Thai Coconut Shrimp, Chicken, etc

1. Thai Coconut Shrimp with Soba Noodles. Love, love, LOVE this recipe. Easy, quick, tasty, filling. I've made it 3 times already and will definitely be making it again.

2.Poached Chicken Breast with Peach - Green Bean Salad. It was very good!An unusual, interesting combination of flavours and textures.

3.Pasta Carbonara. That's an old one, but I haven't made it in a while. It's quick, simple, tastes good.

4. Salmon, Philadelphia & Tortilla with Egg whites & Broccoli & bell peppers. They had some really, REALLY good salmon on sale, and I just couldn't bring myself to cook it all. It was so fresh and glistening with fat that I had to make some of my "salted salmon". Just sprinkle with salt, wrap tightly and refrigerate for 24 h. Slice and enjoy. It's not as salty as smoked salmon, but it doesn't taste exactly like sushi either.



5. Cranberry & Fig Stuffed Chicken Breast. Mmmm... Yes, I know, I already showed this one, but it's just sooo good.

6. Chicken Breasts with Caramelized Onions, Cranberries & Balsamic-Glazed Asparagus. I probably won't be making it with asparagus again, it looks like it makes me sick. Its not the first time I felt strange after eating asparagus, so I won't risk it again. But the onion-cranberry mixture on chicken is amazing, I will definitely make it again.

7.Avocado and Roasted Red Pepper Gazpacho with Scallops. I'm not a big fan of cold soups, but with this hot weather upon us, its actually quite nice. Just make sure avocado is ripe. Mine wasn't, and it was too late to cook anything else instead :(

Cooking for One (Mar 13-20)

1. Turkey Tetrazzini. That's a new one, never tried before. I liked how it turned out, only next time I will either add a bit more cheese or my regular spice mix (onion powder, garlic powder, dried parsley, dried chives, a bit of black pepper)

2. Asian Chicken - Soba Noodle Salad. Yeah, a repeat, I know. It's just that I had snow peas left over from last week and I really like this recipe. Oh, and I used turkey fillet instead of chicken this time.

3.Beef & Broccoli Orange Stir Fry. This one is from the latest Clean Eating (Mar/Apr 2010), it was on the cover. Mine maybe doesn't look as good, but it certainly tastes great.

4. Cranberry & Fig Stuffed Chicken Breast. I really missed this one. My ex-husband doesn't like figs, so we made it once back in July, and he didn't want to make it again. But I like figs, and I absolutely love how the flavors combine in this dish.

5. Shrimp & Broccoli Orange Stir Fry. This is uses the sauce from the Beef & Broccoli stir fry recipe (with the addition of sesame oil), but no rice or noodles in here, just a whole bunch of veggies.

6. Eggplant Parmesan with Bulgur and Pine Nuts. This is another favorite I haven't made in months. Not exactly the season for eggplants and tomatoes, but I missed it too much and decided to give it a go even with those pale things they call "hot house tomatoes". Boy, it's soooooo good!

Cooking for One (Mar 01-12)

It was a pretty good 1.5 week; I managed to try one new recipe (Shrimp Croquettes) and repeated a few favorites.
1. Turkey & Chickepeas burger + Chickpea Puree. I've made it at least 3 times before now, and for some reason this time the burgers fell apart while turning over. I suspect there was a bit too much liquid in the ground turkey-chickpea mix. Ah well, it was still very good, presentation doesn't matter THAT much when cooking just for yourself. The side dish - chickpea puree - is my favorite. It's the best alternative to mashed potatoes. Heck, it's MUCH tastier than mashed potatoes.

2. Stuffed Peppers. This was good, very filling and moist (a bit on a high end of my usual calorie range, but it all depends on the size of peppers).

3.Shrimp Croquettes with Tamarind Sauce & Caramelized Fennel. Very unusual, rich in flavour. The preparation time is longer than I like, but the mix for shrimp croquette can be done the night before. I don't think I'll be making croquettes again very soon (they WERE good though), but caramelized fennel is something I've done 3-4 times before, and will repeat quite soon. I love the tangy-sweet sauce!

4. French Onion Soup with VERY unusual"croutons" :) I didn't have any whole wheat bread, so I used a whole grain tortilla instead with somewhat browned Pecorino Romano on top . Of course it's against the "french onion soup" concept, blahblahblah, but who cares? It's good, quick,comforting and low cal.

5. Jambalaya with Shrimp & Bell Peppers. Ok, this one I managed to "almost" screw up. It turned out very hot. I like spicy food and enjoy it, but my ex-husband couldn't eat stuff this hot. The problem was that I made it the night he came over to hang the pictures. Yeah, not nice. He's made all kinds of jokes about my hospitality :)))

6. Asian Chicken & Soba Noodles Salad. The picture is, unfortunately, messy. I was sooo hungry, couldn't force myself to serve it up prettily. This is definitely one of my favorites. It's almost instant (provided you already have a grilled chicken breast), unusual and tastes amazing. Cashews, sesame oil, soy sauce and browned chicken make a heavenly combination. I'm pretty sure it can be turned into a vegetarian-friendly dish by substituting  grilled extra-firm tofu for chicken and using vegetable broth as the base for the dressing.