Linguine with White Clam Sauce

This is SO good. It's so simple but very flavorful. It's nice to find good, simple dishes that have some seafood in them. This is a very healthy recipe that will make the whole family wanting more!

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 pound linguine
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 medium onion
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• 4-5 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped (about 2 tablespoons)
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 cup white grape juice
• 1 can whole baby clams (15 ounces), with their juice
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 
  

PREPARATION

Put a large pot of water over high heat. When water boils, add salt and pasta. Cook until slightly underdone, about 6-7 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil, garlic, onion and red pepper flakes. Cook for about 2 min then add thyme, oregano and juice. Simmer to reduce, about one minute. Stir in clams with their juice and the lemon zest.

Drain pasta, add to skillet and toss with sauce. Cook 2-3 minutes until pasta is al dente and has absorbed some flavor. Add parsley, salt and pepper. Serve with crusty bread for mopping up remaining juices

Enjoy!!

-Christy

Tuna Ball

Wow! It seems like forever since I have posted something on here. Probably because it has been. My hubby and I have made it across the country to Maryland where we will spend the summer. Because of traveling and unpacking and getting settled in, it has been so hard to post a recipe--not to mention we don't have the internet yet so it is kind of difficult to post. Here is a quick and easy tuna ball recipe. It's great! Mama B makes it all the time when guests come over.

Ingredients
1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese
1 can of tuna, drained
1 bunch of green onions, sliced
2-3 drops of tabasco sauce
1 t. Worcestershire Sauce

Mix all the items together and refrigerate for a few hours before serving. Serve with your favorite cracker.

Enjoy !!
-Christy

Baked Haddock {dinner idea}

Sometimes all I need is an idea of what to make for dinner! I wanted to cook fish the other night, but didn't know what I wanted to pair it with. This is what I came up with and thought I'd share so that you busy ladies and gents out there don't have to rack your brains like I used to go at about 4pm every evening!

Menu: Baked haddock (mine was frozen), steamed green beans, and sidekicks (any kind you prefer)

Yes simple and a little help from our knorr friends, but quick and hassle free.


Ingredients for Baked Haddock:

• 1/4 cup milk
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1.5 Tbs parmesan cheese
• 1/8 tsp ground dried thyme
• 4 pieces of haddock fillet
• 1.5 Tbs melted butter
• Lemon juice (optional)

1. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F.
2. Mix up the milk and salt in one bowl and the bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and thyme in another bowl.
3. Dip your thawed haddocks in the milk, then the bread crumb mixture. Place them in a glass baking dish. Drizzle with the melted butter.
4. Bake for 15 minutes, until the outside develops a nice crisp. Place them on a cookie rack for a few minutes to cool and to prevent soggy bottom.
5. Serve with green beans and sidekicks. Squeeze with lemon juice if you want!

**I found the recipe here, but found it was way too much for the haddock to dip in, and I threw most of it away. If you need more batter for larger haddock fillets, just use their recipe since it's tripled.

Enjoy!

Cathy

Creole Chicken and Shrimp Gumbo

I am FINALLY feeling pretty normal again and cooking! You have no idea how hard it was to start a food blog right when I got pregnant--well some of you may know. Yep, big news, I am pregnant! Food was not my best friend, nothing seemed appetizing to me, which is pretty much the worse thing ever, for serious. BUT now I'm back and loving food and cooking again. My amazing husband gets a break...he has been a trooper and cooking dinner almost every night while I would lock myself in a room where I could not smell anything, the joys :)

This dish was full of amazing flavors, and comfort food to it's finest. My 2 year old daughter just gobbled this all up like it was her job; and for all you mommas out there, nothing makes you happier than when you see your child eating your meal!

Ingredients: 

Served 4-6, takes about 1 hour total (35-40 minutes of that is downtime)

1.5 cups of rice

1/4 cup oil for frying

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 6-7 mushrooms, sliced (you can use a can)
• 1 cup cooked, chopped chicken breast meat
• 1 cup large shrimp, cleaned and cooked until just pink
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, with liquid
• 1 cup chicken stock or bouillon
• 1 tsp parsley (or 2 Tbs fresh)
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 to 1 tsp red chili pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you like it, I only put 1/4 tsp)
• 1 tsp thyme
• 
  

Directions

1. Cook the rice in 3 cups of salted water.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly (watch it carefully so it doesn't burn), for 5 minutes or until mixture is the color of a copper penny. Reduce heat to low and stir in bell pepper, onion, and mushrooms (if they are canned mushrooms, add them in step 2). Cook 10 to 15 minutes, or until tender, stirring occasionally.
3. Add chicken, chicken stock (or bouillon) tomatoes with green chile peppers, mushrooms, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and thyme. Stir together, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add cooked shrimp in the last 3 minutes to heat them up and to cook them fully.

Oh yes, enjoy this one on me!

Cathy

Shrimp and Asparagus Pasta

A beautiful hot day calls for a light and FRESH meal! The basil with the shrimp and asparagus are the perfect match for a spring (feels like summer) day.

This recipe is done in no time at all, I absolutely loved it and cannot wait to have it again. In my book, shrimp have to have a crunch, so does the asparagus. Do you have a preference?

Here it is folks: Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 package of linguine or spaghetti
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1 clove garlic
• 4 Tbs olive oil, separated
• 2 Tbs lemon juice (fresh if available)
• 2 Tbs cold water
• Salt to taste
• 1.5 lbs of fresh asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1 lbs large shrimp, cleaned and deveined (you can also use pre-cooked shrimp, just add the shrimp later so that they don't get soggy)
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

Directions:

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, and cook pasta according to package directions. Drain them and toss them in 1 Tsb olive oil.
2. In a food processor or blender, add basil, garlic, lemon juice, water, 2 Tbs olive oil, and 1/2 tsp salt until smooth. 
3. In another pot, add asparagus, and cook until tender crisp (don't over cook). Drain, and set aside.
4. In a large skillet, add 1 Tbs olive oil. Add shrimp, red pepper, and 1/4 tsp of sea salt. If the shrimp are not pre-cooked, cook for 5-6 minutes until pink (don't over cook). If they are pre-cooked, cook for about a minute to heat them up and to mix with the red pepper and salt.
5.  In a large bowl, toss pasta with basil mixture. Stir in shrimp and asparagus and toss again. 
6. Serve and enjoy!

Bon Appetit!

Cathy

Mediterranean tuna salad

This is a Momma B original, so you know it'll be good. I've been eating this for lunch for years! And every-time I love it even more. My husband, who is not a fish lover, loves having this for lunch. The red wine vinegar masks a lot of the fishy flavor that tuna usually has. This is one of my favorite keeper recipes.

• 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 Tbs red wine vinegar
• 2-9 ounce cans of tuna, drained
• 2 Tbs chopped black olives
• 2 Tbs finely chopped red bell pepper
• 2 Tbs sliced green onions

1. Mix up the mayo, oregano, and vinegar
2. Add the drained tuna, olives, red peppers, and green onions. Mix well.

Serve this on a toasted bagel, or just whole wheat bread, with cheese if you'd like. I also add a slice of tomato on there, do what you want, and I want this right now!!


Enjoy,
Cathy

Crab Meat Pasta Salad

I know it really isn't the time of year for pasta salad or crab meat but I was craving some pasta salad over the weekend. I began my search for the perfect pasta salad when I found this...packed with veggies, seafood and peas? Who would have thought. I decided to give it a shot and I loved the results. Some of the ingredients seem a little odd together but I promise you that you must put all the ingredients to make it work. I made a few changes but most of it is the same. Hope you enjoy!!

 

 

Ingredients                                                                                          by: Corwynn Darkholme

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup Italian-style salad dressing
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
• 8 ounces rotini pasta
• 1 cup crabmeat
• 1 cup broccoli florets, parboiled
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for time indicated on package. Drain, rinse and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, Italian dressing and cheese and blend well.
3. Add peas, pasta, crabmeat, broccoli, pepper, tomato and onions. Toss gently to mix. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hour

If you're someone who likes a lot of dressing I would suggest making more of the mayo and italian 

dressing mixture for the pasta salad.

-Christy

Herb Butter Penne with Salmon

Good morning! New week, new recipes, and warmer weather here in Canada, thank goodness!

Remember when I made those oven roasted tomatoes, and completely butchered them? Well, I had made them for a reason, to make this "Quick and Easy Herb-Butter Penne with Salmon" from the ladies over at OurBestBites.

Now you can't see them in my picture, and that's because I was almost out of tomatoes, so I didn't get to put in as many as I had hoped for. BUT, I LOVED the tomatoes that were in there, they go so well with the salmon.

One thing, this is only "quick and easy" if you make the oven roasted tomatoes in advance, cause those takes quite a while, but worth it (if you don't turn them into charcoal like I did, that is).

The salmon turned out perfect: it was moist, flaky, and had good flavors. Simple and delicious!

Here's how I did their recipe:

• 1 lbs salmon filet (I just defrosted 4 frozen individual salmon filets that I got at food basics--canadian grocery store)
• 1/4 cup salted butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp parsley
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 8 ounces penne pasta (about 3 cups of dry noodles)
• 3/4 cup mashed oven roasted tomatoes

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, and cook pasta according to package directions
2. Heat a frying pan to medium. Rinse the salmon filets and pat dry, set aside.
3. In a small bowl, melt the butter, and add the garlic, parsley, oregano, and basil. Use 2 Tbs of this mixture and brush over both sides of the salmon. Place on the pan for about 3-4 minutes on each side, until it flakes apart with a fork. (OurBestBite ladies suggest to do it in the oven preheated at 425 for 10-12 minutes).
4. When the pasta is done cooking, drain it, return to the pot, and mix in the butter mix and the oven roasted tomatoes.
5. Serve each person with some pasta with a piece of salmon on top!

I also made this with a slight twist, and I will post about that another time!