Shrimp, Corn and Quinoa Soup

Shrimp, Corn and Quinoa SoupCurrently cooking out of Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass.

Every quinoa recipe I’ve made out of this book seems to include corn. Maybe it’s like Sass said – these two new world ingredients just seem made for each other. Whatever the case may be, they do taste wonderful together. And this soup is primarily corn and quinoa, with a bit of shrimp and red pepper thrown in for color and texture.

As previously stated, I’m not a huge shrimp fan, but I still liked this soup. It was easy to make and I had most of the ingredients on hand. This recipe lends itself to variations. You could leave out the shrimp for a vegetarian version or add different veggies. Bryan suggested a version with chicken and green chili for a southwestern feel. I’m thinking almonds. And peas.

Roasted Broccoli with Shrimp

Roasted Broccoli with Shrimp

Obviously not from the whole grains book, but if you like broccoli, then MAKE THIS DISH!

I loved vegetables growing up. In fact, all my siblings did, and it wasn’t hard for my parents to get us to eat them (except for my sister who hated peas and would swallow them whole instead of chewing them). Now, I travel for a living and spend weeks at a time living out of hotels and eating at restaurants. Usually within a couple of days of leaving home, I start craving simple meals with lots of vegetables, like this one. In fact, roasted broccoli (and cauliflower) is one of the things I make regularly at home. 

So, when I saw this recipe here, I immediately bookmarked it. It took me a couple of weeks before I got around to trying it, probably because of the shrimp; I don’t really like shrimp. But, I needed shimp for another dish I was trying (that posting is coming up next) and it was easy enough to get some extra shrimp for this dish.

I think both Bryan and I were so-so on the final product. Again, it came down to the shrimp. We both tend more to chicken as our protein of choice, and we started talking about trying this with chicken. So the next night, I substituted chicken chunks for the shrimp.

The key is to cut the chicken into small enough pieces that it cooks in the same amount of time as the broccoli. I served it over bulgar cooked with some onions and it was really good. It’s low in fat and calories and you don’t really need a lot of meat. One chicken breast cut into small pieces was plenty for both Bryan and I, so that makes the meal pretty cheap. In fact, you could easily leave out the meat and just serve it over a whole grain for a vegetarian meal.

Sigh. I’m currently working in Lethbridge, Canada, and would kill to be able to eat this tonight instead of another restaurant meal.