Weekend Food & Fun!

Friday night a bunch of us went to Casa Romero for some Mexican Eats. I had fun seeing my friends but I wasn't wicked impressed with the dinner.  Our service wasn't the best either!

Saturday I ran a fast three miles.  So fast in fact that I ran the first mile at 7:45 pace.  I'm trying hard to get faster in the next couple months.

When I got back from the run, I made myself a green monster- with Kale, Almond Milk, Blueberries, Raspberries and Frozen Fruit.  I added some Agave Nectar on top.  Good fuel! However, I'm a slow drinker and only got through half before it became cement-like!


Saturday night Dave and I went out to dinner... EARRRLY.  I had plans to go out with my girlfriends so we decided to have a date-night before I went out.  We went to this local bar called Stone's Public House.  It had such delicious food!  We shared two small plates- the Pan Fried Softshell Crab with Black Bean Mango Salsa & Chipotle Aioli and the Lobster & Avocado Salad with Ruby Red Grapefruit on Bibb Lettuce.  Both were so refreshing and delicious.  We also shared a small Lobster Roll that I forgot to photograph.

After our early dinner, I took off to meet my friends at Atlantic Beer Garden in the Seaport area. I had so much fun!  I drank a few Grapefruit Vodkas (I was on a grapefruit kick) with lots of water.  We hung out mostly on the rough deck and the views were awesome of the city.  I love being on the water.  If you haven't been here, this bar is a good time.  I didn't feel like it was quite as young as Fanuel Hall bars and it was nice be a little outside the city.

Good times...

On Sunday I ran another fast 2 miles with Dave.  I wanted to run more but neither of us were feeling it.  It was hot.  When I got back, I got my grocery list together and perused a new blog Ezra Pound Cake and found quite a few delicious recipes to try.  I decided to make Ezra's Baked Shrimp Scampi for dinner. Now I am going to preface this by saying this recipe had a lot of oil and a lot of butter.  I tried to cut it down but probably not enough.  It was oozing with flavor, but not much nutritional value.  Which is okay once in awhile, right?

Baked Shrimp Scampi
inspired by Ezra Pound Cake, originally inspired by my girl Ina Garten
Ingredients:
2 pounds (12 to 15 per pound) shrimp deveined and tails removed
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (the original called for 12!)
4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
1/4 cup minced shallots
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon of minced thyme 
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 extra-large egg yolk
2/3 cup panko
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Peel, devein and butterfly the shrimp, and remove tails. Mix shrimp in a small bowl, and toss with the olive oil, sherry, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Set aside while you make the butter and garlic mixture.  In a small bowl, mash the softened butter with the garlic, shallots, parsley, rosemary, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolk, panko, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper until combined. Starting from the outer edge of a 14-inch oval gratin dish, arrange the shrimp. Pour the remaining marinade over the shrimp. Spread the butter mixture evenly over the shrimp. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until hot and bubbly. If you like the top browned, place under a broiler for 1 minute.

I served this along with an Arugula Salad with Feta Cheese and Grapefruit.  I also made a dressing with Grapefruit Juice, Lemon Juice, S & P, Thyme, mustard and EVOO. Perfect Sunday Dinner!

I also made something for lunches this week.  I had Chicken that I had cooked on Thursday and needed to eat before they went bad so I decided to make a take on Annie-Eats Creamy Taco Mac.
I used diced chicken instead of ground turkey but other than that I kept the recipe pretty much the same.  I also used 2 Year Aged Cheddar Cheese that I picked up at Whole Foods...... mmmmm.... I love cheese.

Cheesy Creamy Taco Mac

Ingredients:
2 cooked chicken breasts, diced
8 oz. dry pasta shapes
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained

1/2 cup salsa
4 tbsp. packaged taco seasoning or make your own

1.5 oz. cream cheese
½ cup sour cream
Salt and pepper
Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Cook pasta according to the package directions.  Drain, reserving ½ cup of pasta water.  Set aside. Dice Chicken and add it to a hot skillet and mix in the garlic and onions and cook for a few minutes.  Mix in the diced tomatoes, salsa and taco seasoning and let simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Stir in the cooked pasta, cream cheese, sour cream and reserved pasta water, and continue stirring until the cream cheese is melted and the sauce is well blended.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer over medium-low heat 3-5 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit.  Remove from the heat and top with shredded cheddar cheese, if desired. Place under a broil for a few minutes to melt cheddar cheese.

I have lots of other delicious recipes on the plan for the week including Greek Chicken Kabobs served with Cherry Tomato Salad for tonight, Cornmeal-Crusted Ratatouille Tart (I'm big into tarts these days), and Chicken Fajitas.  And of course, Kale Chips!  

I ran another 3 miles this morning on the treadmill and plan to do some speed tomorrow.  Wednesday I would like to get over to physical therapy (Stef- will you be there?) and then do some lifting and some running/step the rest of the week.  Have a great Week!!!!!!