I love pizza, but I have become something of a pizza snob recently – I’ve tried most of the home delivery options available and they are, to put it kindly, eatable maybe once an year. There is definitely some good pizza to be had in little restaurants and pizza places all over New York, ofcourse – but for days when we are just looking to stay home I and have a pizza nothing but my own home-made pie will do.

For days when I don’t have a ball of pizza dough waiting for me in the freezer, I’ve come up with a way to get the same thin-crust crunch and cheesy goodness that a pizza provides – Pizzettes (or tartlettes, or flat mini pizzas, or whatever you want to call them) made from good old Puff Pastry sheets! We always have some sheets lying around in the freezer – and these little pizzette are so easy to put together individually that they can be customized to whatever toppings we are in the mood for.

Last night, we had frozen corn and broccoli on hand -  the wife just wanted corn whereas I went in for more texture and nutrition and piled on the broccoli. We just thawed the veggies in the microwave, used some regular tomato ketchup as a pizza sauce, roughly cut the mozzarella and baked these individually in the toaster over. Talk about an easy-going dinner – no fuss, no hassle and ready in a few mins with minimal clean up - wonderfully easy for a Thursday night!

THE RECIPE: PUFF PASTRY PIZZETTES with Broccoli and Corn

YOU’LL NEED:

• A few sheets of Puff Pastry – thawed per instructions on the package, makes 4 pizzettes if you use the regular Pepperidge farm versions
• 1/2 cup of frozen corn and broccoli, thawed in the microwave
• 4 tblsp tomato ketchup
• Fresh Mozzarella cheese, sliced or shredded

THE METHOD:

• Pre-heat the toaster oven to 450 deg F
• Roll out the puff pastry sheets into a rectangle, and divide into four mini-rectangles
• Roll out each mini pizzette into the desired thinness – you want to leave them slightly thick if you want more toppings on them
• Fold each edge about an inch thick for each of the pizzettes, and seal the edges by using the tines of a fork and press the corners down into the dough.
• spread about a tbslp of the ketchup on each pizzette, taking care to stay within the folded edges.
• Spread with the thawed veggies and cover with shards of the cheese.
• Toast individually (or two per cycle if you have the space) in the toaster over at 450 for 10 mins or so till the cheese bubbles

A hearty, cream-sauce pasta with hot Italian sausage and loaded with chunky pieces of vegetables is a nice way to warm up on a cold winter night. Tagliatelle, the long, flat pasta that is usually available only fresh in your local grocers pasta section (tough to dry out the long strands, I would think), is perfect for this dish – the smooth, silky pasta complements the rougher edges of the other ingredients.

I usually find a delicious hot Italian sausage at the grocers on sale;  they freeze beautifully and are actually easier to cut up when partially thawed, so they can be cooked up ahead on the night we make the pasta.  We usually throw in some halved baby bella mushrooms along with the onions and the red peppers, but any other mushroom will work well as long as you leave the pieces fairly big – you definitely want to feel the texture of the large pieces in the sauce. I use a little cayenne pepper to add a little heat; you can certainly omit if you want a subtler sauce. Garnish with some fresh parmesan cheese, add in a nice, full-bodied French red wine, and you are set for the evening!

THE RECIPE: Tagliatelle with Hot Italian Sausage

YOU’LL NEED:

• 1 packet fresh tagliatelle pasta
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 red bell pepper, cubed into big chunks
• 1/2 cup baby bella mushrooms, halved
• 1/2 pint cream
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, plus a little extra for garnish
• 2 tbslp extra virgin olive oil
• 1tsp cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste

THE METHOD:

THE PASTA:

• Follow packet instructions, bringing the required amount of water to a boil
• Before putting pasta in the boiling water, ensure you salt the water well
• Fresh pasta cooks up pretty quickly, in a couple of mins – so time this step to ensure the pasta is done around the same time as the sauce.

THE SAUCE:

• With saucepan on medium heat, add in the oil
• If using uncooked sausage, add in the cut up pieces and fry till browned. If using pre-cooked, add when adding the veggies two steps down.
• Add onions and saute for 2 mins till tender
• Chop up garlic and add to the onions
• Add mushrooms and red peppers, and sauce for an additional 5 mins, till vegetables are tender
• Add in cooked
• Add in the cream and increase heat to high
• Add in parmesan cheese and bring the sauce to a boil. Make sure you keep stirring as you do this.
• Once sauce starts boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer sauce till thick enough to your liking
• Remove from heat, and add the cooked pasta and stir. Reserve a little of the pasta water to lighten the sauce as needed.
• Garnish with reserved cheese and serve hot!
  

There is a Subway outlet right below my apartment building, and when I first moved in here (which was the first time I’ve lived by myself, away from family), it became my source of sustenance for a few weeks till I learnt to cook for myself. I convinced myself that it was a cheap and healthy way to eat out, loading my sub with veggies and taking advantage of half-priced footlong deals (this was before the ubiquitous $5 footlong was introduced).

One of my favorites used to be the pastrami sub; I’d never eaten Pastrami before, and started really enjoying the delicious flavor of the thin slivers of meat. Honey mustard sauce was my condiment of choice, cheddar my cheese and pile on the cucumbers and onions. I miss those sub nights, so I’ve started building my own pastrami sub – its is much cheaper, I get to use my choice of bread, and use much tastier, fresher, deli pastrami instead.

I kept the building blocks the same – cheddar cheese to top the pastrami with, cucumbers and tomatoes to go with the meat, along with a few leaves of spinach nestled under the pastrami, and a nice dollop of store-bought honey mustard sauce. Fresh whole wheat kaiser rolls from the neighborhood bakery worked best; they were hearty and thick enough to handle extra slices and all the veggies without disintegrating into a wet mess that normal sandwich rolls would. A couple of minutes under the broiler  (open-faced to melt the cheese), adding in the veggies and my better-than-Subway Pastrami sandwich was ready to be devoured! (Minus the Jared guilt trips!)

THE RECIPE: HEARTY PASTRAMI on KAISER ROLLS

YOU’LL NEED:

• 1 whole wheat kasier roll (or bulkie roll)
• 5-6 thin slices of fresh deli pastrami
• 1 large slice of cheddar cheese
• 4-5 baby spinach leaves
• 3 cucumber slices
• 3 tomato slices
• few onion slices if desired
• 1 tbspn honey mustard sauce

THE METHOD:

• On bottom half of the roll, place spinach leaves and top with pastrami slices
• Top pastrami with cheddar slices
• Place both halves in toaster over and broil till cheese melts (couple of mins)
• Remove onto plate; on top half, spread honey mustard sauce and top with vegetable slices
• Combine halves, press hard to compact sandwich and devour.

Perfect Pastrami indeed

]]> http://eatlovecook.com/2010/02/hearty-pastrami/feed/ 0 http://eatlovecook.com/2010/02/roasted-butternut-squash/ http://eatlovecook.com/2010/02/roasted-butternut-squash/#comments Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:35:04 +0000 keviv http://eatlovecook.com/?p=264 Roasting butternut squash with brown sugar and olive oil helps intensify the sweetness and result in a light, warm vegetable side-dish for winter.]]>

One of the tastiest and easiest ways to get a quick side of veggies prepared is to roast them, as I’ve written about before. This is especially true for vegetables that have a nice, sweet flavor of their own, like the ubiquitous butternut squash, which has lately been bandied about in food magazines and TV shows as the perfect winter vegetable. Roasted butternut squash, which you can thrown in to the oven without much of a fuss as you go about your other baking, added a perfectly light side of vegetables to my Thursday dinner; I can also see it being a good complement to heavier meat dishes like tandoori chicken or a roast loin of pork. Plus, this is a veggie that is chockful of vitamins and minerals that will help you brave the chill.

The butternut squash has a subtle flavor reminiscent of pumpkin (and from what I read, it treated interchangeably with a pumpkin Down Under), which gets concentrated through a nice long roast in the oven. To intensify the sweetness and to get a nice caramelized exterior, I tossed the cut cubes with some olive oil (side-stepping the melted butter a lot of the recipes called for) and brown sugar – this resulted in a lovely golden brown char on a few pieces and infused the vegetables with a gentle, warm sweetness.

Don’t be intimidated by this bulbous vegetable with tough skin; with a sharp knife and a sturdy cutting board, it is quite easy to cube into pieces. A strong vegetable peeler is needed to remove the tough skin (I cut the squash into flat quarters first, scoop out the insides, peel the skin and then cube them); however, the long roasting time ensures that you can leave the skin on if you like – I couldn’t tell the difference between pieces I left the skin on and the ones I removed it for after the roasting was done. Or, you could just bypass all this and pick up a bag of pre-cut cubes of the squash that are increasingly available at a wide range of grocers!

THE RECIPE:

YOU’LL NEED:

• 1 butternut squash, cubed into 1-inch pieces
• 2 tbslp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbslp brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional, if you want some heat)

THE RECIPE:

• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F
• Toss squash cubes with salt, olive oil and brown sugar (and pepper if using), ensuring the pieces are evening coated with all ingredients
• Use a large-enough baking dish to ensure all pieces are spread in one layer; line with foil and put in the squash mixture.
• Bake for 40 mins and serve warm.

Sometimes you want the taste of pizza without going through all the effort of getting a pizza crust ready, crank up the oven, load up the pies and wait for the piping hot pizzas. And sometimes, you have some left-over pizza sauce you need to use up, some veggies about to go bad, and some cooked chicken that you’ll too lazy to make chicken salad from. On those days, using deli-flats and the toaster oven to pull all these ingredients together into mini pizza-type ‘pizzettes’ is the perfect answer to getting a quick pie fix.

Deli-flats (we get the Whole Grain Pepperidge Farm version at our local mart) are 100-calorie flat breads cut in rounds – you can use them for putting together some healthy sandwiches, or use each half of the flats as a base for these pizzettes. The recipe is customizable to whatever odds and ends you have left in your fridge, and any cheese you throw on there will work – just make sure you broil them enough to melt the cheese fully to get a nice pizza taste. They make a great dinner along with some soup, or for a weekend lunch.

THE RECIPE: DELI-FLAT PIZZETTES

YOU’LL NEED:

• A packet of Deli flats (thin rolls)
• Some pizza-sauce (homemade or store bought)
• Few sliced or chopped vegetables (I like green pepper and onions)
• A bit of cooked chicken breast (roasted will do just fine)
• Mozzarella cheese to top – sliced or shredded (Cheddar or other quick melting will work too)

THE METHOD:

• Turn toaster oven to broil.
• On each half of the deli flats, spread about a tblsp of pizza sauce
• Layer on a few chopped veggies and chicken; do not overload the toppings, this is after all a mini-pie
• Top with cheese (if using both cheddar and mozzarella, sprinkle cheddar under mozzarella)
• Working in batches (depending on the size of your toaster oven), put in each pizzette in the toaster oven and broil till cheese is melted and bubbling.

Fish is one of the healthiest foods around, as long as it is fresh, lightly seasoned, and not coated in ton’s of breading (Long John’s Silver – I’m looking at you). I used to fear any fish other than Salmon or Tuna, but one of my resolution’s for this year was to each more fish, so I figured I’d begin by trying some fresh fish fillet’s from my local seafood mart to begin with.

This week, they said the flounder was fresh (and usually, fresh fish from local sources is pretty cheap also) – so I bought a pound! If you’re in the market and see something fresh but worry about not knowing what to cook with them – don’t fret! In this day of plentiful internet recipes, within minutes of coming home you can find a quick and easy recipe That’s exactly what I did – looked up a few recipes, picked up some easy tips from them, and proceeded to do a quick pan fry of the fillets for a wonderful, crispy coating with minimal effort and minimal fat.

That’s the other secret I am learning about fresh fish – it requires very minimal seasoning, and you just need a little oil to fry them up – and the fresher the fish, the less you will have to do with it, the natural flavors are just perfect enough as is. This ofcourse means less effort on your part, less ingredients you need, and more of the nutrition in the fish left intact. This is as far away from the processed foods as you can get! Just season the fish, add some flour to get some nice browning, pan fry it in some good olive oil, and sprinkle on some lemon juice to add some brightness to the fish. – you’ll have a light, healthy supper ready to be served with some boiled veggies.

THE RECIPE: PAN FRIED FLOUNDER

YOU’LL NEED:

• 4-5 fresh flounder fillets
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• half a lemon

THE METHOD:

• Season fillets with salt and pepper
• Sprinkle flour evenly on both sides and pat to press into flesh
• Heat oil in a skillet on medium heat for a couple of mins
• Once oil is hot, place fillets, two at a time, into skillet and heat 3 mins on each side
• Remove from skillet and immediate squeeze some lemon juice onto the fillets

Growing up in a typical South Indian Telugu household, most of the day-to-day foods we ate were mostly the bread-and-butter pappu’s (lentils) and southern curries. North Indian preparations, like their excellent Chicken curries, were reserved for special occasions when my mom wanted to try something new, or for when we went out to eat. I looked forward to those meals and always promised myself that when I grew up and became an adult myself, I would have such food every day.

As an adult, however, I quickly realized that it was wasn’t healthy for either my body or my wallet to eat restaurant-made North Indian curries very often, and the best way to meet my cravings for these curries was to prepare them at home. However, given the complexity involved in cooking some of these items, we usually resort to pre-made (the horror!) masala mixes to whip up a quick curry whenever we want to.

Now, while this may seem like blasphemy to the usual Indian canon of healthy cooking from scratch, I distinctly remember that even my mom sometimes resorted to using spice mixes just to avoid having to put together and grind each of the dozen or so spices that give each curry a distinctive flavor. Modern mix packets just take this step a bit further by also included oil and salt in the mix; advanced science allowing for vaccum-packing of such mixes without using much, if any, preservatives or additional junk. The preparation just calls for adding the mix, along with some water or milk, along with the meat or vegetables of your choice to a saucepan, heating for the recommended time and getting a piping hot curry onto the table within 15-20 mins. Quickie Cooking at its finest!

So seek out these packets as your local Indian grocer; Parampara and Sanjeev Kapoor make some of the best tasting mixes which don’t contain too much unneccessary filling. Given the simplicity involved in putting these curries together, I decided to put in a tiny bit of extra effort and upping the health-quotient of these dishes by adding in some fresh or frozen vegetables – this helps counter any extra sodium in the mix, while also adding some texture and freshness to the curry. This week we tried the Chicken Kolhapur – a Maharashtrian dish with a spicy, dark sauce.

These packets are a god-send for young cooks just learning to make Indian food - whether you are a new bride trying to impress your H1B-husband, a young bachelor surviving on Indian take-out, or a busy working mom trying to serve something new, but quick, for your brood, you can pick up a bunch of these and try out a different curry every week. As you progress, you will quickly find out which combination of vegetables you like with each curry, and which other little steps you can take to make the curry more home-made – a dash of cream at the end, some fresh coriander leaves cut up for garnish, pre-marinating the chicken in some yogurt to soften ahead of time – the possibilities are endless!

The Kolhapur curry, given the spiciness and pungent sauce, called out for a mixture of green beans, carrots and peas to lessen the heat a bit. We added in a little cream to thicken the sauce, so the wifey could eat the thick curry with rotis while I mixed it in with my yogurt rice. Since there is no hint of tomato in this curry, the rich, deep spiciness permeated through the meat and really made the tongue tingle. I believe this dish ranks as one of the 10 most popular Maharashtrian dishes – although I am sure they cook it a lot more spicier, and with a lot more gravy, than we even would!

You can follow the recipe given on the back of the packet, or use the one we customized for a lower-fat, more fresh version below:

THE RECIPE: QUICKIE COOKING CHICKEN KOLHAPURI

YOU’LL NEED:

• 1 packet Parampara Ready to Cook Chicken Kolhapur mix
• 1lb boneless, skinless chicken, cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 big yellow onion, sliced
• 1/4lb frozen mixed vegetables (we liked a mix of green beans, carrots and peas)
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbslp vegetable oil

THE METHOD:

• In a large saucepan, add the oil and saute the onions on medium-high heat till tender, about 5 mins.
• Add the chicken pieces and saute for about 5 mins till the chicken pieces turn brown.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the contents of the spice mix packet, the water and the yogurt until smooth. Add this mixture to the saucepan and bring to a boil. You can add a little more water if the sauce it too thick for your liking, or add some cream to thicken if needed.
• Once it reaches a boil, add in the frozen vegetables and simmer on medium-low for 5-10 mins till the vegetables are tender and the chicken is cooked enough to your liking.
• Serve hot with roti’s or white rice.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• To up the flavor of the dish (and forgetting the health factor a bit), saute the onions in butter instead of the oil.
• You can use chicken with bones for this dish also, you will get a deeper, meatier flavor. Remember that such chicken takes a little longer to cook that the boneless version.
• For a richer taste, add a tbsp of cream once you bring the curry down to a simmer.

The $1.50 packet of goodness

After a couple of years of turning to the ubiquitous boxed pasta’s whenever we wanted a quick and cheap Italian meal, lately the wife and I have begun experimenting with some fresh pasta. It all started when I spotted some fresh tagliatelle on sale at the local grocers; once we tasted the true deliciousness of the fresh pasta, it became near impossible to go back to the regular old Barillas! There is something homey and old-worldey about a bowl of fresh pasta tossed in a quick home-made sauce (what, you think we do Ragu?!) and mixed in with some veggies and meats to make it a full meal.

We try to pick up whatever fresh pasta’s are available every few weeks at C-Town or Whole Foods, and yes we shop at both ends of the supermarket spectrum! Last week wifey spotted a packet of potato gnocchi and there was no going back – pasta and potatoes being two of her favorite foods. We made a quick cream sauce, tossed in some onions and fresh red bell peppers, topped it off with some bacon (only on my bowl, ofcourse) and had ourselves a nice hot bowl of pillowy little potato balls.

Now, a word about the Alfredo sauce. It wasn’t a true alfredo in the classical sense of the term – the legend being that the sauce invented by Alfredo di Lelio at his Roma restaurant contained only butter and Parmesan cheese. Instead of the butter, we softened up the veggies in olive oil and added in cream along with the cheese to get that rich velvety texture.

The cream may have overpowered the delicate gnocchi a bit, but it was still a comforting meal on a cold December night. We may stick to a pure butter/cheese sauce next time to get at the heart of the gnocchi flavor a little more when we try this next. The red peppers, soften just lightly so as to leave a little crisp on them, contrasted with the chewy gnocchi perfectly, and brightened up the dish both in taste and in color. I couldn’t resist mixing in a little crumbled bacon for a salty kick also – it wasn’t pancetta, but we weren’t in Rome, after all!

THE RECIPE: GNOCCHI ALFREDO WITH RED PEPPERS

YOU’LL NEED

• 1lb fresh gnocchi
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced medium
• 1 large white onion, sliced medium
• 1/2 pint heavy cream
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the good stuff, not Kraft!) for the suace + 1/4 cup to sprinkle over pasta, if desired
• 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 slices bacon (if desired)
• 1tsp Salt, 1 tsp pepper, and more as per taste + 2tbsp salt for pasta water

THE METHOD:

• In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the oil till shimmering.
• Add in onions and cook on medium-low heat for 3 mins
• Add in red pepper and salt, and continue cooking for another 5 mins till pepper is soft but not fully tender
• Meanwhile, bring water to boiling in your pasta pot as instructed on the pasta packet, usually 4 quarts water for 1lb.
• Once boiling, add in the 2tbsp salt to season the water, and add in pasta. Cook 2-3 mins per packet instructions.
• Add in cream and 1cup cheese to the saucepan with vegetables, and bring to boil.
• Immediately turn heat to low, and simmer for 3 mins till sauce thickens to your liking. Remove from heat
• Drain pasta when done cooking, add immediately to the saucepan with the sauce and mix; you can mix in a separate bowl if more convenient.
• If using bacon, microwave for 2 mins between paper towel sheets, and crumble onto the pasta and mix.
• Sprinkle pasta with leftover 1/4cup cheese and enjoy!

Pillowy potato balls!

A co-worker of mine has been pestering me for a couple of years now to try this Japanese restaurant for lunch; she raved about the mixed ‘boxes’ that offered a sampling of all their yummy seafood delicacies – a different sampler being offered every single day. Given that raw seafood is one of the only foods I don’t eat (more a matter of allergies than taste) I’ve steadfastly refused to go despite her constant reassurance that they offered ‘cooked’ items too. I finally relented today, on her last week at work for her going-away lunch, and boy did I realize what I was missing!

We ordered a couple of different samplers, filled with goodies like shrimp tempura, candied ginger, ginger fish with baby mushrooms, a fried pork pocket wrapped around asparagus and a japanese take on green beans. The star of the show was a fresh fillet of salmon bathed in sumptuous sweet and spicy asian barbecue sauce. I felt like ate for an hour but because everything was just light fresh seafood, I didnt feel weighed down – but didnt get hungry for quite a while after either. I realized why fresh fish is constantly pushed as a superstar health food - forget all those healthy omega 3 oils, this is just tasty food that really nourishes without filling you up completely.

Now, it will take me some time to learn some of the more intricate preparations we ate today (challenge accepted – Shrimp Tempura, here I come!) but over the summer I learn to make a simple and easy teriyaki salmon dish that, while not as painstakingly made as the restaurant dish, still yielded a deliciously flavored salmon that harldy took any time to put together. Starting off with pre-made teriyaki sauce (Kikkomans -  the horror!) cut down some of the time, but adding a few additional touches helps punch up the flavor. The best part? You can make this in the toaster oven - so in a few mins you can have a tasty and healthy fish dish ready for your weeknight dinner! This makes a great protein dish to serve with rice and boiled vegetables.

THE RECIPE: TERIYAKI SALMON

YOU’LL NEED:

• 1 lb Salmon Fillet (skin on)
• 4 tbsp pre-made Teriyaki Sauce
• 2tsp fresh Lime juice
• 2tsp Chili-Garlic sauce (like Sriracha)

THE METHOD:

• Cut Salmon Fillet (across grain) into small rectangular pieces (3inch by 1inch)
• Mix rest of ingredients in a bowl, and marinate salmon (in bowl or plastic bag) for 10-30mins
• Preheat broiler (can use toaster oven)
• Remove fish pieces from marinade and place on baking sheet with skin side down
• Broil for about 10 mins depending on how you like your salmon – I like mine not to overcook and am ok with it being a little pink in the middle.
• Baste every 2 mins with marinade if you want the fish to not dry out too much.
• Serve over hot white rice with a side of boiled vegetables

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• You can leave the salmon fillet whole, but pre-cutting helps cook the pieces faster.
• Don’t be scared off by the chili-garlic sauce – it just adds a little bit of warmth to the fish, not spiciness.
• Though I normally take leftovers for lunch, be warned that reheating in the microwave brings out the fishy aroma! Best to finish all the fish for dinner or save for a home meal rather than stink up the office lunch room!

Life is a series of coincidences. I’m sure a lot of you can look back upon your lives and some of the coincidences you might have brushed off in the past, but which you can now saw helped shaped your path in one way or the other. I’ve had a few of those myself, and one that relates directly to this blog happened in the most unexpected of all places – a Container Store.

A week or so after I got my own studio and decided that I loved interior decorating and want a clean, modern bachelor pad (!), I went down to the Container Store on 58th street to check for some cool organizational items. At the checkout counter, I spied an eye-catching magazine cover with fresh fruits and vegetables – the Fall 2006 Food issue of Real Simple. For someone who firmly believes in subscribing to magazines and never paying the outrageous book-store prices for a single copy, I just couldn’t resist buying this one.

And what an investment it turned out to be! For a young guy just learning to cook for himself, this one single issue contained all sorts of wonderful advice – from what to stock your freezer with, to how to avoid messy cleanup, to how to put together a menu for a dinner party, and most importantly – easy, simple-to-follow recipes that lead to delicious meals and forever got me hooked on the benefits of cooking at home.

One such recipe, which I’ve since adapted to my own tastes is one that will ease your fears of cooking seafood and serve as a fun little dish to spice up weekday nights – Shrimps Fajitas.  Cumin and chili powder give the shrimp filling a deep flavor; pick up some whole wheat wraps, slap some mayo in it if you are so inclined, add in the shrimp filling and you’re in seafood fajita land.

The flavors may not be authentically Mexican, but you certainly get enough of a South-of-the-Border feeling to make you skip your weekly Taco Bell run! Wifey is not a seafood fan but still asks for a little taste of the onion/pepper curry – the aroma is so tempting.

THE RECIPE

YOU’LL NEED:

• 1 packet whole wheat wraps
• 1 large white Spanish onion, or 2 medium regular yellow onions – thinly sliced.
• 1 medium red pepper – thinly sliced.
• 2 tbslp good extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1lb bag of frozen uncooked shrimp (thawed) OR 1lb fresh shrimp, heads and tails removed.
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• salt to taste, start with a teaspoon and add more later if needed
• Handful of chopped cilantro to garnish (optional)

THE METHOD:

• Heat the 2tbsp of olive oil in a saucepan, and add onions. Cook over medium heat for a couple of mins.
• Add red pepper strips and cook till onions and peppers turn tender.
• Add in shrimp, salt, cumin and chili powder, and cook till the shrimp turn pink.
• Add in the chopped cilantro for garnish.
• Heat the whole wheat wrap in a toaster oven or on a frying pan; I like them very crispy, you might want them just warmed up.
• Spread some mayo on one side of the wrap, add in the shrimp filling, and bite in to the delicious shrimp.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• You can use Old Bay seafood seasoning if you want some classic flavors
• Parsley can stand in for the cilantro in a pinch, and cayenne pepper for the chili powder
• The filling works great between deli flats or eaten simply with hot white rice also