Garlic and Lemon Shrimp Spaghetti

This has got to be my favourite pasta dish. It's quick, easy, and always a hit, especially with my toddler who loves shrimp. The garlic, butter, lemon, and basil combination makes this dish packed with fresh flavours that compliment the shrimp really well. I typically use spinach for the greens but this will also work with other green veggies such as peas, broccolini, zucchini, kale, or arugula. 

This is great as a meal on its own, but if you're feeding a larger group, serve it with a side salad and some garlic bread for a comforting pasta meal at home. Leftovers are fantastic for lunch the next day heated up for a couple of minutes in the microwave and topped with more freshly grated, parmesan cheese.

Hope you enjoy this simple, yet gratifying pasta dish!

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 ounces spaghetti
• 12 ounces large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lemon, rind grated, and juice set aside
• 3 cups spinach
• 1 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• freshly ground Himalayan salt and black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

• Marinate shrimp with half of minced garlic, olive oil, and grated lemon rind. 
• In a large pot, boil water with a pinch of salt and cook pasta to al dente (about 6 minutes). 
• In a seperate, heavy bottomed skillet, melt the butter and sauté the marinated shrimp over medium heat until its starting to turn pink (about a minute). 
• Add pasta, spinach, and pasta water, stirring frequently, until spinach is wilted and shrimp is completely pink and cooked through (about 1-2 minutes). 
• Remove from heat.
• Add in lemon juice, parmesan cheese, and chopped basil. 
• Season with salt and pepper to taste and mix well.
• Serve immediately, garnished with more basil.

Serves 4-6

Asian Meat Balls

The first time I tasted these meatballs at my mother in-laws, I was blown away. They were crisp on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. I was hooked! I've made them only a few times myself and once I added spinach instead of mushrooms. I think the key ingredient here is the cornstarch which gives it that outside texture that makes them the best, in my opinion. They keep great in the freezer as well so double the recipe to make a huge batch and freeze them in freezer bags for a quick and easy meal. 

*Note: I've played around with the temperature and have cooked them at 400 degrees for 40 minutes in the convection setting from frozen and they turned out fantastic! 

Ingredients:

1 lb ground pork

1 cup water chestnuts, diced small

1 large egg

1 tbsp soya sauce 

1 tbsp sherry or red wine

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp ginger, minced or microplaned

2 tbsp cornstarch

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

2. Form into balls, around 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter. 

3. Bake on a cookie sheet lined with parchment at 325 degrees for approximately an hour, turning once in between. 

4. Serve topped with herbs, sesame, seeds, & your choice of dipping sauce. 

Thanks for visiting! Let me know how you like this recipe in the comments😊.

Jules ❣

Roast Chicken with Pan Gravy & Swiss Chard with Bacon

I love Sunday dinners. Why? Well, because my partner Jesse usually feels compelled to cook since he would spend most of the afternoon watching football. I'm quite proud of Jesse's cooking skills. He has come a long way! 

Zucchini & Eggplant Lasagna

Growing up in the 80s, I read a lot of comic books. Among those I collected were Tintin, Archie, & perhaps my favourite of all, Garfield. I loved that lazy, cynical orange tabby and his gang of friends. Garfield always tried to blame his shenanigans on Odie, the dumb, loyal dog. Both of them owned by a single guy named John who was very, very dorky and hence, could never get a date. Occasionally, an irritatingly cute kitten named Nermal would show up and Garfield always tried to send him to Abu Dhabi. 

One of the most influencing thing about Garfield for me was his love of lasagna. He always obsessed about it and as a young impressionable kid, I thought, wow, this lasagna dish must be something. So when I finally got a chance to try it, I was sold. To me it tasted just like spaghetti, but fancier, and what kid didn't like spaghetti? Although, I did have a phase where I didn't like eating anything red because I thought it was made out of blood, so I guess for awhile there I didn't like spaghetti, but it was short lived.  Anyways, ever since then, I've loved lasagna.

A few weeks ago, when I posted a pic of my Zucchini & Eggplant Lasagna on Instagram, I had a few requests for the recipe. I made this dish during an impromptu dinner party I had on a weeknight. I had a couple of my BFFs over for a visit & needed something easy to make. It's a little bit labour intensive with the pre-work but if you have a mandolin, you will save a ton of time & have consistency with the zucchini & eggplant "noodles". Once the lasagna is assembled, you can pop in the oven until done. Since all the ingredients are pre-cooked prior to assembly, you're really only imparting the flavors of the meat sauce on the veg and melting the cheese so I guess timewise, it's not that bad.

Please note that this recipe is not really the "traditional" lasagna recipe as I used zucchini and eggplant for the noodles and I had no ricotta cheese so I used feta & mozza instead. I also have some perhaps non-Italian ingredients in my seasoning so yes, it's not authentic but I assure you, it will taste good!

So without further ado, here's my recipe for keto friendly, gluten free lasagna. I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading my blog!

ZUCCHINI & EGGPLANT LASAGNA

Ingredients:

5 baby zucchini

2 baby eggplants

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

2 cups shredded mozza cheese1 kg extra lean ground beef
3 tbsp olive oil
1 orange bell pepper, diced
2 medium roma tomatoes, diced
8 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
1 medium onion, diced (any type will do, I used white)
2 cans tomato paste
2 tsp Maggi seasoning
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
seasoning salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Using a mandolin, slice the the zucchini and eggplant lengthwise (about 1/4 of an inch). Brush 2 tbsp of olive oil on each side of the slices and grill on low until grill marks appear. Turn to the other side, then remove and set aside. 

Heat a deep skillet on medium. 

Add 1 tbsp olive oil, ground beef, garlic and onion until browned. 

Add tomato paste, maggi seasoning, worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Stir well (remember the flavour is in the brown bits at the bottom of the pan stir, stir, stir!)

Add tomatoes & bell pepper and let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Pre-heat oven to 350°F. 

Now for the assembly. I used a 9 x 13, 3 qt glass pyrex bakeware. Spoon enough of the meat sauce on the bottom of the dish. Spread out to about 1/4 inch. Then add a layer of zucchini and top with some cheese. Repeat this layering, alternating between zucchini and eggplant.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese on top is bubbling and melted. 

Serve with your choice of green salad. 

Serves 12

Nutritional info per serving:  190 Calories, 6.5 g Total Fat, 12.6 g Carbs, 2 g Fiber, 6.1 g Sugar, 16.4 g Protein

Chicken Roulade with Roasted Broccoli

Wow, it's been so long since I've done a post!!! I know, I know, I’ve been a bad blogger but I've finally kicked myself into gear and hopefully I can get to posting more regularly. So…what’s new with me?

Roast Pork (Lechon)

Mmm...Roast Pig!

What can I say about Lechon. It's not the healthiest for you but taste so good! I decided to make this at home and it was surprisingly easy & very delicious!

Party Pansit Recipe

Pansit

An old Filipino saying states that eating noodles extend one's life. This is because noodles are a lot longer than rice, another Filipino staple. Right, well don't ask me the logic behind it. All I know is pansit is good.

Fajita Pizza Recipe

Fajita Pizza

One of my favourite food is pizza. When I was little, growing up in an Asian household, anything that isn't rice or goes with rice is a treat. Ordering delivery pizza was back then, in my eyes a special occasion. 

Now, not so much. Delivery pizza nowadays is a sign that me or Jesse are either too lazy or too tired to make something for dinner. But nothing taste as good as homemade. I find that making pizza out of left overs is simple, delicious, & easy, having most of the ingredients I need already on hand.

We had fajitas the night before and I wanted to re-imagine the leftovers into another dish. What better way to do this than to make it into a pizza!

I don't really cook using exact measurements except when I'm baking.

This being said, I don't really have exact amounts of each ingredient for this recipe but it's pretty hard to screw it up. I suggest just eyeballing each ingredient until you think your pizza is to your liking. 

You'll need:

• baking sheet or pan
• pita bread
• salsa
• leftover grilled chicken &/or beef
• leftover grilled veggies (optional)
• chopped pickled jalapenos (optional)
• shredded mozza & cheddar cheese 
• whole sour cream (optional)
• chopped cilantro (optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 400°F. Layer all ingredients in the order listed on the baking sheet, except the sour cream & cilantro. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until cheese is golden brown & melted. Cut into 4s. Spoon dollops of sour cream & sprinkle cilantro.  

Enjoy!!!