Ginger Lime Shrimp Quinoa with Red Pepper and Yellow Corn

Hope "ya'll" had a great Thanksgiving!  We spent the holiday in Paula Deen's hometown, Savannah GA and also visited what I consider to be the South's best kept secret- Beaufort, SC.  Both cities provided a ton of beauty, history and exceptional food.  If you indulged like we did, then this week is all about Thanksgiving damage control!

Actually, Chris and I have decided to make a commitment between now and Christmas to fill our body with healthy and nutritional things. Our Fall weekend get-a-ways have been fun and we have eaten at some amazing restaurants, but with a looming trip to the Caribbean with my husband's family between Christmas and New Years, things have to change!  The next few weeks of recipes are going to be about using fresh, unprocessed food and seasonal ingredients.  Though there might be a couple with some butter or sugar in one or two, because well, we're not perfect ;)

This recipe is one I threw together and loved the resulted flavor combination.  Healthy quinoa is topped with a ginger lime shrimp and accented with crunchy yellow corn and bright red pepper.  The flavors are bold yet taste fresh and simple.  I didn't write down how much of the red bell pepper and carrots I used (oops), so just eye-ball it to your preference.  Give this recipe a try if you're looking for something different!

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa
1 tbsp lime zest
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro
Red bell pepper chopped
Carrots chopped
1/2 cup yellow corn
1/4 lb shrimp
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
peanut oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp cumin
pinch of cayenne pepper
Sea Salt to taste

Method

Prepare quinoa as directed to on box and set aside.  In a medium skillet heat oil and add garlic and ginger.  Saute for 2 minutes.  Add shrimp and cook for 3 minutes on each side until they are no longer opaque.  Add lemon juice, corn, carrots and red pepper and saute until soft.

To make the dressing, whisk together lime juice, lime zest, peanut oil, cumin, salt and cayenne pepper.  Combine dressing with shrimp and quinoa.  Serve either warm or cold!

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Shrimp Chorizo Burgers

Burgers are quintessential to the summer!  They are a great weeknight meal and of course, super popular for serving guests at cook outs.  Recently I was at the dentist browsing an old issue of Food & Wine magazine and there was an article about paella.  I love paella and while contemplating what to make for dinner last weekend, I couldn't get some of the paella's ingredients out of my mind!  When my husband requested that we cook up some burgers I had an idea!  What if I combined a few paella ingredients and incorporated them into a delicious burger?! 

This recipes recipe pairs two surf-in-turf ingredients who have known each other forever in a very friendly, delicious and perfect-for-cookouts way.   I decided to approach this burger concept kind of like how I build a crab cake and decided to chop up the shrimp and chorizo so it could be formed into a patty.  It worked out really well.  I baked these, but if you used a grill pan you could throw them on the grill too.  Make these spicy and sultry burgers at your next cook out!

Ingredients

Serves 4

1 lb of shrimp
1/2 lb of fresh chorizo (not smoked)
1 egg white
3 tbsp of mayonnaise
2 tbsp of diced white onions
1 tbsp of lemon juice (juice of half a lemon)
1/2 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp of pepper
3/4 cup of whole wheat bread crumbs
1 tbsp on garlic
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 kaiser rolls

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  On the stove top, heat olive oil in a saute pan over medium high heat.  Add garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes.  Remove shrimp from their shells and add to saute pan.  Reduce heat to medium and cook shrimp for 3-4 minutes on each side until shrimp is no longer opaque.   Remove from heat.

In a food processor, add shrimp and process for a few seconds until shrimp is chopped into small pieces.  If you don't have a food processor, chop cooked shrimp on a cutting board into small pieces.  Repeat for the chorizo!

In a medium sized bowl mix together bread crumbs, mayo, egg white, onions, and lemon juice.  Next lightly fold in chopped shrimp and chorizo.

Cover bowl and place in the refrigerator for no less than 30 minutes. It is important to refrigerate the mixture so the flavors marinate and also so you can easily form patties.

In a glass baking dish, form 4 burger patties and bake uncovered for 20 minutes. While the burgers are baking, lightly toast the rolls. Assemble burgers and garnish with tomato, arugula and lemon!

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