4 Recipes That Are Prepared Quickly For A Great Meal

A few days ago I made 4 recipes that I wanted to share.  Working diligently it took me 3 hours.

Black Bean Salad

Miso Skewered Skirt Steak

Rotisserie Shrimp

Creamed Spinach

 I started out by making a favorite of mine. It's easy and taste's great. Black Bean Salad

This black bean salad uses cilantro. For those of you who don't like cilantro, feel free to substitute with fresh basil. 

1 (15 ounce) can of black beans, rinsed and drained (or 1 1/2 cups of freshly cooked black beans) 

1 1/2 cups frozen corn, defrosted (or fresh corn, parboiled, drained and cooled, or grilled and cooled) 1/2 cup chopped green onions (including onion greens) or shallots 

1/2 fresh jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced, or 1/2 pickled jalapeño pepper, minced (not seeded) 

3 fresh plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped and/or 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped 

2 Tbsp lime juice (about the juice from one lime) 

1 Tbsp olive oil 

1 avocado, peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks 

1/2 to 1 teaspoon of sugar (to taste) 

Salt and pepper to taste 

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro 

 In a large bowl, gently combine the black beans, corn, chopped green onions, minced jalapeños, chopped tomatoes (or red bell pepper), lime juice, and olive oil. Gently fold in the chopped avocados. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with sugar to taste, enough to balance the acidity from the lime juice. Chill. Right before serving, add the chopped fresh cilantro. 

Next, I made the miso-paste from the recipe Grilled Beef-Tenderloin Skewers with Red-Miso Glaze
I had defrosted a Skirt Steak that was a 1/2 pound and I thought that would be nice with the shrimp.  I ended up with three skewers of the meat.  Following the recipe,  I sliced the Skirt Steak, threaded it onto wooden skewers (that I soaked in water for at least 15 minutes), and brushed them with the Red-Miso Glaze.  I found the Red-Miso Glaze at The Fresh Market.  My local market did not carry it.

I had defrosted some shrimp, and decided to use the Cuisinart Rotisserie to cook them.

I brushed the shrimp very lightly with some of the red-miso glaze and put them on the skewers. I preheated the temp for 450 and they cooked for about 5 minutes.

The next recipe I made was Creamed Spinach, from Cook's Country. This was delicious and made with whole milk instead of cream. I bought the thinly sliced Prosciutto from the pre-sliced market lunchmeat section, and it was just the right amount. Hardest part of the whole recipe was finely chopping the Prosciutto.  Another good thing is you can freeze the leftover creamed spinach.  Here's my pic:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

8 slices (thin) prosciutto, chopped fine

2 (10-ounce) bags curly-leaf spinach, stemmed and torn into bite-sized pieces

1 small onion, chopped fine

2 teaspoons minced fresh sage

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cups whole milk

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

1. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook half of prosciutto until lightly browned and crisp, about 5 minutes; transfer to paper towel-lined plate. Add spinach to pot in handfuls, stirring to allow each batch to wilt slightly before adding next. Continue to cook until spinach is uniformly wilted and glossy, about 1 minute. Transfer spinach to colander set over bowl and press with wooden spoon to release extra liquid.

2. Wipe out Dutch oven and melt remaining butter over medium heat. Add onion, remaining prosciutto, and sage and cook until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and nutmeg and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in flour and cook until golden, about 1 minute. Whisk in milk and simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 3 minutes.

3. Return spinach to pot and stir until heated through, about 1 minute. Off heat, stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to serving bowl, sprinkle with remaining Parmesan, and top with crispy prosciutto. 

 I had covered the skewers on plates with plastic wrap and had chilled it with the Black Bean Salad. When we were ready to make dinner, I just preheated the Rotisserie Grill, and outside Grill and pulled out the Salad. The meat only took 2 minutes (1 minute each side), and Shrimp took 5 minutes. Everything was delicious.