Roasted Red Pepper Seafood Pasta Salad

This amazing delicious pasta salad was utterly delectable! I savored every bite and could distinguish all the flavors in this dish.  Lately, I have been making my dishes gluten free, so the noodles I used were rice noodles.  If you cook them just right (al dente) they taste amazing.  This recipe is great for picnics and potluck lunches or dinners!  

What you need: 

•   12 ounces of gluten free pasta (You can find these at your Greenwise Publix or Whole foods)
•   2 bell peppers (red and yellow), halved, stemmed and seeded
•   8 garlic cloves (un-peeled)
•   1/4 cup of almonds (I bought the bag that has them pre-sliced)
•   1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
•   1 lemon
•   1 ball of fresh mozzarella (the kind that comes in a ball in water)
•   1 bunch of fresh basil
•   1/2 lb of peeled and deveined shrimp
•   1/2 lb of large sea scallops 
•   Fresh ground pepper
•   Oregano

What you need to do:

Preheat the broiler;

Bring pot of salted water to boil.  Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions.  Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process;

Place the bell peppers, cut side down on a foil lined broiler pan.  Place the garlic on the pan and broil until charred, (7-8 minutes).  Once charred, place in a bowl, covered and set aside for about 5 minutes.  (this will facilitate peeling them);

Heat a dry skillet over medium heat and add the almonds (shaking) for aout 5 minutes.  Chop and set aside to cool;

Squeeze the garlic out of the peel and place on a cutting board over a 1/2 teaspoon of salt.  Mash the garlic into a paste with a large knife.  Peel the roasted peppers and slice into thin strips and transfer them into a large bowl.

In a skillet, add one tablespoon of olive oil, add the shrimp and scallops.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Sear the scallops and cook the shrimp all the way through.  Set aside.

In the large bowl add the pasta, garlic paste and drizzle with the olive oil.  Add the peppers, scallops and shrimp and stir.  Grate 1 teaspoon of lemon zest, and squeeze all the lemon juice over the dish.  Stir;

Break the mozzarella into chunks with your fingers and chop the basil leaves, add them along with the almonds.  Add oregano, salt & pepper to taste and toss!

Thats it!  Hope you all enjoy this light tasting meal.  I know I did.  I paired this dish with a very cold glass of Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio.

Bon Appetite friends!!  & Happy Cooking!

Pepper Steak with Arugula Salad

This dish literally took me 10 minutes to make.  Healthy, fast and delicious works for me.  The Arugula leaf has a nutty bitter flavor I just love, and when paired with a lemon based vinaigrette and red onion, it’s to die for.  It definitely complimented the sweet peppers in the steak.  I found this to be a great combo!  Hope you do to.

What you need:

·       Steak strips (I bought them pre-cut at Publix)

·       1 white onion

·       1 green bell pepper

·       1 red bell pepper

·       Arugula lettuce

·       1 red onion

·       1 container of cherry tomatoes

·       Adobo to taste

·       Black pepper to taste

·       Mojo

·       Balsamic vinegar

·       Tomato basil seasoning from Mrs. Dash

·       Oregano

·       1 lemon

·       White wine vinegar

·       1 clove of garlic

·       Olive oil

Start off by seasoning the steak strips with a little bit of mojo, Adobo, black pepper and Mrs. Dash.  Heat skillet on high and add a little bit of olive oil.  Sear the steak strips then add the onions, peppers (Julienne) and cook until the veggies are tender.  At the very end, add about 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, stir and remove from heat.

Arrange your Arugula leaves on the plate and place tomato halves and red onion on top.  Serve the steak beside it and enjoy!

For the Dressing: Squeeze a whole lemon (until you have about ¼ cup of fresh lemon juice) and add the zest of the lemon, black pepper and oregano.  Add about a ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil, 1/8 of a cup of white wine vinegar and 1 minced clove of garlic.  (I like to blend with a mixer to make sure it blends really well and gets a dressing consistency).  Pour over the arugula salad.

I ate it just like that but I added brown rice for my boyfriend and he loved the meal.  Hope you guys enjoy it as much as we did.

Happy Cooking & Bon Appetite!

Pollo Guisado (Chicken Fricassee)

For this particular recipe which happens to be my step father, Jose “El Sonero” Torres’ favorite dish, that I make, I normally use a whole chicken.  However, this particular day, it was a personal request by him, and he LOVES drumsticks.  Being that I like wings, I just made it with drums and wings only and it tasted spectacular!!!  Hopefully you guys will love it just as much as my family does!

What you will need:

·       Chicken (whole or you can do thighs and drums or drums and wings…you get the picture) [[remove all the skin]]

·       1 large baking potato (peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes)

·       1 can of tomato sauce (no salt added)

·       1 can of tomato paste (no salt added)

·       Mojo (I use Badia)

·       My BASIC Sofrito

·       1 lime

·       Adobo (to taste)

·       Pepper (to taste)

·       1 packet of Sazon (by Goya)

·       Water

1.  Wash the chicken and remove all the skin;

2.  Give the chicken a little lime rub;

3.  Pour a generous amount (about ½ cup) of mojo over the chicken and with your hands, tumble the chicken in the bowl;

4.  Season with Adobo, black pepper and ½ of the Sazon packet;

5.  Heat a pot with about 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil (heat till smoking);

6.  Add the chicken and heat until browned on the outside (it will still be raw on the inside);

7.  Add about 4 tablespoons of sofrito, potatoes and the can of tomato sauce and stir.  Continue cooking for about 2 minutes;

BY NOW THE AROMA IS DRIVING YOU BONKERS!!

8.  Add enough water to cover the ingredients in the pot completely (almost like a soup) Do not add salt as the mojo seasons it enough);

9.  Add the tomato paste and the rest of the sazon, stir and cover;

10.      Continue to let boil on high stirring occasionally until the liquid thickens into a sauce

11.      Serve over white rice.

And there you have it folks.  Simple, delicious and Puerto Rican!

Happy Cooking!

Buen Provecho!!

My BASIC Sofrito

Why do I call is basic?  Because it is!  I keep it basic because I like to add a lot of chopped fresh veggies and herbs to my dishes and they change for each dish.  I don’t want to over-power the dish by adding way too much to the sofrito recipe and like it as my base.

Here is what you will need:

·       Two green bell peppers

·       2 white onions

·       A fist size amount of fresh cilantro leaves

·       2 whole heads of garlic (peeled)

Instructions: In a blender place all of the items above (chopped) with no more than a ¼ cup of water and liquefy.

I use sofrito when I cook ground beef, when I make soups, beans, yellow rice, spaghetti and pretty much in anything that will have a red sauce base.

GET CREATIVE AND HAVE FUN COOKING!

Red Hot Stuffed Peppers

These peppers are INCREDIBLY tasty and definitely a household fav!!  It’s a full meal in a pepper cup.  I can eat 2 halves depending on the size of the peppers.  So when I make them I average about 1 large pepper per person.  This recipe is again, super easy and always a household pleaser.  I might make them tonight!  J

You will need to prepare Jes' Puerto Ri"CAN" Picadillo (Make it with a drier consistency by adding less tomato sauce and more chopped ingredients than the watery sofrito).

After you have prepared that, you will need:

·        Cooked rice of your choice.  (brown rice works really well here as it’s disguised by all the amazing flavors)

·        Shredded cheddar cheese

·        3 Large bell peppers (I prefer red for my recipe but you can use green, yellow or orange)

Cook the picadillo as directed in the link above.  Once that is done, add the rice and mix well.  Cut the bell peppers in 1/2, leaving the stem on them for looks and carefully carving out the seeds inside.  Stuff the peppers generously, top with cheddar cheese and bake in the oven on 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes (or until cheese has a golden brown color to it. (almost bubbling).  That’s all there is to it.

I pair this dish with one of my ultimate favorite wines, Cupcake’s, Red Velvet.  It goes really well together and the blends of red go down incredibly smooth.  I truly love this wine and hope you will too.

Hope you all enjoy this recipe & Bon Appetite!!

Happy Cooking!



Not your grama’s green beans

I don’t think I have ever had someone not LOVE my green beans.  I take the ordinary bland steamed bean and in the words of Emeril Agassi, “kick it up a notch”! lol.  This recipe is super easy and extremely mouth-watering!!  It goes excellent with steak or pretty much anything on the grill.

And this is what you’ll need:

·         Fresh green beans

·         ½ of container of  cherry or grape tomatoes (halved)

·         ¼ lb of bacon

·         2 cloves of garlic (minced)

·         2 table spoons of butter or margarine

·         Salt

·         Pepper

Cook the bacon as directed until crispy and set aside.  Add fresh green beans to boiling, salted water and boil for approximately 6-8 minutes.  (You want a tender but firm green bean). 

Heat a skillet and add butter until bubbling.  Throw in the tomato halves garlic and salt & pepper to taste, tossing for approximately 2-3 minutes in medium heat. (You want to heat the tomatoes and infuse the butter with the garlic but not completely reduce the tomatoes to nothing).

Drain the green beans, place in a serving dish and pour tomatoes (with butter & garlic) right over the green beans.  Crumble the crispy bacon and sprinkle over.  Just that simple!!    

**In the past I’ve added some shaved Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.  To die for!**

Hope you guys enjoy the dish! 

HAPPY COOKING!

Roasted Rosemary Chicken

Roasted Rosemary Chicken!

Hi!  It’s me again, with yet another simple and yummy dish in only 60 minutes from the oven to the table.  My honey is always complaining about how much he hates chicken because its so dry.  So every time I make a chicken dish, I experiment with new ways to keep it moist.  Believe it or not ONIONS!!  Whether you like then or not they serve as an excellent way to keep my chicken dishes moist.  And if you don’t like them, you can discard them after.  Or like me, chop them up and throw them back into the chicken drippings and pour over rice and green beans.

This is what you will need: 

• Chicken breast (skin on and bone in)
• Bahia mojo
• Adobo
• Black pepper
• Mrs. Dash Table Blend
• 1 white onion (sliced into rings)
• Sazon (1/2 a packet)
• Rosemary (dry)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Start by washing your breast under running cold water, cutting off the attached ribs with chicken shears and trimming the fat.  Layer 1/2 of the onion rings on the bottom of a baking dish and place the chicken on top of the rings.

Sparingly pour mojo all over chicken making sure its coated all over.  Sprinkle chicken with Adobo, black pepper, Mrs. Dash Table Blend and sazon.  Take the dried rosemary and crush it with your fingertips in your palm to release the aromas and spread generously all over chicken.  

(Make sure when you are seasoning the chicken, that you raise the skin and season under it and then stretch the skin back over the chicken. This also helps the chicken retain its moisture.  You can discard the skin after its cooked, but personally, to me, the skin is the best part! haha!!).   

Place the remaining onion rings over the chicken, add about 1/4 cup of water, cover with aluminum foil and back for 50 minutes.  After 50 minutes, carefully uncover chicken and set the oven to broil on high (pour the drippings over the chicken and keeping an eye on it, because it burns and dries easily in this stage).  You want the chicken to have a golden brown color and the skin to look crispy. I do this on both sides. 

Take the chicken out and let it rest for about 2-3 minutes.  Steam some brown rice and green beans and dig in. I pour the sauce over the white or brown rice with the onions and it's literally to die for.

Good Luck, Happy Cooking and Enjoy!!

Mom’s Favorite Shrimp-Fetti

SHRIMP-FETTI

This dish is delicious, quick, colorful and great for company on short notice.  I’ve made it as an appetizer where you scoop spoonfuls into mini bowls or as a dinner over jasmine rice.  And this is how I make it.

What you will need:

·         2  lbs of uncooked shrimp (peeled and deveined)

·         1 white onion

·         1 cucumber

·         1 container of cherry or grape tomatoes (halved)

·         Spanish green olives (I use Goya)

·         Distilled white vinegar

·         Extra virgin olive oil

·         Adobo to taste

·         1 clove of garlic

·         Oregano

Take the shrimp and season with adobo to taste.  Heat a pan (very hot) with extra virgin olive oil and throw shrimp in with the mashed garlic clove, tossing frequently.  (Careful, because they cook really fast and you do not want to overcook them).  Once shrimp are cooked remove from pan and set aside. (leave uncovered or the shrimp will continue to cook – and we don’t want that).

Dice the onion, cucumber and slice the tomatoes and olives in ½.  Add to the shrimp.  Then add ½ a cup of distilled vinegar and ½ a cup of extra virgin olive oil (adjust to taste).  Sprinkle oregano to taste and stir everything together…….and Voila!  

I LOVE eating this over really hot Jasmine rice.  The flavors just work really well together.  I hope you all enjoy this recipe. 

Happy Cooking!!!