Sorry to have been off the blogging radar for a couple of weeks! I still believe in Spring Break even though I may seem a little past the expiration date - plus the beach was calling!
Yesterday I got to do one of my favorite things - cook on Talk of the Town. The crew at Channel 5 saw my blog about Chic Shrimp (02/26/2014) and said they couldn’t resist. These are serious shrimp people! Apparently it was a hit, because there wasn’t a bite left when I packed up to go.
I did get to send the remaining sauce home with a delightful guy who is interning at Channel 5 and was planning to cook this dish for his girlfriend last night. Lucky girl – who doesn’t love a man who will make you shrimp for dinner!
When I cook on TV, I usually over-buy ingredients, partly so I’ll have plenty, and also because my guys don’t appreciate watching me cook something they love on television and then being told they don’t get any.
I learned that particular lesson very quickly. We had shrimp and prosciutto in the fridge, but after making Chic Shrimp twice in one day for TV, I really didn’t want a “three-peat” for dinner. So I switched it up and the target audience (son and husband) loved this take on Southwest Shrimp Cobb Salad. Usually a salad for dinner is not met with happy smiles and a positive attitude in my home.
That all improved greatly when the dinner salad included grilled shrimp wrapped in prosciutto (that counted for the bacon and ham part of the Cobb), blackened chicken (chicken is always in my freezer), jalapeno cornbread croutons (ok, that made me feel sort of clever), and an easy blue cheese dressing made in the blender. Chopped tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, avocado, red onion, black beans, olives, and cilantro made up the list of possible add-ons. It would have been easy to change up ingredients. Corn would have been nice and maybe chopped bell pepper, but I was working with what was on hand. Here’s what I did. I wrapped the shrimp in prosciutto, skewered it, brushed on the sauce and threw it on the grill. (recipe in blog: 2/26/2014). At the same time, I grilled a chicken breast coated with blackening seasoning.
Earlier in the evening, I made my usual cornbread recipe – everyone probably has a recipe they love, or at least a quick mix in the cupboard- adding chopped jalapenos. I baked it in a bigger pan to make a thinner cornbread and let it cool. I’ll include directions for turning this into croutons.
The dressing recipe is below and you can make it several days ahead. This salad was nice enough to serve at a party and simple enough, with a little prep, to count as a weeknight supper. You could make this even easier by visiting the salad bar at the grocery for add-ons and buying deli chicken. All in all, it was a fun dinner and a great way to make a salad seem like a treat. I’ll take that any day!
For Salad:
Chic Shrimp (02/26/2014)
Blackened Chicken, leftover grilled, or deli roast chicken
Romaine lettuce
Your choice of ingredients: Avocado, red onion, tomatoes, olives, hard boiled eggs, cheese, black beans, corn, peppers, cilantro (remember the grocery salad bar can be your friend!)
Blue Cheese Dressing (below)
Jalapeno Cornbread Croutons (below)
Southwestern Blue Cheese Dressing
Ingredients
4 oz blue cheese
1 cup buttermilk
2 Tablespoons vinegar (I used a white balsamic that was a bit sweet – if you use something else, maybe add a pinch of sugar – ½ tsp)
1 Tbsp dried tarragon (wish I had fresh)
½ tsp salt
½ cup olive oil
Directions
Add all ingredients EXCEPT olive oil to blender and process until smooth.
With motor running add olive oil in a thin stream and process for about 30 seconds.
*This is a thinner dressing than the one in the cookbook (p. 37) since it doesn’t have mayo or sour cream. It was perfect for the salad. You could also use a bottled dressing.
Jalapeno Cornbread Croutons
Make your own version of cornbread or use any mix, adding 2 Tbsp of jarred jalapeno peppers, chopped. (Optional: add ¼ cup cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese.)
Bake in a slightly larger pan than the recipe requires for a flatter bread (see photo). Cool and slice into ½ inch squares for croutons. Toss in 2 Tbsp melted butter and bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes until crisp and browned.
