Don't make me tongue Thai'd: Coconut Curry Shrimp

I like Thai food. And coconut. A lot. I made that chicken coconut soup a while back, and I'll be sharing my semi-successful first attempt at Pad Thai... someday.

Recipes containing "Thai" and "coconut" have a 99.999% chance of getting pinned. The .001% accounts for the possibility of an accompanying terrible ingredient like raisins. Or hair (but mostly raisins). Lucky for me, Skinnytaste's Red Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp contains neither.

I was a little nervous going into this, as my biggest successes so far have been soups, salads, baked goods and crock pot dinners... AKA dump stuff in a bowl then either eat it right away or wait until it's done. This was easy peasy though, and so good! I love the way it makes my whole apartment smell like coconut.

I linked some of the ingredients below so you can see which brands I used. Your local supermarket should have all of this stuff. This recipe moves fast, but you'll be fine as long as you chop and mince everything beforehand. With rice, it made enough for 4 lunches.

Red Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp
From Skinnytaste

Ingredients

• 1 tsp oil - Canola, vegetable, something bland
• 1 tbsp Thai red curry paste
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 6 oz light coconut milk
• 4 scallions, chopped - Separate the whites and greens
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined - Go with the frozen kind, less work for you!
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet on medium-high.
2. Add scallion whites and red curry paste, saute for about a minute.
3. Throw in shrimp and garlic, season with salt, cook for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add coconut milk and fish sauce, mix well, and simmer until shrimp is cooked through (2-3 minutes, longer if shrimp is frozen but still pretty quick).

5. Remove from heat, then add scallion greens and cilantro.
6. Serve over rice and eat your heart out! 

I have yet to perfect the art of cooking rice, but that's a whole other blog post.

I'm a winner!

Though I do have an overinflated ego at times, I honestly am a winner.  Emily from Emily Bites notified me earlier this week that I was a winner of her Wholly Guacamole giveaway, and the goods arrived today!

I squealed.  Not gonna lie.

Check out this haul!  The avocado on the right is an
adorable squishy stress ball.

While I haven't "rocked the guac" just yet, I did crack open the Classic Medium Salsa to go with a Mexican egg scramble.

2 eggs, shredded taco cheese, chopped scallion.  Not pictured: Tater tots.
Dinner of champions.

I have a lot of salsa and guac to work through, so I'm opening the floor to you!  What should I make?  Suggest a recipe.  I'll make it, and I'll write about it.  Here are the options:

Classic Medium Salsa Guacamole & Spicy Pico Avocado Verde Salsa Chunky Avocado Dip

Classic Guacamole Organic Guacamole Spicy Guacamole Pico de Gallo Guacamole

Many thanks to Emily and the Wholly Guacamole crew!  The next few weeks should be fun :)

Summer salads, had me a blast.

I did it!  I found the perfect summer meal, no grilling required.  Nothing against grills personally, my apartment complex doesn't allow them.  

Don't worry, future grill.  Our time will come.

Arugula salmon salad?  Meet watermelon feta salad with mint.  So many good things happening on this plate.  

Arugula & Spinach Salmon Salad with Capers and Shaved Parmesan

Adapted from Skinnytaste

Ingredients

• 1 cup arugula
• 1 cup baby spinach 
• If you're really fond of one of these greens, double your favorite and cut out the other one altogether!  Or, use a different green.  The power is YOURS!
• 4 ounces salmon, skin removed (optional)
• 1 tsp capers, drained
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp shaved parmesan
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Season salmon with salt and pepper.  Cook in pan with oil or grill for 10 minutes.  Remove the salmon skin if you want to be healthy.
2. Place greens on plate, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Top greens with salmon and capers.
4. Drizzle oil and vinegar, then sprinkle parmesan.  As you can see above, I used way more than 1 tablespoon.

I bought a lot of greens, cooked up a lot of salmon, and brought this salad to work for lunch for a few days.  It was quick to throw together in the morning, which is a must because I'm always running late.

---

Watermelon Feta Salad with Mint

From The Shiksa in the Kitchen

Ingredients

• Seedless watermelon, chilled
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Lime juice
• Fresh mint leaves, chopped
• Crumbled feta
• Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Cut rind from the watermelon, the cut into 1-inch chunks.  Place in colander and drain.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper.
3. Place watermelon in a bowl, toss with dressing and mint.
4. Add feta, stir to combine thoroughly.
5. Serve with a slotted spoon so watermelon juice stays away from the rest of your food.  Unless you really like watermelon juice.

You may be skeptical about combining watermelon, feta, and mint.  If I had to throw three things into a salad, they'd be the last three things I'd pick.  But trust me.  A friend made this for a recent spa night, and the salty and sweet complement each other perfectly.

Three notes:

1. I purposely omitted amounts from the ingredients.  I didn't make as much as the original recipe called for, so I just eyeballed it.
2. Make this salad just before serving.
3. Try to avoid leftovers.  It doesn't keep well.  The dressing congeals and it's just gross.

Looks great, doesn't it?  With sangria to drink, everything about this meal just oozes summer.