Baked Shrimp w/Feta

I had the 3rd of my 4 finals today at 6PM. I knew I needed to eat before the 3 hour long test, but I also knew that it would need to be something tasty as well as filling. Tonight I pulled out a recipe from the trusty Cooking Light magazines. Actually, I haven't purchased a Cooking Light in years. This is recipe from the April 2009. But something about the magazine changed since then and they just don't excite me like they used to. But I do still have several of my old magazines and cook out of them quite regularly. I don't think anything I've made from Cooking Light has ever disappointed. Tonight was no exception. The taste of the feta with the shrimp and the tomato was just really pleasant. I served it over rice to sop up some of the tomato juices. It was good! The magazine suggests serving it with orzo, which I have no doubt would be good too but that's not what I had in the house.

One thing I've decided about this blog is I'm not going to post any of my kitchen flops. I mean, for as much as I like cooking delicious food, I don't like everything I cook. In my last blog I pretty much posted everything I cooked. But since this is my "cookbook" I really should only be filling the pages with yummies I would make again and not gross stuff that won't get made in my kitchen again. So you can take my word for it: everything in here is good.

Baked Shrimp with Feta

Ingredients:
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined
Cooking spray
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp claim juice
1 tbsp white wine
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 (14.5-oz) can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450.

2. Combine the lemon juice with the shrimp in a bowl and set aside. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and coat with cooking spray. Add oil to the pan. Add the onion and saute for a minute. Add the garlic and saute for a minute. Add the clam juice, wine, oregano, pepper, and tomatoes, bringing to a boil.

3. Reduce heat and let simmer for 5 minutes. Add shrimp mixture.

4. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray and place mixture in the dish. Sprinkle with feta cheese.

5. Bake for 12 minutes.

* serves 4

Nutrition (without rice):
CALORIES: 276 calories
CARBS: 11 grams
PROTEIN: 39 grams
SODIUM: 732 milligrams

Turkey Mini-Meatloaves w/Roasted Root Veggies

Now that we have the welcome out of the way and now that I'm taking a break from studying for my Criminal Law test, I can post my first homecooked meal! I actually cook to relieve stress, so high impact times in my life are just generally going to produce more entries, because I get such a satisfaction from standing in the kitchen, mixing, baking, stirring, and sauteing. I also love sitting down with whatever I made and indulging in it. But above all, I love to share my food (which is why my boyfriend is so great). Even though I lack capacity to create my own recipes and follow most recipes exactly the to tee, cooking is like an art. There was one day and I accidentally dropped my cooked cauliflower on the floor and I just fell down and cried, because that was my labor, my work, it's my creation.

Anyway, I guess in each of these posts you'll get to know me a little more. I don't really want to do a "HEY MY NAME IS ELIZABETH" kind of entry, because it's weird to me and I just would rather not. But anyway, I got this cookbook last year when I decided I needed to lose weight. I just found low-calorie foods to be so bland. But after some careful review I got the best cookbook ever. I really recommend it as it's one of the cookbooks I've used more than twice. Maybe if this all works out and I get lots of followers I'll host a giveaway with this cookbook, since it is my favorite and all. Because really, if I have giveaways I'm only going to give you the best of the best.

But I am getting so ahead of myself.

Turkey Mini-Meatloaves with Roasted Root Veggies

For the Meatloaf:
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 cup 1% milk
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
5-oz bag baby spinach leaves
1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
2 tbsp grated Parmesan
1/4 cup egg substitute
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg

For the Glaze:
3 tbsp ketchup
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Tapatio

For the Veggies:
3 medium carrots, cut into chunks
2 New Potatoes, chunked
6 stalks asparagus, chopped
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Put the breadcrumbs and milk in a bowl and let sit.

3. In a skillet with the olive oil, cook the onions over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until golden and soft. Add the spinach and stir until wilted. Transfer to a bowl with the breadcrumbs. Add the turkey, cheese, egg substitute, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Combine the mixture using your hands.

4. Pack 1 cup of the mixture into a 1-cup measuring cup. Invert the cup onto a rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining mixture. Bake for 40 minutes, until golden.

5. On a baking sheet toss all the vegetables with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add to the oven and cook for 30 minutes.

6. While the meatloaves are cooking, making the glaze by mixing the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce in a small bowl. When the meatloaves are complete, brush over the top.

* the veggies serve 2, the meatloaf serves 6

Nutrition: Meatloaf
CALORIES: 203 calories
CARBS: 12 grams
PROTEIN: 27 grams
SODIUM: 515 milligrams

Nutrition: Root Veggies
CALORIES: 112 calories
CARBS: 19 grams
PROTEIN: 3 grams
SODIUM: 45 milligrams