Crab Cakes with Red Pepper Aioli

Spent Valentines Day teaching my love how to ice skate and finished the night with a nice glass of wine and some crab cakes. Hope you all enjoy the recipe and have a good week! XO

Ingredients:

Crab Cakes:

16 oz lump crab meat

½ cup bread crumbs (seafood seasoning or planko)

½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1 cup of bell peppers (any mixture of red, yellow, or orange), diced

4 green onions, chopped

1 egg

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ cup mayo

 

Aioli:

1 roasted red pepper

2 gloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine all crab cake ingredients minus the bread crumbs in bowl. After mixed well, roll crab cake mix in bread crumbs and shape into small patties. Cook on stovetop with olive oil until both sides are browned. Transfer to baking sheet and bake patties in oven for 10 minutes. To make red pepper aioli, simply combine ingredients in food processor until you get your desired texture. Serve alone or on a bed of lettuce with your favorite side veggies.

Two of my recent favorite recipes...

So I have realized that I cook just about every night and rarely post what I make on my blog. Mostly because every day after work I have been working out and when I finally get home and get something made I am dying to dig in and forget to take a picture. Also, I will admit I can be a bit lazy at times. Having a blog can be hard work!  In attempt to make up for my laziness lately here are a couple recipes that I actually snapped a photo of before I took a bite.

Honey Soy Salmon

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 ½ tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon water

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Two 6-ounce pieces of salmon fillet

 

Preparation:

In a small bowl whisk together honey, soy sauce, lime juice, mustard, and water. In a small non-stick skillet heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and cook salmon 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Transfer salmon to 2 plates. Add honey glaze to skillet and simmer, stirring, 1 minute. Pour glaze over salmon.

I have used this recipe two different times. Once, as a marinade and another as the glaze like the recipe above. Both ways were equally delicious!

 

Baked Parmesan Kale Spaghetti Squash

Ingredients:

1 yellow onion, diced

1 large spaghetti squash

2 cups kale, finely chopped

¾ cup parmesan cheese, grated

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise from stem to tail. Using a fork, scrape out the seeds and a small amount of the flesh from inside the squash. Coat squash in olive oil and dash with salt and pepper. Place squash face down and cook for 30 minutes. Adding water to the bottom of the pan will help make the squash more tender so add some if you wish.

Cook for 30 to 45 minutes. The squash is done when you can easily peel and separate the flesh into strands that look like spaghetti. When spaghetti squash is done cooking, scrape all of the squash out of the skin and set aside.

Next, sauté the onion and kale in olive oil until onions are translucent. Transfer cooked onions and kale to bowl with spaghetti squash and mix. Pour into a baking dish, top with parmesan cheese more salt and pepper and bake until cheese is bubbly.

Serve as a side or enjoy as a nice vegan meal. I promise this will be your new favorite dish!

Super Bowl Eats

For Christmas, Stephen's parents gifted me a cookbook featuring traditional Latin meals with a healthy twist. I have been wanting to give a bunch of the recipes a try but it is hard to keep up with such a hectic work travel schedule. So I finally found a long Sunday to take my first stab at completely homemade empanadas. Although, they were very time consuming I will definitely be making these again! Both the ceviche and empanadas were a great addition to my night of watching Super Bowl commercials :) 

Shrimp & Avocado Ceviche

 

Ingredients:

1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, chopped

¼ cup fresh orange juice

3 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons of Mexican crema

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 avocado, peeled and cut into chunks

¼ cup red onion, diced

1 teaspoon jalapeno, chopped

Fresh cilantro

 

Directions:

1. In a medium pot, bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Drop shrimp in and cook until they just begin to turn pink. Do not overcook! Drain and chill the shrimp down on ice.
2. In a small bowl, combine the orange, lime and lemon juice with the sugar, salt, Mexican crema, and fresh ginger. Mix well and pour over shrimp. Let chill and marinade for about 15 minutes.
3. Before serving, gently toss in the avocado, onion and jalapeno. Top with cilantro and enjoy!

Cuban Citrus-Braised Pork Empanadas

Ingredients:

Dough:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 egg yolks

¼ cup water

6 tablespoons olive oil

 

Directions: In a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients together until it forms a firm ball. Transfer to a floured surface and knead until smooth. Form the dough into a ball and tightly wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.

 

Filling:

2 ½ pounds of bone-in pork shoulder, trimmed of most visible fat

1 ½ tablespoons ground cumin

1 ½ tablespoons ground coriander

1 ½ tablespoons salt

1 ½ tablespoons freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

1 ½ cups chicken stock

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1 large yellow onion, chopped

4 gloves garlic, peeled and chopped

½ cup orange juice

¼ cup lime juice

2 dried bay leaves

4 sprigs fresh thyme

2 sprigs fresh oregano

2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

1 egg, lightly beaten

Rub the pork with cumin, coriander, salt and pepper mixture. Heat oil in large heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown pork on both sides, about 3 minutes each side. Add chicken stock, vinegar, onion, garlic, orange and lime juices, bay leaves, thyme and oregano. Cover the pot and place in the oven to braise for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until the meat easily comes off the bone.

Remove pork from the oven and let cool. Remove bay leaves, thyme and oregano. Shred cooled pork into small pieces and let rest for at least 2 hours before adding in the onion and cilantro.

When you are ready to assemble and bake the empanadas preheat the oven to 350 degrees F once again. Roll out dough to about ¼ thickness. Using a 3 ½ inch diameter round biscuit cutter, cut out 12 circles. Top dough with filling.

Whisk an egg in a small bowl and begin forming the empanada by first brushing egg mixture around the circle of the dough. Next, fold the dough in half and close the seal with a fork. Brush the tops with the egg wash and bake until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes.