Thyme | I Can Cook That

Crispy Herbed Shrimp with Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes

Have you ever opened up a food magazine, and have decided by a photo only that you want, no need, to make that recipe? I didn’t even look at the title, or read the ingredients, before I had earmarked this recipe to make. Shrimp, asparagus, and tomatoes? This is right up my alley. The best part of cooking with seafood is that it’s almost always a quick meal. This Cooking Light recipe for Crispy Herbed Shrimp with Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes can be made in only 40 minutes, perfect for a weeknight dinner.

Ingredients

Shrimp:

3/4 cup panko, divided
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

Chive Aioli:

1/2 cup 2% Greek yogurt
1/4 cup canola mayonnaise
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes:

1 pound asparagus, trimmed
1/2 cup grape tomatoes
1/3 cup sliced shallots
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Cooking spray

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Winter Lentil Soup

Philadelphia is about to have a full week of weather in the 70s. I think there’s even an 80 degree day thrown in In March! I’m so excited, but I feel a bit stressed because I didn’t get to make all of my winter soups and stews. But who says you need to eat these in freezing weather? So I decided to make this Winter Lentil Stew for lunches in my office when they crank up the AC and I feel like it’s winter.

Ingredients:

4 leeks, white and light green parts only
1 bunch kale (mine was huge, so I ended up using half)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, undrained
6 cups water
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut
1/2 cup brown lentils
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Prepare all your ingredients. Slice each leek in half lengthwise and then slice into 1/4 inch thick half-moons. You want about 2 cups of half moons.

Add to a large bowl filled with cold water and swish to remove any grit. Drain and pay dry. Lay on a paper towel.

Remove the stems from the kale and then thinly slice the leaves. You want about 3 cups of leaves.

Peel and chop your sweet potatoes. You want them to be bite sized or smaller. Measure out the lentils, prepare your thyme leaves, and open your can of diced tomatoes.

Add a large saucepan to the stove over medium heat. Add the oil and heat. Add the leeks and cook for three minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the water and bring to a boil.

Stir in the kale, sweet potatoes, lentils, thyme, salt, and pepper. Cover, lower the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes or until the lentils are tender.

If freezing, you can spoon into individual containers, let cool, and freeze at this point.

If enjoying immediately, eat as is, or sprinkle with some grated Parmesan cheese.

I can’t wait to enjoy this on my “colder” days in the office!

Pancetta Crisps with Goat Cheese and Pear

With the holidays fast approaching, we all need more quick appetizer recipes for when friends and family come to visit. This one for Pancetta Crisps with Goat Cheese and Pear from Southern Living intrigued me: pear, pancetta, honey, and goat cheese. I was interested to see how these flavors would all play out together. Because this can be served cold, you can do most of it ahead of time, pop it into the fridge, and bring it out right before you need it. Note: I only made 6 servings but naturally this can be expanded to fit any number of people.

Ingredients:

6 thin slices pancetta (I just asked the butcher to slice it thin, but not as thin as proscuitto)
1 anjou pear
1/4 (2-oz.) package goat cheese, crumbled
Cracked pepper
Honey
Thyme leaves and sprigs

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Arrange the pancetta slices on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil.

Cook the pancetta in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until crisp.

Transfer the pancetta to a paper towel and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Use an apple corer to core your pear. This was surprisingly easy (I have no clue why I thought this would be a battle).

Slice the pear into equal sized slices. I got 6 slices, plus the top and bottom of the pear.

Add the pancetta on top of the pear. Top with crumbled goat cheese. Sprinkle with pepper and some chopped thyme. This is where you can stop and pop these in the fridge if you are making them ahead. Right before serving, drizzle with a bit of honey.

It’s quite pretty, isn’t it?

But… how does it taste? I actually really liked this! It’s flavorful, different, and easy to eat with one hand (crucial for a get together where most are walking and mingling).

The pancetta was a wonderfully salty contrast to the sweetness of the pear and honey, the goat cheese added a nice creaminess and the thyme added little pops of flavor that brought the whole appetizer together.

There were some awesome textures in this as well. Overall, a definite keeper!

Mashed Potatoes with Mushroom Sauce

I love mashed potatoes. I love them so much that my Aunt and Uncle usually ask me to come over the day before Thanksgiving to help peel all of the potatoes so that there are enough for me (I could probably eat just a bowl of mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving and be happy.) I found a new method of making mashed potatoes on MyRecipes, but modified it a bit and added a mushroom sauce to make this vegetarian recipe for Mashed Potatoes with Mushroom Sauce.

Ingredients:

8 medium-size red potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 cups half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley

Mushroom Sauce:

2 teaspoons butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 container of sliced cremini (baby bella) mushrooms
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
Salt and pepper, to taste

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Bacon-Topped Meatloaf

I didn’t grow up in a meatloaf household. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve only had meatloaf once. So when my boyfriend put in a special request for meatloaf I wasn’t exactly thrilled. But he rarely asks for anything specific, and is always willing to eat whatever I make (I jokingly refer to him as “I Can Eat That”) so I think he deserves this one request. I decided to try a recipe from Tyler Florence with a few changes.

Ingredients:

Tomato Relish:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 bay leaves

2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded and finely diced

4 plum tomatoes, halved, seeded, and finely diced

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 12 ounce bottle of ketchup

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper

Meatloaf:

1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs

3 tablespoons milk

1 pound ground beef

1 pound Italian sausage, casing removed

2 eggs

Leaves from 2 fresh thyme sprigs

Salt and pepper

3 bacon slices

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Vegan Chilled Corn Soup

I had a realization a few days ago that summer is almost over. And the end of summer means the winding down of fresh ingredients. So for the next few weeks, I am going to try to make meals that really highlight all of those in season vegetables (like my post about Fettuccine with Fresh Tomato Sauce). For seasonal recipes, Cooking Light continues to be my go-to magazine. Because it comes monthly, the recipes change with the seasons and freshness of produce. In the September issue, Cooking Light featured seven “Trailblazing Chefs” including recipes from some of the chefs. Chef Brandon Sharp, the executive chef of Solar located at the Solage Calistoga spa resort in the Napa Valley, has a recipe for Chilled Corn Soup that will make the most of summer corn. Plus, its also vegan and mostly fat free, win!

Ingredients (makes 6 servings):

4 large ears shucked corn

4 tablespoons canola oil

3/4 cup chopped onion

6 sprigs fresh thyme, tied in a bundle

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

1 garlic clove, minced

3 cups water

1/2 cups diced peeled avocado

1/2 cup diced radish

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

Begin by shucking your corn. You can buy already shucked corn in the supermarket which will work just fine, just don’t use frozen corn kernels for this recipe. Prepare some of your ingredients: chop the onion, mince the garlic and bundle the thyme.

Using a knife, cut the kernels from the ears of corn. Using the dull side of the knife blade, run the knife back over the cobs to remove the remaining pulp and corn starch from the cobs into a separate bowl.

Heat oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onions, tied thyme, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. It’s best to tie the thyme for easy removal later.

Reduce the heat to medium low and cover. Cook for 8 minutes or until the onions have softened, stirring occasionally. Add the corn kernels and minced garlic, cover, and cook for 4 minutes.

Add the corn starch/pulp, water and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and discard the thyme. Pour half of the corn mixture into a blender.

Remove the center piece of the blender lid so that the steam can escape. Place a clean towel or paper towel over the hole in the blender lid to avoid splatters, and blend until smooth. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a large bowl.

Using a spoon, push the liquid through the sieve and discard the solids.

Repeat with the remaining half of the corn mixture. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

When you are ready to serve the corn soup, dice the avocado and radishes, and chop the cilantro. Add to a bowl. Squeeze the lime juice over the avocado and radishes. Be sure to get it on all pieces so that they don’t oxidize and turn colors. Add the ground red pepper and mix to combine.

To serve, ladle 1 cup soup into each of 6 bowls, top with 2 tablespoons of the avocado mixture.

The soup was so creamy and smooth, it tasted like it was made with heavy cream. The corn starch/pulp thickens the broth which gives it that creamy quality. The radishes added a nice crunch to the dish, and the avocados add a bit more creaminess and a little bit of good fats to make the dish more filling. I loved the cilantro, it enhances the other flavors. What a delicious soup!

Corn Chowder

I have so much corn, it’s getting ridiculous. For the past three weeks my CSA share has come with 6 ears of corn and well, I’m corn-ed out. So I decided to make a corn chowder that I plan on freezing to enjoy when I’m craving corn in non-summer months. I’m hoping the texture of the chowder doesn’t change after freezing. I found this recipe on Simply Recipes, and chose to make it without the bacon. I also had green bell peppers from my CSA share, so I used that instead of buying a red pepper.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter

1/2 large yellow onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 large carrot, chopped (about 1/3 cup)

1/2 celery stalk, chopped (about 1/3 cup)

3 ears of sweet corn, kernels removed from the cobs (about 2 cups), cobs reserved

1 bay leaf

3 1/2 cups milk, whole or low fat

1 medium Yukon Gold potato, or Russet, peeled and diced

1/4 green bell pepper, chopped (about 1/4 cup)

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Prepare all your vegetables.

In a large saute pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until soft.

Add the carrot and celery and cook for another 4 or 5 minutes.

Cut the corn cobs in half and add them to the saute pan.

Add the milk and bay leaf.

Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a light simmer (low heat, maybe even the “warm” setting).

Cover and cook for 30 minutes. Do not boil; make sure it is just at a light simmer. This is to prevent the milk from burning.

Remove the cobs and the bay leaf. Turn the heat up to medium. Add the potatoes, green pepper, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper, to taste.

Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.

Increase the heat again and add the corn kernels and thyme. Bring to a boil. (Last time) reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

I had a bit of this just to make sure it turned out alright, and it was really good! I wish I had cut the vegetables much much smaller, I found it to be a bit too chunky. This is a hearty colder weather dish, so I can’t wait to break this out when the leaves begin to change.

Truffled Roasted Potatoes

I was so excited to receive red potatoes in my CSA share this week. I love roasted red potatoes with fresh herbs, but I had a little bit of white truffle oil left that I wanted to use. I found this recipe for Truffled Roasted Potatoes from Cooking Light which sounded delicious.

Ingredients:
1 small container of red potatoes, washed and quartered
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic scapes, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon white truffle oil
1 teaspoon each of chopped fresh thyme leaves, sage leaves, and rosemary

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Wash your red potatoes thoroughly, but gently. (The skin of red potatoes is fragile). I used a little brush to lightly buff off the dirt under warm running water.

before

after

Cut the potatoes into wedges: quarters for the larger potatoes, and halves for the smaller potatoes, and arrange on a cookie sheet.

Drizzle olive oil over the potatoes and sprinkle with garlic scapes, salt and pepper.

Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are brown and slightly wrinkled.

While the potatoes are cooking, chop your thyme, sage, and rosemary. Combine.

Remove the potatoes from the oven, drizzle with truffle oil, and sprinkle with the herb mixture.

This was fantastic. I honestly couldn’t stop eating the potatoes. Truffle oil is such a great ingredient, although it is a bit of a splurge. Truffle oil is usually added at the end of a dish, the oil is too delicate to be subjected to high heat. A little bit of truffle oil goes a long way though so do not overpour! When I make this recipe in the future, I plan on using normal minced garlic (2-3 cloves), the garlic scapes were quite burnt from the oven so I didn’t get any of the garlic taste from them. Boo.