Shrimp Fried Rice, as Healthy as I can get it.

I meant to post this several days ago, but life ran away with me and I didn't get the chance.  In Hoboken and Jersey City, half the restaurants are Asian, and some are good and some are bad.  The one thing all of them have in common is that none of them do fried rice with brown rice. As we try to be as healthy as we can, I like to substitute brown rice into recipes whenever possible. This is one of those times.

In our house, shrimp fried rice is a whole meal. Lots of veggies, lots of rice, lots of shrimp. You can make this meal as is and have it as a whole meal, or cut it down to have as a side. So get out your wok, and let's go.

Shrimp Fried Rice w/ Brown Rice
(Partially adapted from the Food Network)
-4 tablespoons of Peanut Oil
-1lb of medium/large size shrimp, peeled
-2 eggs beaten, with one teaspoon of toasted sesame oil
-1 bunch of green onions (scallions), finely chopped
-2 teaspoons of minced garlic
-2 teaspoons of minced ginger
-1/2 cup thawed frozen peas. Cooked is ok as well
-1 can sliced water chestnuts
-1 can baby corn pieces
-1 small can sliced mushrooms (optional, as we don't use it, but it's good if you do)
-Low sodium soy sauce
-Brown rice. 1.5 cups cooked regularly, or 2 bags of frozen microwaved brown rice. ( it's a cop out, but a time saver. ) Cool after cooked

Heat wok at medium high heat, add 2 tablespoons of peanut oil and swirl to coat. Add shrimp and cook until pink, approximately 3 minutes, flipping throughout. Once pink, remove shrimp and reserve.
Add eggs to heated wok and scramble till solid, but still a little soft. Remove and reserve, wiping down the wok.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons of peanut oil to wok and swirl till heated at medium high. Add onions, garlic, ginger, water chestnuts, scallions, and half cook.

Add cooled brown rice and spread throughout wok. Toss to heat through and fry rice for about 8 minutes. Add a glug of soy sauce to flavor. Toss and add peas, shrimp and eggs. Toss again to make sure heatedd throughout.

Once all is fried to your liking, serve and enjoy. Keep soy sauce on the side for flavoring.

Quick Herb Seared Flounder and Stringbeans

I've been in a seafood rut lately. Tilapia, salmon, shrimp, scallops, rinse and repeat. So yesterday we hit the fish counter for something different. Luckily for us, there were 4 good pieces of flounder left and they were all mine.  I was very happy to have something new to play with. Now, normally when I think of  flounder, I think crab stuffed or broiled. I couldn't find good lump crab meat, so that was nixxed, and I HATE broiled thin fish. It just gets wet and sorta goey. I'll have none of that at my dinner table.

So I set out to find a recipe easy enough to throw together after a long day of work, but with complex enough flavor to make me feel like I wasn't copping out on dinner. This recipe is adapted from a recipe for sanddabs, which I'm told are similar thin white fish. It's light and not too filling. We searched the fridge for a healthy side. (Our vacation in California is rapidly approaching and it's time to get in swimsuit shape). Dayna spotted a bag of crisp stringbeans (I promised her credit for the veggie portion of our meal) and we were off to the races.

Herb Seared Flounder with Steamed/Sautee'd Stringbeans

• 4 fillets of flounder
• 1/2 cup of white wine
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh cracked pepper
• 1/2 cup assorted herbs (I used parsley, oregano, tarragon and basil. Thyme or dill can be used. I didn't have any.)
• 3 tablespoons butter, divided in half (as always, I opt for smart balance with olive oil)

In shallow bowl, mix wine, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. Submerge/coat flounder fillets cover. Marinate in refridgerator for 30 minutes.

In a shallow bowl, mix flour, herbs, salt and pepper.

Remove fish from marinade and reserve. Coat fillets in mix and set aside while you melt the divided butter in 2 non-stick skillets. I recommend using 2 pans as it's easier to cook the fillets 2 to a pan.

Once butter is browned, add fish to pans. 2 fillets per pan. Sear for two and a half minutes per side.

Flip and repeat.

For stringbeans, trim and steam in microwave, then deglaze flounder pan with leftover marinade. Toss/saute stringbeans in marinade pan for 2-3 minutes.

Serve!!