Whole30 Tom Kha, or Thai Coconut Shrimp Soup!

This recipe is delicious (if I do say so myself) and I made it several times during my Whole30 with both chicken and shrimp.  Let's face it, I love shrimp and I will always choose shrimp over chicken when I have the choice, unless I can have both!  And to be clear, you can totally have both, if you want to.

What you'll need:

• 1 lb. shrimp peeled and deveined
• 1 leek (or an onion if you don't have one), chopped.  It's important to discard the tough outer leaves and tops of leeks, slice them down the middle and wash thoroughly, because they tend to be sandy.
• 1 jalapeno, minced
• 1 knob of ginger (about a 1 inch piece), minced.  
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• (optional) 2 cups green beans, cut into bite-size pieces.  Alternatively or additionally you can use zucchini, or yellow squash or even potatoes, whatever you like!  It's your soup!
• 1 T coconut oil (for sauteing the veggies)
• 1 can coconut milk
• 4 - 6 cups stock (or water if you don't have any).  Use less stock if you want the soup to be thicker and heartier, more if you want to stretch it further.
• salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.
• one lime (zest goes in the soup and then you can use slices for garnish)
• cilantro for garnish
• hot sauce of your choice for garnish

Looks like Michigan!

Start with your coconut oil over medium heat.  Add your leeks and saute until they begin to look translucent.

Add your mushrooms, ginger and jalapeno, saute until mushrooms release their moisture.

Add your coconut milk, stock, and salt/pepper/red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer.

Add your other veggies (in this case, green beans) and your lime zest.  Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the veggies are as cooked as you would like.

Add your shrimp the very last thing, they will cook in just a minute or so.  Once the shrimp have turned pink and are opaque, you're done!  Note: if you are adding raw chicken to the soup, put it in at the same time as the veggies, cut into bite-size pieces, it should all finish about the same time.  If you're adding cooked chicken, add it at the end when you put the shrimp in, you just want it to be hot!

Garnish with lime juice, cilantro and hot sauce (but check your spice level first, I don't want you dying from the heat)!

This soup keeps pretty nicely in the fridge for multiple meals, especially if you don't cook the heck out of the veggies the first time around, so be aware and stay on the undercooked side of things in terms of your vegetables!

Shrimpstock. Groovy, man.

After my Tony Award feast, I decided to use the leftover shells to make shrimp stock!

What you'll need:

• 1-2 pounds worth of shrimp peels/heads (meaning 1-2 pounds of shrimp, then use the shells.  It's possible to use raw or cooked shells, though if you already boiled the shells once, they'll be less flavorful the second time around.)
• 3 celery stalks (or a celery butt, like I used)
• 1 onion
• 1 lemon
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• about 12 peppercorns and salt to taste

Put everything into the stock pot and cover with water.   I leave the skin on the onion and everything, since I'll just be straining it out at the end.  Bring to a low simmer and cook for about 3 hours.

Let the stock cool and then strain it through a fine mesh strainer.

Put the stock into small containers and then put in the freezer to be used whenever it's handy!  It's really light and the lemon brings a real brightness to stock.

One simply must have shrimp cocktail when watching the Tonys!

 

I love shrimp.  It's true.  And my very favorite way to enjoy them is prepared simply with some cocktail sauce. So in preparation for the Tony awards this past Sunday, that's exactly what I did (with a little twist, of course)!

This was my favorite part of the night. She's a national treasure, truly. And her Billie Holiday performance is spot on.

Don't buy cocktail sauce, for real.  It's SUPER easy to make.  You can add more flavors (like hot sauce or garlic) if you'd like, but this tastes very clean.

What you'll need:

• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 T horseradish (or more if you like the spice)
• 1 t Worcestershire sauce
• 1 T lemon juice

 

Mix all the ingredients together in a dish and let it sit for awhile for the flavors to marry.  That's it!

On Sunday night, I actually decided to broil my shrimp in the oven, rather than boiling them.  I mostly didn't want to wash my big stock pot, so I lightly covered the (defrosted) shrimp with olive oil and a little Old Bay seasoning (obviously).  These shrimp still had their shells on, but I seasoned them up, shells and all and threw them in a preheated oven with the broiler on high. 

After about 2 minutes, I flipped the shrimp, and then about a minute or two later I took them out of the oven and put them in a bowl of ice to stop the cooking process.  It's really easy to overcook shrimp, and that's when they get rubbery and gross.

After they had cooled, I threw them in a bowl surrounding the cocktail sauce and brought an extra bowl for the shells (I used those later, so stay tuned).

I pulled out a bottle of prosecco and my fancy champagne flutes and I was ready for an awards show!

If you're feeling fancy, add about 1 oz. of Chambord to your champagne to make a beautiful (and delicious) Kir Royale.  It makes a girl feel downright glamorous!

Grilled shrimp and avocado salsa! Or salad? Salsa?

Sometimes I get a hankering.  This weekend, it was for shrimp. I could not get the idea of a shrimp dinner out of my mind.

Ever since I was little, I've loved shrimp (actually shellfish in general, but shrimp in particular).  When I was about 8, my grandma and I were shopping for ingredients to make a recipe from my very first cook book and I suggested we get a pound of shrimp to snack on while we cooked.  It was a genius plan and of course, we did!

I've been trying to figure out exactly what to do with the shrimp in my freezer.  I love a nice shrimp cocktail, or scampi, a shrimp fra diavolo, but the idea that really sparked was to do a play on a ceviche. Obviously, with frozen shrimp, I wouldn't attempt a raw ceviche, but I thought I could attain the same flavors and I ended up pretty happy with the results!

Let's pretend I remembered to put corn and cotija cheese in this photo.

Here's what you'll need:

Shrimp, peeled and deveined, with or without tails.  I had about 1/2 pound here.
An avocado
1 ear of corn or 1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
A tomato (or a handful of cherry tomatoes, if you prefer less juice)
A lime
1/2 of an onion, diced
1/2 jalapeno, diced
1 tsp olive oil
Cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper
Cilantro to taste (I used about 1/4 cup or so)
Cotija cheese (optional)

Start by dicing your veggies, the tomato, the jalapeno, the onion, the cilantro and the avocado.  I wanted big leaves of cilantro in mine, but you, you can do whatever floats your boat.

 

Then squeeze the juice of 1 lime over the whole shebang.  Now, the quantity of lime juice in each lime varies, so feel free to put in as much lime juice as you want.The season with salt, pepper and cayenne if you can stand the heat!

 When you chop your jalapeno, cut out the seeds and white pith from the inside to cut down on the spiciness.

Dice your jalapeno pretty finely, then make sure to wash your knife, cutting board and hands with soapy water.  Don't pull an Amanda and touch your face with your jalapeno hand. 

I like to cut my avocados in the skin and then scoop them out with a spoon.  I thought everyone knew this trick, until I saw a friend of mine trying to peel a ripe avocado. 

 Defrost your shrimp, then season with the olive oil, salt, pepper, and cayenne if you want a little kick. This would also be a great place to use some achiote paste, but alas, I did not have any. Next time!

You only need to grill the shrimp for about 60-90 seconds on each side.  Once they are firm and opaque, take them off the heat, they'll continue to cook a little once they're off. 

Look at them! Gorgeous!

This was the precise moment I decided to put corn in here too.  I just felt like it would add some bulk and a pop of color.  I threw my corn in the same grill pan the shrimp had just left and pan fried it for about 60 seconds, just enough to defrost the corn. 

I threw the corn in and stirred everything up while I waited for the the shrimp to cool. 

Then I mixed the shrimp in as well, I contemplated cutting them up into smaller pieces, and I definitely would have if I had intended to eat the salsa with chips, but this batch was just headed straight down the hatch!

I added a little crumble of cotija cheese right over the top and it was perfect!  A perfect lunch on a Sunday afternoon!