Grilled Veggies and tiliapia w/brown rice

So since I live in Chicago it's a bit chilly outside...too chilly for me to stand outside and grill that's for sure! I was craving some grilled goodness though, but luckily a few weeks back I bought an indoor grilling pan. BEST CREATION EVERRRRRRRR!!! I took some broccoli florets and sliced green peppers and steamed them for a few minutes, drained the water, then seasoned them w/olive oil, crushed red pepper flakes,adobe and garlic powder. I put all those ingredients in a plastic freezer bag with the broccoli and green pepper to mix it up. I then placed them on the grill. Then I took some mushrooms and put an Asian style seasame ginger dressing on those and grilled 'em up to perfection! I then used the same plastic bag from the broccoli/green pepper mix to marinate my piece of tilapia, but before i did that i had to thaw it in cold water. I then added some brown rice from the previous nights dinner to the mix for a lovely healthy delicious meal!

Bisous Bisous, The Rockin GerRoccan: Arkia

Eggplant Parm

The other day I picked the last of the eggplants from our garden. I decided to use one of them for eggplant parm! I enjoy it, but rarely eat it. So i figured hey I've got the supplies why not have a little comfort food.  I served it with sauteed mushrooms. I used white wine, butter, salt, and pepper for those bad boys! I also served creamettes aka little macaroni noodles.

Whisked egg with salt and pepper

 bread crumbs 

 Eggplant and oil frying

 Pieces waiting to be fried

 Mushroom/garlic sauce in the bottom so they don't burn 

 One piece of eggplant, layer of cheese, and another piece of eggplant

 showing the cheese 

 The finished yumminess! 

 The plate :) 

Bisous Bisous, The Rockin GerRoccan: Arkia

Asian Style Greenbeans

So this is my take on Asian style greenbeans...I snipped the ends of a pound of green beans..then i cleaned them..and i took a wok, added some seasame oil and garlic heated it up. then i took some crushed red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and schwan (sic) sauce. I didn't blanch my green beans before hand, but you will probably want to considering they were extra crunchy still, but they were still tasty. 

Bisous Bisous, The Rockin GerRoccan: Arkia

Mexican Style Shrimp Cocktail

About a week ago I was browsing Sccastaneda's blog..i'm an avid watcher of her youtube videos. Well I came across this recipe, honestly I thought it sounded good, but i wasn't too sure if i'd like..well let me tell you i LOVED it! My guests enjoyed just as much as i did!!

Ingredients
1 lb shrimp..i used 1/2 a pound cut in half though..my aunt wanted the the other half for regular shrimp cocktail
2 cucumbers
2 tomatoes
1 onion..i used a small one
1.5 avocados
4 lemons
fresh cilantro
fresh ground pepper
1 can of V8
1 or 2 squirts of ketchup
tapatio hot sauce---add to your liking

Steps
1. wash and peel/cut your veggies..I quartered the cucumbers, chopped the tomatoes, diced the onion, chopped the avocado, and cilantro
2. add them to a bowl
3. wash/detail/cut the shrimp
4. add shrimp to the bowl
4. squeeze the juice of 4 lemons, add the can of V8, ketchup, tapatio to the bowl and mix

diced tomatoes in the bowl

 quartered cucumbers

 cucumbers & tomatoes in the bowl

 cilantro ready to get chopped

 diced onion

 tomatoes, cucumbers, cilantro, and  onion 

 with the avocado

 the tapatio, ketchup, and 3 cans, but really only need 1

 lemons!! 

 with the ketchup and tapatio added

 with the v8 and shrimp added mixed and ready to go

5. Serve with tortilla chips or crackers and enjoy!!



Bisous Bisous, The Rockin GerRoccan: Arkia

Daily double dose of cucumbers

I have found myself obsessed with pinrtrest.com lately...my favorite is new recipes. So I found the recipe of 2 pretty tasty cucumber salads..I decided to make them both the same day, considering i needed mostly the same ingredients.

Cucumber Salad #1
Ingredients
Cucumbers ( i used 3 and split between the two)
1 sm onion
1 Cup vinegar
1/2 Cup water
1/4 Cup sugar ( i used less, but it tasted a bit too vinegary)
2 tablespoons FRESH dill
salt and pepper
Steps
1. Boil vinegar, water, and sugar (set aside to cool)
2. Slice and sweat cumcumbers
         ~to sweat means to liberally apply salt and allow water to drain..about 20 mins then rinse with water & dry
3. Put cucumbers, onions, and dill in a bowl
4. Add pepper ( you most likely won't need added salt bc the cucumbers still have a salty taste from sweating
5. Pour cool vinegar mixture over the cucumbers
5. Stir & marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hr.

Sweating the cucumbers 

 Onions, cucumbers, and dill in bowl

 With cooled mixture added

This salad sort of tasted like a sweet and sour pickle
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````Cucumber Salad #2
Ingredients
Cucumbers
1/2 Cup low-fat sour cream (or any of your choosing)
2 Tablespoons FRESH lemon juice
2 Tablespoons FRESH dill
Coarse salt and pepper
Steps
1. Combine sour cream, lemon juice, & dill w/salt and pepper in a bowl, whisk well to combine
2. Sweat & drain cucumbers
3. Add cucumbers, toss well to coat.
4. Garnish with more dill, refrigerate for up to 4 hours then serve ( i didn't do that) i mixed, served, and ate!
I give this salad 5 thumbs up!! It was my most favorite of the two.

sweating cucumbers

 sour cream, lemon juice, dill mixture

 mixture with cucumbers

 another view 

 the end product garnished

Bisous Bisous, The Rockin GerRoccan: Arkia