Love Life, Hate Kittens

[my shrimp tortilla soup!]

Fitness Challenge as inspired by Risa Y. Risa went vegan for two weeks and posted pics on facebook of her daily meals. So inspiring.

I got a new recipe book this weekend and as much as I hate Rachel Ray, her book was really neatly organized with simple receipes. I planned out my meals for the whole week according to the book and here is my first recipe.

Shrimp Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

• Vegetable or corn oil, for drizzling, plus 2 tablespoons — 2 turns of the pot in a slow stream
• 1 red bell pepper, split and seeded
• 1 pound shrimp
• 2 tbs of thyme
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• Salt and pepper
• 1 medium yellow skinned onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 jalapeno
• 1 (28-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 3 cups chicken stock, available in re-sealable paper containers on soup aisle
• 4 cups white corn tortilla chips broken up into large pieces
• 1 cup shredded pepper jack

Directions

Heat a grill pan to high and a soup pot to medium-high. Cook shrimp with thyme, coriander, and salt and pepper. Remove from heat (don’t want to overcook!). Add onions and jalapeno. Char vegetables 7 minutes, total, turning occasionally.

While vegetables are cooking. Heat chicken stock. Bring soup to a bubble, reduce heat to medium low.

Add tomatos to vegetable mixture along with the shrimp. Saute on high for 4 minutes until slightly charred. Add mixture to chicken broth and let simmer for 15 minutes. While soup is simmering, add chips to soup in handfuls and fold in. Serve soup immediately with scatter of shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Verdict

Too brothy! Not creamy like chicken tortilla soup should be. I blame this on Rachel Ray. During this process. Something should have went through the blender or had some thickner to add consistency. Boo :-/

I just weighed myself and I lost a pound. I feel a bit healthier. and my boobs look a bit bigger. 

So I’ve been really conscious about what I eat lately so I do try to cook every night. I actually like cooking a lot so it’s no big deal. I usually go with rice dishes or seafood. I’ve been trying to cut down on eating grits. Luckily I found a good alternative.. couscous! I haven’t checked the nutritional facts yet but it seeeeems light :(

I feel obligated to share this recipe with you guys cuz it looks/tastes amazing and its so easy to make.

Mediterranean Snapper [got this from chowhound. but i revised it a bit]

• 2 long red snapper filets, roughly a pound

• 3 roma tomatoes

• 1 small zuchinni diced about 1 cup

• 1 small can 4 oz of sliced of halved black olives

• 1 teaspoon capers

• 1/2 cup sliced or diced white onion 

• 1 cup feta cheese crumbled

• 1 cup bread crumbs

• 3 roasted red peppers sliced

• 1 cup white wine

• 1 lemons. Half the juice for the veggie, half to slice.

• 1 teaspoon each thyme and oregano (1 tablespoon of each if fresh herbs)

• 3 teaspoons of butter

• Olive Oil

• Garlic, Tony’s seasoning, salt, and pepper for taste

• 1 box of plain couscous

• Vegetable broth [optional]

1. Preparing your fish, in a pyrex baking dish, make the sheet of foil large enough to wrap around the fish with extra room for the vegetables. Lightly drizzle just a little olive oil on the bottom so it won’t stick. Place each filet on the foil and top with a little salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 375 and let the fish come to room temperature.
2. Making the veggie mixture. In some olive oil, saute garlic, onions, tomatos, and zuchinni until slightly soft. Then add wine, seasoning, capers, olives. Cook another 3-4 minutes until everything it cooked but not too soft. Add the lemon juice at the last minute. 
3. Now, back to your fish. Top it with a little butter, then a generous scoop of the vegetable mixture with the sauce. Distribute it out evenly. Top with some feta cheese, then with a spoon or two of bread crumbs, 2 slices of lemon per filet, then with a drizzle of olive oil. Wrap up but not too tight and bake for 20-25 minutes. 
4. When your fish is almost done you can cook your couscous. I used tri color couscous cuz it looks really fancy. Boil your broth or hot water. Remember couscous is one cup to one cup. When your water is boiled, pour in couscous. Cover and take off heat. It only takes 5 minutes for it to cook. Fluff with fork.
5. Serve fish topped with veggies with couscous on the side.