Mexican Shrimp and Black Beans

Here’s a delicious way to serve shrimp if you’re looking to get away from the standard shrimp with pasta, or shrimp with butter, or fried shrimp, or mayonnaise-based shrimp salad. You get the idea. It’s a healthier option, full of exciting flavors and textures.

Mexican Shrimp and Black Beans

1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined; tails removed
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Chili powder

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
½ cup purple onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
¾ teaspoon oregano
¾ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ cup fresh lime juice
¾ teaspoon kosher salt

2 avocados
Cherry tomatoes, halved
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Cooked brown rice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place shrimp on a baking sheet. Drizzle with about ½ tablespoon olive oil, and sprinkle with desired amount of salt, pepper, and chili powder. Roast for 6-8 minutes, just until shrimp become pink. Remove from oven and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine beans, onion, garlic, jalapeno pepper, oregano, cumin, lime juice and kosher salt.

Halve avocado, and remove pit. Slice avocado in shell in about ½ inch cubes. Remove cubes from shells, and add to bean mixture. Slice desired amount of cherry tomatoes, sprinkle lightly with salt, and add to avocado and beans. Add cilantro and shrimp, and lightly toss everything together. Adjust seasoning.

For each serving, top desired amount of brown rice with shrimp and bean mixture. Top with cherry tomatoes and a good drizzle of olive oil.

Guacamole-Style Baked Avocados with Eggs

The avocado—creamy, rich, decadent—and lucky for me, healthy. The fat in avocados is the good kind, so I eat them often, in guacamole (of course), in salads, on sandwiches, and sometimes just on their own, sprinkled with a little lemon or lime juice, kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

My good friend, Penny, recently shared a baked avocado recipe with me, and it’s been on my mind ever since. That recipe included bacon, but I top mine with my favorite guacamole ingredients instead.

I wondered how baking the avocado may compromise the integrity of its texture, so here’s what I did. I kept my avocados in the refrigerator until I was ready to bake them. I also used room temperature eggs, figuring they would take less time to set. I think this technique works deliciously well. I hope you agree.

Guacamole-Style Baked Avocados with Eggs

Ripe avocados, chilled
Fresh lime juice
Kosher salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
Eggs, room temperature
Fresh tomatoes, finely chopped
Jalapeno peppers, minced
Purple onions, minced
Minced garlic (optional)
Chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Slice avocados, and remove pits. Slice a thin layer off the bottom of each half so that avocados remain stable, and place in a baking dish. Depending on the size of your avocados and eggs, it may be necessary to scoop out a little avocado flesh.

Squeeze lime juice over avocado halves, and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Fill each avocado half with an egg—don’t worry if your egg whites run over a bit. Add a little more salt and pepper over each egg.

Bake for about 10 minutes until egg whites are set but yolks are still soft (I actually prefer mine runny). Remove from oven, and add toppings. Serve with your favorite bread or tortilla chips.

“An Experiment in Sausage” or “What I Did with Ground Turkey”

What to do with a coupon for organic ground turkey, even though you don’t typically eat ground turkey? You take coupon to grocery store—because it’s $1.00 off—then you lose coupon while shopping. You still buy said ground turkey without coupon because you hate to ask checkout girl to take it back. You get ground turkey home, but you have no idea what to do with it. Turkey burgers sound tired and done to death—so does turkey spaghetti, turkey meatloaf... Suddenly, you decide that breakfast would be perfect for dinner, and there you have it. Turkey sausage.

You never find coupon, but breakfast dinner is amazing.

Spicy Turkey Sausage

1 lb. organic ground turkey
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon sage
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (1/8 if you like your sausage more mild)
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced

Vegetable oil

Gently mix all ingredients in a large bowl (don't overwork meat). Divide mixture into 8 equal parts (about 2 oz. each). Form into patties.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large skillet (I used an electric skillet set between 320-340 degrees). Fry sausages until browned— about 6-7 minutes on each side.

If you try this recipe, I’d love to hear your feedback. Send me a message at selftaughtfoodie@gmail.com to let me know what you think.

My New Favorite - Brie Pizza

This pizza is too simple really. I'm amazed that so few ingredients deliver such amazing flavor. Spread pre-baked pizza crust with a thin layer of pesto sauce. Top with:

Canadian bacon or pancetta
Sun dried tomatoes
Sliced brie cheese
Thinly sliced purple onion
Shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)

Bake at 400 on lowest oven rack for 10 minutes or so until bottom crust is golden brown. Move to middle oven rack, and cook for about 10 more minutes until the edge of the crust has browned to your preference, and cheese is melted. Remove from oven, and allow pizza to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing. Drizzle good olive oil over pizza slices, and top with chopped fresh rosemary before serving.

Photos of this deliciously amazing pizza to come--I'm be doing this one again REAL soon.