don't waste your time using sauce from a jar.  This sauce is easy enough to throw together and will make all the difference. In fact, double the sauce recipe and put some away in the freezer for a quick pasta dinner on a lazy night.  I actually did it the other way around.  I made a double batch of sauce a night or two earlier and then decided to use the rest for this lasagna. It came together super fast and lasted for several days.


My Favorite Lasagna

Sauce

1 lb ground beef

1 T olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

1 green pepper, chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 - 32 ounce cans crushed tomatoes

¼ cup red wine

20 or so basil leaves, cut into slivers

salt and pepper

2 T. Honey

1 lb lasagna noodles, cooked

salt

Ricotta Mixture

32 ounces part skim ricotta

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

16 oz whole milk mozzarella, 12-13 ounces cut into small chunks, the rest shredded and reserved for later

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

   

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare large pan with cooking spray.  Start with the sauce.  Brown ground beef in olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Once browned add onions and saute for 2-3 minutes, then add mushrooms, green pepper and garlic.  Saute for about 5-8 minutes. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and allow it to simmer while preparing the ingredients for the other layers.

Cook pasta in salted water according to the directions on the package. Drain and set aside in cool water until needed.

In a large bowl, mix the ricotta mixture ingredients.

Assemble lasagna:  pour about 1 cup or so of sauce in the bottom the pan.  Then line the bottom with 4-5 noodles.  Top with 1/3 of the ricotta mixture. Add a layer of the sauce. Repeat noodles, ricotta and sauce 2 more times.  Top with the remaining noodles and then the rest of the sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until bubbly.  The pan I use is a huge a Polish stoneware pan and it takes longer to bake in this pan than others, so start checking at 40 minutes if using a glass or aluminum pan.  Once the lasagna is nice and bubbly, remove foil and sprinkle the reserved mozzarella on top.  Return to the oven for a few minutes for the cheese to melt.  Allow the lasagna to set for at least 15-30 minutes before slicing.

Asian Slow-Cooked Steak

Wow, we had a good hot streak going for awhile. When it's that hot, one of the last things you want to do is get in the kitchen and do a lot of cooking.  Okay not me, I'll crank up the A/C and turn on the oven. I know it's not helping my carbon footprint, but I try and make up for my A/C usage in other ways. Anyway this is about you. I know you don't want to cook. The problem is you still need to eat. That's where the slow cooker comes into to play.  Spend five minutes or so getting this dish prepped early in the day, and then at dinner time put on a veggie to steam and a pot of rice and you are done. It doesn't even feel like you did that much work, because you didn't.

One of the keys to this dish is the browning process.  There is no way to accomplish this in the slow cooker. If you throw it all in and walk away, the flavors are good and it will be a fine dish. But take the few minutes to brown the meat and caramelize the onions and it will be an awesome dish.

This is what I had on hand at the time, but if you want to kick it up a notch add some mushrooms with the onions and some ginger with the garlic. Ooh and maybe some chilies.

Asian Slow-Cooked Steak

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 flap steak also known as butchers cut
kosher salt and pepper
1 small onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
juice from 1 lime
cooked jasmine rice

Heat the oil in a skillet. When melted, brown the steak on both sides, season with salt and pepper to taste.  Move the steak to the slow cooker.  Add the onions to the pan and saute for 2-3 minutes, add the garlic, saute another 30 seconds and then remove the pan from the heat. Add the brown sugar and stir as it dissolves, then add the soy sauce.  Pour the sauce over the steak in the slow cooker then squeeze the lime juice over the top.

Cook on low for 4-5 hours. Serve over jasmine rice.

Fettuccini with Shrimp and Fresh Tomatoes

Ah, it's nice to be back!  It's been vacation time for our household, and I have been out so much I haven't had time to have fun in the kitchen.  Last week we were at the beach for 9 days.  Yes I cooked there, but I hate cooking in the vacation rental kitchens, it's absolutely no fun. There are weird pots and none of my handy kitchen gadgets. On vacation I revert to a method cooking that I rarely employ at home.  I try to use as few ingredients as possible, do very little chopping and creating, and even rely on processed foods.  Yes, that includes jar pasta sauce, oh how far we can sink for convenience. I did bring a few things like a zip lock bag with my homemade oven fried chicken coating and some fresh corn from my CSA box. That was a good easy meal; I'll need to think about more home pre-prep, next time.

Anyway, we are back and just in time because it's Tomato season!  Nothing says summer like a fresh tomato and this week's CSA box had tons.  There were gorgeous large red slicing tomatoes, cute multicolored cherry tomatoes, and a huge batch of yellow plum tomatoes.  For this recipe you could any of them, but I decided on a mix of the red and yellow tomatoes. There were also onions, basil and zucchini in the box so I added them to the party.

This recipe, in some ways is a take off of Pappardelle with Corn and Tomatoes, I like how the wine and veggie broth are added to make the sauce. I do this often, I find a method or mix that works then I change it around to fit different ingredients, no need to recreate the wheel every time I cook something new.

 Fettuccini with Shrimp and Fresh Tomatoes

2 teaspoons olive oil
5 tablespoons butter
1 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined
12 ounces Fettuccini
1 large zucchini, quartered and sliced thin
¼ Vidalia onion, sliced thin
4-5 vine ripe tomatoes, cut into cubes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons basil, chopped
kosher salt
black pepper

In large wok or skillet melt 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 teaspoon olive oil.  Add the shrimp and sauté until the shrimp turn pink.  Remove from pan and set aside.

Cook the pasta as the package directs. Meanwhile

Over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and the rest of the olive oil in the same pan. Add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes until the onion begins to soften.  Add the zucchini and cook 3-4 minutes longer.  Add the tomatoes, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 pepper, cook for 3-4 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute.  Add the wine and reduce for 5 minutes.

Add the shrimp and the broth to the skillet and allow it to simmer for 1 minute.  Add the pasta, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the remaining butter to the skillet.  Stir and add more broth if needed to help combine the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with the basil.