Shrimp Boil: A Perfect Summer Meal

Celebrating the first day of summer with coastal, ocean side, summer flavors. A steaming hot pile of shrimp, corn, and potatoes spread out over a newspaper-covered table, with lots of warm melted butter and chilled drinks. It's a meal that feels like a party to my family. Manners go out the window and you eat everything with your hands, no plates, no forks, pile up on the paper towels and just pure fun. How’s that to celebrate the first day of summer.

Reminiscing about our trip to New Orleans and thinking of

the saltwater marsh and the Spanish moss hanging from the oak trees, the intense savory bites of crawfish we enjoyed straight out of a paper bag at the local park, and the spices and seasonings we picked up at the local market helped create this feast. That's loaded with savory aromatic flavors and colors of sunshine.

A One pot meal, a simple cooking technique, hardly a recipe ( i mean you pretty much dump everything in one big pot), and clean up is a breeze, fold up the newspaper and go take a nap.

I broke down this meal to a few components to ensure that you have a perfect pot of simmering goodness every single time!

1. Pick Your Shellfish:

Lobster, clams, shrimp, crabs, crawfish etc. whatever you pick or any combo of a few, just make sure you cook it properly as each ingredient will cook at a different rate. Start with the one that takes the most time.

2. Build A Broth (you need a large stock pot) or make this in two pots. This simple stock is made of savory flavors of herbs like thyme, bay leaves, and spices like fennel, old bay seasoning, a little heat, and acid from lemons or white wine. By the way you will need more seasoning than you think. Defiantly taste as you go and adjust to your taste.

3. Add the Ingredients in the order below to ensure nothing overcooks and tastes delicious

4. Condiment: don't skimp on the condiments they are simple and so so good, that crusty bread to mop all the juices and fresh squeeze of lemon to brighten up all the flavores.

Shrimp Boil

Prep Time: 20 min

Cooking time: 40 min

Serving: 6-8

Ingredients

• 4-5 sausage links about 1.5 pounds sausage I used a fresh chicken Italian sausage but any sausage will do

• 1 pound small red or gold potatoes

• 5 ears fresh corn, husks removed and cleaned

• 2 pounds large shrimp

• salt to taste

• 1 tbls olive oil

• 1 tbls old bay seasoning

• 1 tsp pink peppercorns

• 3 bay leaves

• 1 tsp fennel seeds lightly crushed

• One lemon sliced

• Few sprigs of thyme (I love lemon thyme if you can find it)

• 2 onions, quartered

• 2 garlic bulbs, halved

• For serving: French baguette or sour dough, lemon wedges, garlic aioli, melted butter, and Old Bay seasoning

Directions

1. Since I am using fresh sausage. I start with that. Add 2 tbls of oil to a heavy deep pot (if you have a special seafood stock pot feel free to use it but its not necessary)

2. Sear your sausage links 3 minutes per side until they develop a nice crust

3. Add all your flavoring (onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, lemons, and spices)

4. Add enough water to cover the Ingredients about 4+ quarts

5. Simmer for 15 minutes so the flavorings infuse the water creating a delicious quick stock

6. Add the potatoes

7. Add the corn and simmer for additional 10 minutes

8. Add shrimp, cover, and turn off the heat. Let shrimp sit for 10 minutes to absorb flavor and cook through until it’s no longer pink. The heat of the stock mixture will cook the shrimp through

To serve:

1. Drain liquid (I like to reserve a cup of that liquid and serve with the shrimp boil it has so much flavor to dip your shrimp and veggies in it )

2. Discard bay leaves

3. spread shrimp boil out on a newspaper-covered table or a large serving platter.

4. Get your paper towels ready

5. Serve with bread slices, lemon wedges, melted butter or garlic aioli, and extra Old Bay seasoning. And def ice cold drinks

Tips for making the best shrimp boil:

1. Start with a stock pot that’s large enough to fit all your ingredients

2. using good quality shrimp and ingredients

3. The secret to a perfect shrimp boil is to add the ingredients to the pot in stages so that each one can cook properly. Refer to the direction part of the recipe and cook the ingredients in that order.

#seafood #shrimpboil #seafoodboil #summermeals #onepotmeal #shrimp

Blueberry Kale Salad With Sumac Dressing

Super excited that my local farmers market opened and can’t wait for all the local produce to start rolling in. It takes time to grow stuff in the Midwest but once it does we don’t take it for granted and we appreciate it so much. So I picked up some kale and blueberries to make this refreshing salad served with a tangy ruby sumac dressing. It’s a pretty simple salad but definitely one that makes you feel good inside out.

Blueberry kale salad with sumac dressing :

9 cups of vegetables

6 cups chopped Kale

1 cup Brussel sprouts shredded

1 cup Broccoli stems

1 cup shredded Radicchio

1/2 cups raw Almonds chopped

1/2 cup fresh Blueberries

Blueberries

Dressing

1/4 cup extra virgin Olive oil

Juice of one Lemon

1 tsp Blueberry jam or honey

2 tsp Sumac **

Mix all the ingredients in a jar and shake well to combine.

Sumac

The sumac bush, native to the Middle East, produces deep ruby red berries. My father in law has his own bushes in Jordan and once they harvest the berries and dry them, he would then send them to the local mill where they grind them into coarse powder. Ground sumac is a versatile spice with a tangy lemony flavor. Its more balanced and less tart than lemons.

Sumac is often used in Palestine's most beloved dish "Musakhan" taboon bread topped with olive oil sautéed onions, chicken, and sumac. But its also delicious with fish, vegetables and even fruits. A sprinkle on vegetables, hummus will add a beautiful pop of color.

How to buy:

Sumac is a single ingredient spice. Its salt and dye free and should be naturally red.

Hot to store:

Store away from sunlight in a dark cupboard i also like to store mine in the fridge.

#mainsalad #salad #summersalad #berries #blueberries #sumac #lemondressing

Asian Inspired Lettuce Cups

Asian lettuce cups are an absolutely summer family favorite. This starter can easily be turned into a family style, easy and a healthy meal. Its so light and filling and perfect for those hot summer days. There is three components to this dish: protein (your choice), crunchy veggies served with a savory sauce that's sticky, umami and bursting with flavor served in a crisp lettuce cup. At home I love to serve this family style on a huge platter or board with all the fixings and sauces. Take the whole platter and sit outside on the patio. The kids take great joy in creating their own pockets of goodness and you don't even need utensils to eat this, a napkin helps though. To ensure a delicious bite make sure you season your filling pretty well. I love to do that using aromatics like garlic, ginger, shallots and lemon grass and then season the meat with Chinese five spice that has an incredible sweet aroma from the fennel, star anise, cloves, cinnamon and Sichuan peppers. This dish has no gooey cheese, no noodles, or rice but gets devoured by the whole family and no one ever complains. Hooray to healthy delicious food that's not trying too hard, and is just so so good.

Serves 6

As a meal, lots more if served as an appetizer

Prep time: 15 minutes

Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the soy dipping sauce:

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

• 1 garlic cloves grated

• 1 scallion thinly sliced

• 1 teaspoon Thai chili’s chopped (optional)

• 1 tbls chili paste like Sambal Oelek (optional)

• 1/2 cup soy sauce or coconut aminos

• Juice of one lime

• 1 tbls agave or honey

• 1 tbls hoisin sauce

• 1 tsp of fresh grated ginger

• Directions:

• mix all the ingredients in a jar with a tight lid and shake well to combine

For the peanut dipping sauce:

my kids like the peanut sauce with this

3 tbls hoisin sauce

1/2 cup peanut butter

1-2 tbls soy sauce

Start with 2-4 tbls of water add more if you want your sauce thinner

Juice of one lime you can also add rice vinegar

1 garlic clove minced

1 tsp minced fresh ginger

1 tsp sesame oil

Tsp of siracha or chili paste (optional)

For the filling:

1.5 lbs ground chicken, beef or pork

2 tbsp. avocado or vegetable oil

2 garlic cloves minced

1 tbsp minced fresh ginger

1 Thai chili minced (optional)

1 kefir lime leaf (optional)

2 tsp Chinese 5 spice

Salt and pepper to taste

1 8 oz can water chestnuts drained and chopped

1 stalk lemon grass finely chopped

** This filling keeps well in the fridge for 3 days

To serve:

2 heads butter or bibb lettuce, leaves separated and washed

2 carrots julienned or shredded

3 scallions thinly chopped

1 cucumber diced

Roasted peanuts for garnish

Fresh herbs: mint, Thai basil, and cilantro

Directions:

1. Make the sauce: In a jar with a fitted lid combine all the ingredients and shake real well until it’s combined. If sauce is too thick add water 1tbls at a time until you get the consistency you like. Make sure you taste and adjust your seasoning.

2. Make the filling: In a wok heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable or avocado oil over medium-high heat. Add the aromatics: ginger, garlic, shallots, chili, lemon grass and lime leaf sauté for a minute until fragrant but don’t burn it. Add the chicken and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon. season with salt and pepper and Chinese 5 spice until browned, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the water chestnuts if using. Deglaze the pan with three tbls of the soy sauce mixture. Cook for 30 seconds and that's it. If meat mixture is too dry thin it out with water or chicken stock. Transfer the meat to a plate and serve.

1. To serve: I like to serve all the fresh cut up veggies on a platter along with the green lettuce cups and place the mince meat in a separate bowl.

2. Pile your lettuce Cup with the meat, veggies, top with herbs, scallions, crunchy peanuts and a drizzle of your fav sauce. * you can serve this meal with jasmine rice (optional)