Teriyaki Shrimp & Quinoa Bowls

I must admit, I've been on a kick lately -- a teriyaki one. I found an incredible "Island Soyaki" bottled sauce at Trader Joe's this past week that continually rocks my world -- all for $2.99. In case you're curious, it's got all the goodness of pineapple juice, soy sauce, sesame seeds, and teriyaki sauce all in one -- it tastes INCREDIBLE. But enough of my splurge, for this dish, any teriyaki-style sauce will do -- just make sure you opt for the low-sodium variety. Trust me, it tastes just as good and you're doing your body a favor. The lightly cooked sugar snap peas only cost $1.99 and are chock full of vitamins. If you don't have quinoa, brown rice is a good alternative since it also has nutrients like fiber to keep you full -- and with microwaveable varieties available now (like Uncle Ben's 90-second rice) you have no excuse. Enjoy!

Servings: 4

What You'll Need:

• 1 lb of raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
• You can get these from your grocery store's seafood section. Sometimes they come frozen in a bag (that's fine) but if you'd like to make these right away, get them fresh from the seafood attendant. Some stores even have their attendants peel and devein them for you if you ask (Whole Foods did this; all I had to do was shop around and come back in 10 minutes to pick it up.)
• In case you were wondering, deveining shrimp means the removal of its veins. Sounds kind of stupid until you realize that the digestive tract of the shrimp (yes, sometimes it's full) is usually left in there unless you request them deveined. Don't believe me? Next time you buy raw shrimp, take one and look on the bottom of its belly. See that big brown line to the tail? Next time, give a sh*t and speak up :)
• Pinch of salt & pepper
• Dash of Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup low-sodium teriyaki sauce
• Cooking spray
• 1 bag fresh sugar snap peas
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa

The Step-by-Step

1. Heat a small pot of water.
2. When it starts to boil, add quinoa, stir, and turn down heat to medium. Cover and let cook for about 30 minutes.
3. In the meantime, wash your hands and get to work on the shrimp:
4. Place shrimp in a bowl, sprinkle with salt & pepper, and dash a little bit of olive oil on top. Toss the shrimp with your hands.
5. Wash your hands again.
6. Take each sugar snap pea and cut in half diagonally (just because this looks prettier/more impressive.)
7. Spray a medium-sized skillet or frying pan with cooking spray. Put on stove, and add shrimp when pan has had the chance to heat up (about a minute.)
8. Wait about 3 minutes before stirring the shrimp -- this'll give it a nice sear.
9. Stir in the sugar snap peas, and lower the heat.
10. After about 3 more minutes, add in the teriyaki sauce.
11. To serve, take 1/4 of the cooked quinoa and place on a plate. Top it with some of the shrimp/pea mixture.
12. Enjoy!

You'll thank me later for this one.

xoxo n

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did you know?

Quinoa costs $1.99 per bag at Whole Foods, and is one of the top natural sources of protein? Yea, okay. Knowledge is Power! Make the switch today!

#WWHD: Spicy Shrimp Tacos w/ an Avocado Lime Coleslaw

Maybe it's the Texan in me, but I just can't get over the classic (& delicious) versatility of the taco. I mean, think about it -- there are so many wonderful combinations you can make with whatever you have -- not to mention, a bag of tortillas is pretty much the cheapest thing EVER at the grocery store. My bag of corn tortillas used in this recipe cost me $1.99 and the bag had 18 tortillas. Think about it, that's literally $0.11 per taco. What?

My recipe takes a basic shrimp taco and adds a cool element to it -- making a slaw from cabbage, avocado, and lime. This combination turns into a light, refreshing flavor, that also helps you up your veggie intake! Shrimp can be seasoned like below, or can be bought already cooked/seasoned at the grocery store! Seriously, you can't do any better on a work night, which is why I immediately thought to include it in #WWHD.

Servings: 2 servings of 2 tacos (bag it up for tomorrow's lunch!)

What You'll Need:

• 4 corn tortillas
• Flour tortillas are fine if you have them, but corn tortillas have less calories, and in my opinion, they give you more of that "south of the border" flavor!
• 1 lb medium shrimp (about 16 shrimp)
• 1/4 a red cabbage
• 1/4 an avocado
• Juice of 1 lime
• Salt/Pepper/Old Bay seasoning
• Any cajun seasoning will work!
• If you have seasoning salt (like Lawry's brand), that can sub in for the salt and the Old Bay
• Medium Skillet/Cooking Spray
• OPTIONAL: Garlic Powder & Onion Powder
• OPTIONAL: Oven

The Step-by-Step:

1. In a small bowl, take shrimp and mix with a dash of salt, pepper, and the Old Bay. Set aside.
2. Spray the cooking spray onto the small pan, and heat on the stove. Add shrimp, and let cook for about 5 minutes, stirring. When the shrimp are no longer grey/see-through, they're done. 
3. Slice the cabbage into small slices and put in a small bowl (NOT the bowl that had the raw shrimp in it.)
4. Take the avocado & juice, and blend in a blender until it's all liquid.
5. Take the avocado juice mixture and pour over cabbage. Mix together with your hands and let sit for 5 minutes.
6. In the meantime, take the tortillas and place in the oven. Heat at 350 degrees F for 5 minutes. (If you don't have access to an oven, you can heat them on the stove! Just use cooking spray and heat on a skillet for 30seconds a side!)
7. Assemble the taco by adding the shrimp first, then topping with some slaw. If you have extra avocado, add that on top (get your healthy fats on!)

See -- easy. Do I hear an "Andale Andale, ay, ay, ay"....?

xoxo n

For more info about the #WWHD feature, please see the below post, or head on over to The Gym Bag Diaries!

Fire Salad w/ Shrimp, Blackberries & Goat Cheese

In the few days I've been in Arlington (see a few posts back,) I've had the wonderful opportunity (read: excuse) to try out the local dining scene. Luckily, as I've discovered, I live close to this incredibly local eatery named FireWorks Pizza. They have amazing pizza varieties (the first time Austin tried balsamic glaze,) spicy-glazed wings, drinks, and most importantly in my experience -- salad. Yup, I said it -- salad. At a pizzeria. (back story: Austin & I were going to a movie later and I was saving myself for the yummy popcorn.) Anyways, I tried my hand at a salad with goat cheese, candied pecans, and blackberries. It was DELICIOUS! I didn't even feel like I was "eating what I was supposed to eat." So delicious in fact, I decided to make my own. My version doesn't have pecans or the dressing they made, but I used a plain olive oil to deliver the healthy omega-3 fats my body craves to perform at it's best.

Servings: 1

What You'll Need:

• 5 medium shrimp (raw, or frozen)
• Cooking spray
• A pinch each of Salt/Pepper
• Some good ol' Old Bay
• 2 cups salad mix (about half the bag)
• 2 tbsp Goat Cheese crumbles (a container is about $4)
• About a handful of blackberries
• If you don't have blackberries, blueberries or strawberries (even green apple chunks!) work perfectly instead!
• About 1 tbsp olive oil

The Step-by-Step:

1. Put the shrimp and seasoning in a bowl. Mix together well with your hands. Let sit in fridge for 10 minutes.
2. Spray a small pan with cooking spray. Turn on the stove to medium heat and add shrimp to pan. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring every now and then until shrimp is no longer see-through. Turn off heat.
3. Place salad mix on plate (or bowl.) Add goat cheese and blackberries, then shrimp.
4. Drizzle with some olive oil, and sprinkle just a little more salt & pepper on until it tastes right to you.
5. Enjoy!

xoxo n

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A word on shrimp

When you hear bodybuilders talk about eating protein, you'll probably hear them talk about how much chicken breast they eat. But I beg to differ -- shrimp is actually one of the most amazing proteins there are -- in my opinion -- especially if you're trying to get a big bang for your calorie buck. A raw medium-sized shrimp is about 7 calories -- yes, SEVEN. So, even though I am a fan of chicken, shrimp is a nice treat for me! If you are pressed for time, some seafood sections at the grocery store offer it already cooked, and sometimes already seasoned too! Literally, all you would have to do is take it out of the container and put it on your salad!

Green Skewers: Cilantro-Marinated Shrimp

A couple nights ago I was curled up on my couch -- picture this -- a yankee candle "harvest" candle burning, my feet propped, ready for fall -- when I cracked open one of the newest additions to my cookbook collection, Vegetable Love by Barbara Kafka. "Cilantro Marinated Shrimp" was one of the recipes that caught my eye first. You better believe -- the first opportunity I had to run to the market and get some fresh cilantro -- well, I took it. How did this happen?

I know I didn't follow Barbara's recipe exactly, because I didn't remember it when I was cooking. All I cared about was marinating some shrimp in some cilantro and spicing it up, and in that moment of inspiration, the following "green skewers" were born. Enjoy.

Servings: 6 Large Skewers

What You'll Need:

• 1 pound medium sized shrimp
• 1/2 a bunch of fresh cilantro
• 2 cloves garlic (or 1 tbsp garlic powder)
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tbsp Plain Yogurt
• Salt/Pepper
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 1/2 a large zucchini, cut into strips
• 6 Wooden Skewers (I got a pack of 50 from Giant for $2 and its lasted me 2 years)
• Small blender
• Cooking Spray/Flat Pan/Oven

The Step-by-Step:

1. In a blender, combine olive oil, yogurt, garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Tear off the top half of the cilantro and add into the blender. Blend until you have a green sauce.
2. Put the shrimp in a bowl and pour in the cilantro sauce. Toss with your hands until all of the shrimp are well coated. Put the bowl in the refrigerator, and let the shrimp marinate.
3. After the shrimp has been in the fridge for at least an hour (up to overnight,) preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray pan with cooking spray.
4. Take the bowl out of the refrigerator and toss again with your hands, to make sure the sauce coats the shrimp.
5. Place a shrimp, pepper strip, and zucchini piece on each skewer. Repeat, then top the skewer with another shrimp. Place on pan.
6. Keep using skewers until all the shrimp are used up.
7. Roast the skewers for 15 minutes, then turn up the oven to 450 degrees for 5 minutes (or the "broil" setting for 3 minutes)
8. Optional: Rip up a few fresh cilantro leaves and sprinkle over the skewers for presentation.

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I'm so grateful for Barbara Kafka.

xoxo n