More Saucy Noodles

 



Here's another quick recipe using two Saucy Mama dressings. It's Asian inspired and just like last week's recipe, it has only 7 ingredients. Thanks Saucy Mama for doing all the hard work!

Chicken Sesame Peanut Noodles

8 oz linguini
1/2 cup Saucy Mama Pacific Rim Ginger Dressing
1/4 cup Saucy Mama Sesame Ginger Dressing
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 T toasted sesame oil
4-5 chopped scallions
1/2 pound ground chicken

1/4 cup chopped peanuts or toasted sesame seeds for garnish
Crushed red pepper flakes for topping (optional)

Sauté your chicken on stovetop on medium heat with a little salt and pepper until cooked through and in little crumbles. Drain any fat from the pan and set aside. While chicken is browning, cook linguini according to package directions, chop your scallions and make the dressing.

To make the dressing: whisk together the 2 Saucy Mama dressings with peanut butter and sesame oil.

That's it, dressing is done. Doesn't it look yummy? I could dive right in. Add cooled/rinsed pasta, chicken and chopped scallions. Mix well, and plate with chopped peanuts or toasted sesame seeds. Serve at room temp and add a pinch or two of crushed red pepper flakes for a bit more heat.

 

Saucy Grilled Shrimp and Pasta Salad

I'm in love with the flavors of Asia. Whether it's a curry, stir fry or salad, I'm giving it a try in my kitchen. And I have spent hours upon hours testing recipes that mimic my favorite dishes from the authentic Asian restaurants I frequent. Imagine my delight when I tasted Saucy Mama's Pacific Rim Ginger Dressing? Wowser!! Was I impressed! It had all the flavors I usually strive for when I make my garlic/ginger dressing. And there's no grating ginger or chopping garlic, no checking the pantry and fridge for rice vinegar and soy sauce, and no measuring anything. And I'm reluctant to admit, but I will...it's as good or maybe even better than my homemade.

So let's get cooking and put together a simple salad that's perfect for a weeknight meal or company fare. And it's only seven ingredients. Yes, you read that right, seven ingredients.

Pacific Rim Ginger Grilled Shrimp and Pasta Salad
Servers 4 to 6

1 lb Gulf Shrimp peeled and deveined (I like the 16-21 count)
1 cup Saucy Mama Pacific Rim Ginger Dressing divided
1/2 lb sugar snap peas
1 large red pepper sliced 1/4 inch
2-3 scallions chopped
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
8 oz linguini

I just made this tonight and it's fresh in my mind. This is what I did. I soaked some wooden skewers in water for a half hour (so they don't burn on my indoor grill). While they were bathing I poured 1/2 cup of Pacific Rim Ginger Dressing into a gallon size plastic bag. In went the cleaned shrimp, and they had a bath of their own for 30 minutes. I then skewered them and cooked them in my grill pan on my stovetop for about 2-3 minutes per side.

Yummy looking right? One of these skewers is meant for the chef, so help yourself, simply delish. The shrimp can sit for a bit while you assemble the salad. Cook linguini according to package directions and drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking. While pasta is cooking, chop the cilantro and scallions, and microwave the sugar snaps for 1-1/2 minutes. Most people don't cook their red peppers, but I microwave mine for about 45 seconds (Crazy? maybe, but I think they're just a little bit sweeter that way). Combine pasta and cooled veggies, scallions and cilantro in a bowl and toss with remaining 1/2 cup of dressing.

Plate and garnish with cilantro leaves. You can serve the shrimp on skewers as I did, but when it's mixed with the pasta salad, it's pretty impressive as well. Serve at room temp or even cold.

Saucy Giveaway! Yes, a giveaway. Please leave a comment here or on my facebook page for a chance to win some Saucy Mama products. I see some good eating in some reader's future. Details about the giveaway will be posted soon.

Diane Smith, you've won the giveaway! I'll message you with the saucy choices. Congrats!!!

Citrus Orzo Salad Re-Mixed

I love the last orzo salad recipe I posted. It was tasty. And sweet. And salty. And right up my alley. But there are a lot of folks out there that are not wild about capers, olives and raisins. So I did some experimenting this weekend and came up with a more conventional version. Well, I shouldn't put it that way, because there is nothing conventional about candied walnuts in an orzo salad. Plus I amped up the amount of sweet navel oranges, added more crunch with the addition of celery, and swapped out the creamy goat cheese for some extra tangy Gorgonzola. Serve this on a big platter or make up individual Bibb lettuce cups. It is a crowd pleaser!

Citrus Orzo Salad with Candied Walnuts

1 T unsalted butter
1 T olive oil
1 large onion diced
Kosher salt
Pepper
1 cup uncooked orzo
Additional salt and pepper
1-3/4 cups water

4 scallions chopped
4 navel oranges supremed
2 stalks celery chopped
4 oz crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
1 cup walnuts
3 T sugar
1 T unsalted butter

Salad Dressing:
1 clove garlic finely chopped
Juice of 2 lemons
1 T rice vinegar
Liquid from supremed oranges
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard

To make the orzo: (This is my mom's method, and it is no fail). In medium size saucepan on medium low heat, melt your butter and olive oil. Add the chopped onions and some salt and pepper. Cook uncovered on stovetop to soften the onions, not brown them. After about 5 minutes they will be translucent and ready to accept the orzo. Add the cup of orzo and coat with the buttery onions. Add a bit more salt and pepper (the orzo has absolutely no flavor if you do not season it). Stir to combine onions and orzo and let the orzo toast a bit (2-3 minutes). Add water and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to the lowest simmer and cook 12-13 minutes. The orzo will still be a bit watery, but keep covered off the heat and all the liquid will evaporate.

While orzo is cooling, let's candy the walnuts. In large saucepan on medium heat add the sugar and butter. Mix to combine. Now add the nuts and coat them with the sugary liquid. Toast the mixture for about 3 minutes (that's all the time it takes). Just make sure to keep an eye on the walnuts so they don't burn.

As soon as the nuts are sweet and toasty, transfer them to a piece of parchment paper and separate them the best you can. You do not want clumps of nuts on top of your salad. Set them aside to cool.

To make the dressing: Combine all ingredients in a medium size jar and shake. Or just whisk everything together until it emulsifies.

Assembly: In large bowl combine scallions, orange supremes, celery, and cilantro.

Now add your Gorgonzola and cooled orzo.

If I'm making this dish ahead, I dress the salad with only half the dressing, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Then I  dress it again right before serving time. By the way, I like this salad served at room temp, but it is still delish served cold. And don't forget, liberally sprinkle those sweet, toasty walnuts on top of your salad right before serving.

Cinco de Mayo Burgers

There is nothing authentic about my Mexican cheese burger but it sure is a simple recipe and would be great for a crowd if you decide to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and do some grilling. I started with the guacamole. I bought one ripe avocado and a package of Holy Guacamole.

I diced the avocodo into bite sized pieces and squeezed a lime over it. I just love the combo of lime and avocado. Then I added the packaged guac, a sliced scallion and chopped cilantro leaves.

I put this into the fridge for a bit and went on to my hamburger. I only made one hamburger tonight because I was testing this recipe. So I formed a 1/4 pound hamburger and didn't fuss with it much. I sprinkled kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and Mrs Dash's Southwest Chipotle Seasoning on both sides.

While I was enjoying the aroma of the meat cooking on my indoor grill (3-4 minutes per side) I coated 1 side of each of 2 tortillas with sriracha sauce. If you don't have sriracha, use Pete's or Frank's. They'll work fine I'm sure.

 

I then added a slice of processed cheese to each corn tortilla. When I do this again, I'll go for a good Colby or Cheddar or something even more exotic, but the processed cheese was very doable.

Okay, so the burger is done and now needs to be nestled into the cheese covered tortillas. Let's put this together.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and add a tsp of butter (it really adds some good flavor) and a few tsps of canola oil in a sauce pan. Cook tortillas for a few minutes on both sides until cheese is melted and you can't wait to dig in.

And then top with the guac, and any other condiments you desire. I would have liked some olives and tomatoes, sour cream and maybe a spoonfool of refried beans. I know Dan Clark would probably add some crushed bacon, I would have too. But it's Friday night and shopping day is tomorrow.

It's a little messy so I cut mine in half but did end up eating it with my hands- guac sliding down my arms and beef juice as well. Messy or not it's a great little burger I know you'll love.

I'm egging myself on

Since last week I've been pantry and fridge/freezer shopping. I barely spent anything in the market except cat and cleaning supplies. So tonight I re-mixed Melissa's French eggs and had a fabulous dinner. This time, kind of with an Italian theme.

Melissa's French Eggs Italian Style
I made 8 eggs this time because I did some experimenting.  You see some of my friends do not like to know there is a yolk in their egg. As a test I scrambled 2 eggs with this recipe and they'll be going to work with me tomorrow to see whether I can convince them that yolks are yummy. Here's my recipe but the possibilities are endless. This is just what I used from the ingredients I had on hand.

3 Italian sweet sausages crumbled
1 T olive oil
3/4 red pepper sliced
3/4 green pepper sliced
2 scallions chopped
8 large eggs
8 tsp half and half
cooking spray
salt
pepper
red pepper flakes
Parmesan cheese

Spray your muffin tin (I used my new square brownie pan) with cooking spray. Set aside and pre heat oven to 425 degrees. In large skillet over medium/low brown sausages, peppers and scallions in the little bit of olive oil. Add a dash of salt and pepper and some red pepper flakes. Make sure the sausage is cooked through.

Remove from heat, let cool a bit and get ready to assemble. You'll be utilizing eight of your compartments. In each of the eight holes place a small helping of the sausage/pepper mixture.

Top 6 of the sausage filled tins with an egg and top each with 1 tsp of fat free half and half.

And if you're experimenting like me, beat 2 eggs with a tsp of fat free half and half. That's what I had on hand., but you know any milk product will work.

 And top all with cheese.

Bake nine minutes. Let cool a bit because they're a little hard to get out of their little nooks when they're super hot. I garnished my dish with some leftover cooked sausage and raw scallions, but I do believe a teaspoon or 2 of marinara sauce would be heavenly.

I say give this a try and I'll let you know how the scrambled version went over, reheated at work tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

*****Here's my update on the scrambled version. When I took them out of the tins last night, they seemed like they had set up properly, so I wrapped them up and reheated them the next morning in the microwave for 1 minute like I do with the "yolky" eggs. Well, they were slightly under cooked  So if you're scrambling, cook about 12 minutes in the oven, and nuke for 1 minute to re-heat. I believe that will work.****