Shrimp and Mango Curry with Mango Cashew Rice

For my dietetic internship in Houston, one of the rotations was with Supermarket Savvy.  I researched and wrote articles on food and nutrition for the monthly newsletter.  I loved it!  One of the added perks was a lunch meeting and cooking demo with Chef Allen Susser, the author of The Great Mango Book.  On the menu?  A mango lassi, crab and mango salad, shrimp and mango curry, mango macadamia rice, and a mango fool for dessert.  Its a good think I like mangos!

My favorite variety of mango, the Champagne or ataulfo mango, is in season right now.  I can find them a Whole Foods here in Baton Rouge and this past weekend at Publix in Florida.  According to the website this variety is:

“more compact compared to other varieties, it has a kidney-shaped form, with a skin that turns from green to a deep golden yellow when fully ripe. The inside is velvety smooth, with almost no fibrous texture, unlike other varieties, and a much thinner pit (about the thickness of a wafer). The taste is intensely sweet and full”

And although you really don’t need one, this is my mango peeler…another “treat” from the luncheon (along with a copy of his book).

The spicy-sweet curry has been calling my name ever since…how have a waited this long?  I’ve also been wanting to try the red rice Danielle brought me from Thailand, so I went with the mango cashew rice as well…I swapped the macadamias for cashews.

The rice recipe called for a few spices that I didn’t already have in my (previously thought) well stocked spice cabinet…cardamom and saffron.  It was my first time cooking with both.  Saffron are these tiny red threads from the stigma of a flower…they impart flavor and color (yellow) to the dish…although the red rice masked the yellow color in mine.
    
You could skip the rice recipe (and all its fancy spices) and just cook some plain ol’ white rice (or brown if you want to be healthier)…but don’t skip the curry!  It is delish!  And spicy…the original recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne, which I think is A LOT!  I used just a pinch (prob less than 1/8 of a teaspoon) and my mouth still burns a little.  I must have really strong cayenne powder. 


Mango Cashew Rice
adapted from The Great Mango Book or the National Mango Board

makes 12 servings

1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup cashews (or macadamia nuts)
5 whole black peppercorns (or just 1/4 teaspoon black pepper)
2 whole cloves (or less than 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves)
2 cardamom pods
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups Basmati rice (or white rice)
1/2 teaspoon saffron, soaked in 1 tablespoon hot water
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups water
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and diced
1/4 cup raisins (golden or brown)
3 green onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add nuts and continuously shake pan until nuts are golden brown. Remove nuts from pan with a slotted spoon, keeping oil in the pan, and set aside.

Add all spices (pepper through cinnamon) to the same pan and stir constantly until aromatic, about 2 minutes.

Stir rice into spice mixture. Add saffron and salt, stirring until rice is well coated. Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes or until liquid has been absorbed.

Remove from heat and stir in mango, raisins and toasted nuts. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes.

At this point you can add all of the onions and cilantro to the rice mixture, or alternately, garnish each serving individually.

Per Serving (about 3/4 cup) – 168 calories, 3 g fat (1 g saturated), 32 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 3 g protein (exchanges: 2 starch, 1/2 fat; WW points: 3)



Shrimp and Mango Curry
adapted from The Great Mango Book or the National Mango Board

makes 8 servings

1 tablespoons unsalted butter (or oil)
1 small onion, diced
1 cloves garlic, minced 
3 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
2 teaspoons salt
a pinch to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 15-oz can light coconut milk
2 cups water
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 ripe mangos, peeled, pitted and diced
2 medium sweet potato, diced and boiled or steamed until tender and quickly chilled*
4 tablespoons minced green onion (white and green parts)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Melt butter in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until aromatic, about 3 minutes. Stir in curry powder, ginger, salt, cayenne and black pepper. Add coconut milk and water; bring to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes.  Add half of the sweet potatoes and simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.

Add shrimp, mango and remaining sweet potato to saucepan; bring back to a simmer and cook for 4 to 5 minutes more or until shrimp are pink. Stir in green onion and cilantro and serve.

Per serving (about 1 cup) – 174 calories, 6 g fat (4 g saturated), 18 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 13 g protein (exchanges: 1 fat, 1/2 starch, 1 1/2 protein, 1/2 fruit; WW points: 3)

* I steamed the sweet potato in the microwave in a covered glass dish with a little water at 3 minute intervals until tender (about 9 minutes total).  I drained them in a colander and then ran cool water over them.

Tip – I store my ginger in the freezer in a zip-top bag.  When I need some for a recipe, I take it out, peel back some of the skin with a vegetable peeler and then grate it with a Microplane directly into the dish.  It goes well with anything Asian such as Indian Lentil Coconut Soup, Chicken Sate with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce, Shrimp Summer Rolls, and Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps.

Lagniappe...more mango recipes!

PS…this is my 100th post!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day (and birthday to Adam).  I am blogging from our new beach house in Florida...jealous?  Today is a special day, and while I don't have a recipe to share with you, I would like to re-share this past post.  My mom had a huge influence on the way I eat and cook today.  I hope one day to do the same for my kids...and until then for you!

Chicken and Feta Tabbouleh

 

My “daughter” (Hilary) is going on her mini Spring Break this weekend and requested a few things to take with her:  chicken salad and tabbouleh.  Being the good sister that I am, I happily obliged.  Plus I’ve needed a good excuse to get out of this cooking/blogging slump.

Last summer I mentioned to one of the dance moms who was making tabbouleh for dinner how much I loved it!  Hers had chicken and feta…could it get any better??  She returned that night to pick up her daughter with some for me to try and the recipe.  How exciting!  It was amazing…and healthy, the recipe was from Cooking Light!

Later that month I brought the recipe with me on our family beach trip and it was a hit there as well.  Even our “extra-mayo”, “no-butter-please, country-crock-only" friend loved it! 
 

Tabbouleh is made with bulgur (a quick cooking form of wheat…which is a fiber-rich whole grain), tomato, lots of parsley, and mint.  I opted to leave the mint out.  Bulgur can be tricky to locate…you may be able to find it by the rice and other grains in a regular grocery store.  Whole Foods definitely has it.  In Albertson’s it was by the olive oil?!?

Other changes I made: 1) baked my own chicken…but rotisserie is definitely easier, 2) used a little more olive oil, and 3) doubled the recipe.

I would probably have a smaller serving (not 1 1/2 cups) and serve it over lettuce…yes, another salad!

Chicken and Feta Tabbouleh
adapted from CookingLIght.com

Makes 4 large servings (1 1/2 cups)

3/4  cup  uncooked bulgur
1  cup  boiling water
2  cups  chopped skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast
1  cup  chopped plum tomato
1  cup  chopped English cucumber (or a regular one with/ the seeds removed)
3/4  cup  chopped fresh parsley
1/2  cup  (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1/3  cup  finely chopped green onions
1/4  cup  chopped fresh mint
2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice
1  tablespoon  extra-virgin olive oil
1  teaspoon  minced garlic
1/4  teaspoon  salt
1/4  teaspoon  ground cumin
1/4  teaspoon  black pepper

Place bulgur in a medium bowl; cover with 1 cup boiling water. Let stand 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. 

Combine chicken and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add bulgur to chicken mixture; toss gently to combine.  Taste and re-season with salt, pepper, and cumin.

Per serving (1 1/2 cups) – 296 calories, 9.5 g fat (3.4 g saturated), 26 g carbohydrates, 6 g fiber, 28 g protein (exchanges: 1 1/2 starch, 1/2 vegetable, 3 protein, 2 fat; WW points: 6)

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Baked Chicken Meatballs

I’ve had this recipe in my “to-make file” since last August, and every time that I went to make it, something came up or I found another recipe to try instead.  Honestly, I just haven’t been cooking
that much lately…due to lack of time and motivation.  Gotta work on that!

 

 

 

But these meatballs’ time has finally come.  And I’m so glad it has.  So light and flavorful…I’m thinking a meatball sandwich with melty, gooey provolone cheese is going to really hit the spot.

The thing that intrigued me most was that the meatballs were made from ground chicken breast and that they were served with a side of roasted red peppers…2 things to lighten up classic spaghetti and meatballs…no beef and no pasta (not that I think pasta is a bad thing!).

If you can’t find ground chicken (I got mine at Whole Foods and used breast meat only), I’m sure ground turkey would work just as well (maybe add a few tsp of olive oil though…turkey breast is even leaner than chicken breast).  
         

Baked Chicken Meatballs
adapted from Gourmet magazine

makes 12 meatballs

3 slices Italian bread, crusts removed and torn into small pieces (1 cup)…although I'm sure any bread will be fine
1/3 cup skim milk
3 ounces sliced pancetta or bacon, finely chopped 
1 small onion, finely chopped 
2 small garlic cloves, minced 
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 large egg
1 pound ground chicken
3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley 
2 tablespoons tomato paste, divided
2 teaspoons red wine (or water)
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Soak bread in milk in a small bowl until softened, about 4 minutes.

Cook pancetta (or bacon), onion, and garlic in 1 tablespoon oil with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat until onion is softened, about 6 minutes. Cool slightly.

Squeeze bread to remove excess milk, then discard milk. Lightly beat egg in a large bowl, then combine with chicken, pancetta mixture, bread, parsley, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Form 12 meatballs and arrange in a 9 by 13 glass baking dish.

Stir together remaining tomato paste, remaining teaspoon oil, and red wine and brush over meatballs, then bake in upper third of oven until meatballs are just cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.

* If you want to make the roasted red peppers you can find the recipe here.  I actually roasted them using the Cooks Illustrated method (shown here) in which you use no oil and peel the skin off after they have roasted…after they were roasted and peeled, I then sliced them and tossed with 1 teaspoon of oil and the remaining ingredients (vinegar, capers, and red pepper flakes).

Per meatball – 108 calories, 5 g fat (1 g saturated), 6 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 11 g protein (exchanges: 1 fat, 1 1/2 protein; WW points: 2)

Shrimp Salad Sandwich

Happy Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras has come and gone…what a perfect day to get my life “back on track”. Since the Super Bowl took over my life I haven’t eaten as well, worked out as much, been as organized as usual…oh well!

But today is a new day. I’ve already worked out, been to church, eaten lots of healthful things, drank a lot of water…starting to feel better!

I started my day with half of a pear for my pre-run snack. After my run I enjoyed a bowl of pineapple over-night oats and a glass of OJ. For lunch I whipped up this delicious shrimp salad (no meat today!) and had it on whole wheat toast. I also had some yogurt and cottage cheese with blueberries. And lots of water.

I’ve decided to give up coffee (caffeine) for Lent, again. I’ll have to wait and see if I’m really addicted to the caffeine (no headache yet) or if I just crave coffee. Hopefully this will help me cut back in the long run and not just for these 40 days. I drink coffee everyday and I wish I didn’t…but I love it! Or at least I think I do. It will definitely force me to drink more water.

So onto the shrimp salad recipe…it’s so easy that I really can’t even call it a recipe! I bought pre-boiled/pre-peeled shrimp at WF yesterday, about 1.5 pounds worth. Pulsed them in the food processor and then transferred them to a mixing bowl. I then added 1 heaping tablespoon each of Greek yogurt (non-fat) and mayo (the real deal) which equaled about 1/4 cup total, a scant tablespoon of Dijon mustard, about 1/4 of a cup of relish (green tomato relish…my fave), 3 stalks of finely diced celery, and some Old Bay Seasoning.

That’s it! You can adjust everything to suit your taste…just don’t add too much mayo! And if you want to skip the bread, just do lettuce wraps instead.

Per serving (about 1/8 of the recipe…w/o bread) - 131 calories, 4 g fat (1 g saturated), 5 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 18 g protein (exchanges: 3 protein, 1 fat; WW points: 3)

Marinated Flank Steak with Blue Cheese Sauce

The Super Bowl is over, and after spending a week in MIA I am finally back in my kitchen.  What a week it was!  I don’t think I have ever been so exhausted in my life…but it was worth it.  To experience the Saints winning the Super Bowl from the sideline is a memory I will never forget!

I returned home Tuesday morning to an empty fridge and no desire to go to the grocery store.  But I finally went yesterday and got the ingredients to make this week’s CEiMB recipe…hosted by yours truly!

I selected this recipe for several reasons: 1) I love beef, 2) I love blue cheese, and 3) the recipe was in the new cookbook I got from Danielle for Christmas…and I hadn’t cooked from it yet.

Yesterday I marinated the meat all day.  When I got home from the studio I seared the steak in a skillet on the stove and then put the whole thing under the broiler. 

 
I turned the blue cheese sauce into a salad dressing.  The dressing was loosely based on this recipe…for the sour cream and mayo I did 2 tbsp Greek yogurt and 1 tbsp mayo…and it was delish!

For my salad: shredded carrots, red bell pepper, green onion, radicchio, and romaine plus the beef and dressing…perfect dinner!

I think some people are surprised when I tell them I eat beef and cheese.  But my food philosophy is to eat REAL food that I enjoy…and if it happens to be high in fat (like both of these foods are) I do so in moderation.  This means in small amounts and/or only occasionally.  I eat cheese regularly, but in small amounts.  I eat beef about 1 to 2 times per month. 

Marinated Flank Steak with Blue Cheese Sauce

• Per serving – 310 calories, 16 g fat (5 g saturated), 7 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 33 g protein (exchanges: 1 vegetable, 4 1/2 protein, 3 fat; WW points: 7)
• Notes – Sure 16 grams seems like a lot of fat, but only 1/3 of them are saturated…the other 11 grams are healthy unsaturated fats;  flank steak is a relatively lean cut of beef;  as mentioned above, I let the steak marinate longer than 30 minutes and then cooked it in a skillet on the stove and then under the broiler