shrimp scampi w rice pudding dessert

tonight's menu we used traditional meals, however experimented with different recipes.  shrimp scampi is common in my house, but not my co-chefs, so we used a recipe she found, so it was new to me.  it was good we both agreed, but definitely could have been better, having tweeked a few steps.  i would not recommend this recipe, however the ingredients were traditional and flavor basically the same.

the same situation was true for the rice pudding...this was something neither one of us had made before, and we also felt the need to tweek the recipe a little to improve the quality...this is all added in the notes...

shrimp scampi

Mediterranean Couscous Salad and Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Grapes

Mediterranean Couscous Salad

Ingredients

1/2 c. whole wheat couscous
1/2 c. boiling water
1 c. diced plum tomatoes, peeled & seeded
1/2 c. diced cucumber, seeded
1/4 c. finely chopped red onion
1 tbsp. fresh mint, chopped
1 tbsp. fresh oregano, chopped
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
4 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly gound pepper
1/2 c. feta cheese, crumbled

Directions

Combine couscous and water in large mixing bowl and let sit until water is absorbed. Combine in separate bowl vinegar, s&p and oil to make the dressing. When couscous is cool, fluff with a fork and add remaining ingredients and dressing. Toss to combine. Serve at room temperature or cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hrs. (It is better fresh though)

Makes 4 side dish servings

Serves 8| Hands-On Time: 10m | Total Time: 35m

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Grapes

pumpkin + sausage + zucchini lasagna w apple crisp dessert

tonight we cooked up some late seasonal recipes, a lasagna with zucchini + pumpkin, and apple crisp with granny smith apples.  the entre was for sure an experimental lasagna dish that was discovered on the Food Network’s site.  eye catching was the twelve stars ‘Pumpkin Lasagna’ by Robret Irvine.  it was simple to prep, but did take a bit of time (around 30-45 min).  as we were preparing it, the various ingredients seemed random and quite silly…but it worked.

SO much to our surprise, it turned out a very delish and would definitely make it again.  NB somehow we ended up using a lot more cheese than required…cook time 1 hour

ingredients