Tag Archives: Light Dinner

Mazzancolle al Sale Marino – Sea Salt & Peppercorn Prawns (A Skinny Girl Dish)

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We all know how good seafood is for you. It’s a healthy and good for you protein. I myself am a huge fan of anything fish/seafood. One of my favorites are prawns or shrimp. Seafood should be a healthy part of your diet. Prawns health benefits are many one of them being its rich content of selenium and 100 g mineral content per serving which prevents the growth of cancer cells therefore protecting the body from cancer.

One serving of prawns only contains 1.73 g of total fat, with less than 1 g of that being saturated. Prawns also contain .49 g of healthy omega-3 fatty acids, the fatty acids in prawns reduces and prevents the body against Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

A serving of prawns supplies you with 20.3 g of protein. Proteins in prawns provides body with growth and development. The calories in prawns are less when compared to meat and beef. Moreover the nutritional benefits of prawns make it healthy for the body while adding taste to the food. This is why prawns have nutritional benefits.

Loaded with protein, vitamin D, vitamin B3, and zinc, Prawns are an excellent, carbohydrate-free food for anyone determined to shed off pounds. Zinc supplementation of zinc deficient subjects has been shown to increase the levels of circulating leptin. Leptin is a hormone that plays a key role in regulating the body’s energy expenditure, fat storage, and appetite. Insufficient leptin levels are believed to be the primary cause of food cravings, overeating, and obsession with food. The iodine in shrimp is good for the proper functioning of the thyroid gland which controls the basal metabolic rate, or the rate at which the body consumes energy at rest. Iodine deficiency can result in sluggish thyroid activity which in turn can lead to weight gain or hinder weight loss.

Enjoy the nutritional and health benefits of prawn.
I went to the store the other day and they had these beautiful looking prawns. I had to buy them. Other than the obvious delicious ways I enjoy making them (grilled, steamed, lightly sauteed and of course boiled and added to a salad) I decided that I would go ahead and try this more than famous Italian recipe.
I didn’t have obviously enough salt in the house to completely cover them so I used what I had and added a few extra twists of my own (as always), but the result was to die for. I hope that you Enjoy.
Ingredients:
Serves 2
  • 10 Prawns or Large Shrimp
  • 1 cup Sea Salt
  • A bunch of mixed dried Herbs, rosemary, thyme, and whatever you like
  • 1/4 cup mixed whole Peppercorns
Preheat your oven at 200°C (400°F)
Wash your Prawns and dry them with a paper towel. Mix the salt together with herbs and peppercorns. Pour half of the flavored salt in the bottom of your baking dish and arrange the prawns evenly.
Coat the shrimp with the rest of the flavored salt and cook for 15-20 min at 200°C, when color changes.
Rinse salt off before serving this way you don’t eat too much salt and you don’t get bloated, but you have the amazing flavor. Ha! Enjoy!
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My Easy, Quick, No-Carb Veggie Stack…It’s that Good

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So today’s post is about finding time to eat healthy always, no excuses whatsoever. Sometimes I think that people feel that when you have to eat healthy you really need time for it, although I can understand completely I also think that it takes time to cook a meal even if it’s not considered “healthy”.

We as a whole have to get into the mentality that our body is truly a Temple, it needs clean, healthy and most of all homemade foods to feel energized, peaceful, strong and to look it’s best. Lately I, although seem to have a ton of time feel like I am constantly pressed for time, and although it’s delicious and easy to come home and throw some salad, and other veggies in a bowl and mix it up and voilà dinner is served; I also feel like I would like to serve something a little different but that also looks as though I put time and effort in it. Ha! That must be the little cook in me….always trying to achieve perfection.

I’ve mentioned previously how much I love to grill, it’s low fat and quick. So, I decided that I would make grilled Veggies and kinda give them a sort of lasagna layering. You can grill whatever veggies you like it’s really up to what you have in the fridge and what you enjoy most that can be put on a grill….Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Onions, Radicchio, Endive, Potatoes, Asparagus. But remember if you’re in a rush don’t stress out use what you have, it’s going to be delicious. Trust me.

Ingredients:

2-3 Zucchini

1 large Eggplant

4 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tbsp. Vinegar (any flavor you prefer)

1/2 Garlic Clove, minced

6 Parsley stems, chopped

1 Chili chopped, optional

Salt and Pepper to taste

Turn on your grill at medium setting and let heat. In the meantime slice your eggplant and zucchini 1/2 inch thick longwise. Once grill is warm put your veggies on top allowing to cook for about 5-8 minutes.
Chop Parsley, Garlic and Chilli and mix in a small bowl with Olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Put aside.

You may flip over your veggies now and allow to cook another 5 minutes allowing to reach grill marks.
Remove from heat. Get your plates and drizzle a little of your Olive oil mixture on the bottom and layer some eggplant drizzle again and layer some zucchini, drizzle again and  layer eggplant, continue this until you’ve atleast achieved 4 layers and top off with a drizzle. Do the same with other dish and serve.

Now you’ve cooked up a delicious, healthy, quick meal and you still managed everything else. You can do all sorts of variations, sprinkle pine nuts on top, feta grape tomatoes…you choose. This is what I had and it was perfect. Enjoy.

Light summer Salad with Grilled Corn and Mushrooms

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Salad, Salad, Salad. It seems to be something that I always crave. Whenever I go a day or so without a salad that is all I start to crave; not at all a bad thing might I add!
My husband and I love to have a nice big salad for dinner at least once or twice a week and we try to come up with different ways of making it, we always add something different, the possibilities are endless as to what you can add to a salad and also to the way you prep it.

I especially love to grill some of the ingredients and when it’s hot out and you just feel like using the grill it’s perfect. Grilled vegetables are amazing and add so much flavor to what might seem like a boring meal. In this recipe we had found some nice big mushrooms and corn and so we decided to add that to the salad, it married so well together I had to post the recipe so that you all could try it at home. I hope that you enjoy it as much as we did. You can serve it on the side or as a main dish (which is what we did..) Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 bag mixed salad (I like Italian)

1 handful of arugula

1 handful of Baby Spinach

2 ears of corn, cleaned

4 big sized mushrooms, or 2 Portobello’s

6 grape Tomatoes, sliced in half

1 can quartered Artichokes, drained

4 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive oil

2 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar

1/2 Lemon, squeezed

Salt and pepper, as needed

Preheat your grill. Wrap your corn in aluminium foil and place on the grill for about 20-30 minutes, turning over after 10 minutes.

In the mean time clean you mushroom caps and sprinkle salt and pepper and 1 Tbsp. of Extra Virgin olive oil, set on the grill and allow to cook until golden brown, flipping once; about 10-15 minutes.

Place your salad, arugula, baby spinach, tomatoes and artichokes in a large salad bowl. By now your corn and mushrooms should be ready so turn your grill off and set aside. With a knife remove the corn from the cob or husk and add to your salad. Add the remaining olive oil, the vinegar, lemon, salt and pepper mix together well and serve. Once plated place the mushroom caps on top of the salad and eat. Yum!

Sesame Crusted Grilled Tuna Steak

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There is something just so delicious to me about Tuna Steak! My husband and I both love seafood and seem to never be able to get enough of it.
For starters there is so many different types of fish and/or seafood; from tuna steak to sea bass, tilapia to salmon, lobster to shrimp, clams to scallops and the list can go on forever, it’s simple, fresh and delicious. It’s healthy and easy to digest, perfect for a light meal anytime of the year.

We both have fallen in love with tuna on the grill, we basically make in about 10 minutes and that’s including marinating, grilling and serving…HA!
My husband is amazing with the grill, you might think that’s not that hard but it is; you need to know how and when to flip the food, what temperature and most of all how to keep it tender without leaving it raw or burnt. However, he is great at it and seeing as though I like most of my meals grilled, I am truly appreciative that he does the grilling as it gives me a break from doing all the work myself.

Tuna is figure friendly; with very little fat and just 80 calories per 6 ounce steak.
Tuna is an excellent source of protein. It’s full of omega-3’s and contains Vitamin E and K which help prevent heart disease, cancer and blood coagulation. It has essential minerals such as potassium, niacin, selenium, iron and iodine.
You can see why there are so many health benefits associated with tuna. So; consume tuna regularly as part of a healthy diet and reap all of these health benefits.

We like to grill it, but there are many, many ways of prepping it. In this recipe I use only 4 ingredients; be creative and see what you can create or how you want to marinate it. I accompanied it with a light leafy, green salad. Avocado is excellent as well, and I also like asparagus or green beans; so see what you have or like and use it! Enjoy.

Ingredients:

2 6 oz. Fresh Tuna steaks

2 tbsp. of Habanero hot sauce (Crystal is great)

2 tbsp. of Sesame seeds

Grinded Peppercorns

drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Preheat you grill. Get your tuna steaks and evenly spread 1 tbsp of hot sauce on one side of the steaks, grind peppercorns and sprinkle add 1 tbsp of sesame seeds on top; flip steaks over and repeat procedure using the remaining ingredients.
Drizzle the Olive oil and put steaks on the grill cook for about 4 minutes on each side; the steaks should be a little pink in the center*.
Remove from heat and serve. That’s it!

* If you like it cooked thoroughly then leave it on longer.