Raspberry Chipotle Salmon + Incredible One-Pot Cooking Cookbook Giveaway & Review

This bright and flavorful 4-ingredient Raspberry Chipotle Salmon is a weeknight lifesaver. Less than 5 minutes of prep and it cooks in just 10 minutes. Plus, if you enjoy broccoli, you can turn this into a complete one-dish meal.

Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book from Page Street Publishing Co. in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine alone.

This bright and flavorful 4-ingredient Raspberry Chipotle Salmon is a weeknight lifesaver. Less than 5 minutes of prep and it cooks in just 10 minutes.

Continue reading “Raspberry Chipotle Salmon + Incredible One-Pot Cooking Cookbook Giveaway & Review”

Shrimp Taco Bowls

This big, bold Taco Shrimp Bowl – easily customizable to your tastes – can be on your table in under 30 minutes. Make it for Cinco de Mayo, Taco Tuesday, or a quick weeknight meal. The shrimp and veggies are cooked on a sheet pan before being served with rice, garlicky black beans and your favorite taco toppings.

This big, bold Taco Shrimp Bowl - easily customizable to your tastes - can be on your table in under 30 minutes. Make it for Cinco de Mayo, Taco Tuesday, or a quick weeknight meal. The shrimp and veggies are cooked on a sheet pan before being served with rice, garlicky black beans and your favorite taco toppings.

The crazy spring is winding down and I’m excited to be ushering in warmer weather, quieter evenings and weekends, and healthier, fresher food. The past 6 weeks have been a real challenge to keep up with life, nevermind blogging. I’m thrilled for what I hope will be a slower pace over the next several weeks.

Despite the hectic season, I didn’t want to let Cinco de Mayo pass by without a nod here on Books n’ Cooks. I didn’t have the time to make the Progressive Menu that I had in mind, but I think I did pretty well for you this year.

This big, bold Taco Shrimp Bowl - easily customizable to your tastes - can be on your table in under 30 minutes. Make it for Cinco de Mayo, Taco Tuesday, or a quick weeknight meal. The shrimp and veggies are cooked on a sheet pan before being served with rice, garlicky black beans and your favorite taco toppings.

I call this dish Shrimp Taco Bowls, primarily because I used taco seasoning – a pantry staple in my house – on the shrimp and the veggies. However, with the onions and peppers, this is also like a Shrimp Fajita Bowl. Call it whichever you choose… and if you prefer? Skip the rice and make fajitas instead. Less dishes!

What I love about this meal:

  • It’s quick. It’s on the table in under 30 minutes, even with the chopping.
  • It’s flavorful. Garlicky black beans, spicy shrimp and salsa. Creamy guacamole.
  • It’s both filling and yet light. Fiber from the beans (and brown rice if you choose to use it), lean shrimp, and a combination of roasted onions and bell peppers with fresh salsa or pico de gallo.

I really have no complaints, although my husband would have preferred fewer dirty dishes. 😉 The shrimp, onions and peppers are roasted on a sheet pan; the beans are warmed in a skillet with a little olive oil and garlic; and the the rice cooked separately. Good thing I have my professional dishwasher!

This big, bold Taco Shrimp Bowl - easily customizable to your tastes - can be on your table in under 30 minutes. Make it for Cinco de Mayo, Taco Tuesday, or a quick weeknight meal. The shrimp and veggies are cooked on a sheet pan before being served with rice, garlicky black beans and your favorite taco toppings.

Recipe Notes: Modifications & References

  • Modifications: Skip the beans. Make extra beans for a meat-free lunch (your coworkers will thank you for not microwaving seafood in the shared microwave!). Kick up the spice or mellow it out. Throw freshly chopped cilantro in everything.

I’ve made some version of these bowls multiple ways. You can easily keep this to a 30-minute no-fuss version with a lot of store-bought toppings and mixes. Some homemade toppings and mixes are household staples in my home but others I only break out occasionally – i.e. when time permits, when entertaining, or when my garden is overflowing. Here are some of my favorite homemade seasonings, toppings, and accompaniments that you can use in this recipe,should you so choose.

  • Cilantro Lime Rice: use in place of plain white or brown rice
  • Taco Seasoning: one of my pantry staples, this will keep in an airtight container for a few months.
  • Restaurant-Style Salsa: made in the food processor, this will keep for a few days, if you can make it last that long! It’s delicious and seriously addictive.
  • Roasted Tomato Restaurant-Style Salsa: a fresher version of the above, made with garden-fresh tomatoes and veggies, roasted in the oven before being thrown in the food processor. It also keeps for a few days in the fridge.
  • Guacamole: best the day it’s made.

This big, bold Taco Shrimp Bowl - easily customizable to your tastes - can be on your table in under 30 minutes. Make it for Cinco de Mayo, Taco Tuesday, or a quick weeknight meal. The shrimp and veggies are cooked on a sheet pan before being served with rice, garlicky black beans and your favorite taco toppings.

Convinced to try them yet? If you do, snap a pic and tag it with #booksncooks, and be sure to come back, leave a comment, and rate the recipe.

Check out the other Cinco de Mayo recipes my blogging friends are sharing today, and then check out the recipe.

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This flavorful Taco Shrimp Bowl - easily customizable to your tastes - can be on your table in under 30 minutes. 

Shrimp Taco Bowls

This big, bold Taco Shrimp Bowl - easily customizable to your tastes - can be on your table in under 30 minutes. Make it for Cinco de Mayo, Taco Tuesday, or a quick weeknight meal. The shrimp and veggies are cooked on a sheet pan before being served with rice, garlicky black beans and your favorite taco toppings.

Course Main Course
Cuisine Tex-Mex
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 525 kcal
Author Liz

Ingredients

  • 3 c. white or brown rice cooked according to package

Ingredients for the Black Beans:

  • 1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp. minced garlic
  • 1-15 oz. can black beans drained and rinsed
  • pinch kosher salt
  • pinch coarsely ground black pepper

Ingredients for the Shrimp & Veggies:

  • cooking spray
  • 1-2 bell peppers sliced
  • 1 red onion sliced
  • 1 lb. extra-large shrimp peeled, deveined and pat dry
  • 2 Tbs. taco seasoning

Optional Toppings

  • salsa or pico de gallo
  • guacamole
  • shredded cheese
  • sour cream
  • freshly chopped cilantro

Instructions

Make the Black Beans:

  1. Heat olive oil in a small skillet set over medium-low heat. When hot, add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 3 minutes. 

Make the Shrimp & Veggies

  1. Preheat oven to 400F.

  2. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Spread the veggies on one half of the baking sheet and the shrimp on the other. Sprinkle baking sheet with 1 Tbs. of the taco seasoning. With clean hands, toss veggies and shrimp to coat. Sprinkle with remaining 1 Tbs. taco seasoning and toss again. Spread shrimp and veggies into a single layer. Mist again with cooking spray and bake in preheated oven for 9-10 minutes, until shrimp are cooked through.

  3. Assemble your bowl. 

Recipe Notes

  • One serving is 3/4 c. of rice and 1/4 of the shrimp and beans. Add additional toppings as desired.
  • Nutrition calculated using brown rice and 2 bell peppers without any additional toppings. Adding toppings will change the nutrition info. 

This big, bold Taco Shrimp Bowl - easily customizable to your tastes - can be on your table in under 30 minutes. Make it for Cinco de Mayo, Taco Tuesday, or a quick weeknight meal. The shrimp and veggies are cooked on a sheet pan before being served with rice, garlicky black beans and your favorite taco toppings.

Sweet & Spicy Tangerine Shrimp & Pineapple Kabobs

Shrimp and pineapple kabobs are brushed with a sweet and spicy BBQ sauce for a quick and flavorful weeknight meal.

Shrimp and pineapple kabobs are brushed with a sweet and spicy BBQ sauce for a quick and flavorful weeknight meal.

This post is sponsored in conjunction with #BBQWeek. I received product samples from sponsors to use in creating #BBQWeek recipes. However, all opinions are mine alone.

Happy Hump Day!

I don’t know about you, but as summer gets closer, my attention span at work starts to wane. The days drag on forever. And when I get home? I feel like there are a million things to do. I run around the house (or the town, depending on that week’s activities and errands) like a crazy person trying to get stuff done and yet wondering where all of the time went. Suddenly it’s dinner and and inevitably, the weather doesn’t cooperate with my plans. At least not this month – we’ve had rain and thunderstorms for 8 out of the last 11 days.

With a hectic weekday schedule, I’ve been trying to plan super easy and simple dinners. My goal is big flavor with as little effort as I can muster. For times like this, the grill is my friend. (When the weather allows, anyway.) Burgers and hot dogs are always in the freezer, but equally frequently, chicken, pork, and steak get a quick rub or marinade and get tossed on the grill with some fresh vegetables. And shrimp. It takes a little longer to prep, but it cooks up in just a few minutes.

 

Shrimp and pineapple kabobs are brushed with a sweet and spicy BBQ sauce for a quick and flavorful weeknight meal.

So on one of those rare days where the rain held off, I raced to the grill with a big dish of these shrimp and pineapple kabobs.

This is a dish where the prep actually takes longer than it takes the cooking time. The prep isn’t crazy -just  defrosting, peeling, and deveining the shrimp and then threading the kabobs. I used Tangerine Hatch Chili BBQ Sauce (<- affiliate link), so kindly provided by our sponsor Not Ketchup, as the sole marinade for the sauce. No extra spices or mixing up any sort of sauce – I just brushed with the spicy-sweet sauce prior to grilling and again halfway through. I wanted the BBQ sauce to shine through. And truthfully, the kabobs didn’t need anything else. Try it, you’ll be glad.

Please, share in the comments section, what’s your go-to busy weeknight dinner?

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Shrimp and pineapple kabobs are brushed with a sweet and spicy BBQ sauce for a quick and flavorful weeknight meal.

Sweet & Spicy Tangerine Shrimp & Pineapple Kabobs

Shrimp and pineapple kabobs are brushed with a sweet and spicy BBQ sauce for a quick and flavorful weeknight meal.

Course Main Course, Seafood
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4 Servings
Author Liz

Ingredients

  • 6 skewers
  • 30 large shrimp, deveined and peeled (tails on or off, your choice) a little over a pound
  • 1/2 a red onion halved and then cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 24 1- inch pieces of ripe fresh pineapple
  • 1/4 c. Tangerine Hatch Chili BBQ Sauce by Not Ketchup

Instructions

  1. Just prior to serving, thread a piece of shrimp, a slice or two of red onion, and a piece of pineapple onto a skewer. I got about 4 shrimp on each skewer.
  2. Brush with Tangerine Hatch Chili BBQ Sauce. Grill, about 3 minutes. Brush with more sauce and flip. Grill for another 2-3 minutes, or until shrimp are cooked throughout.
  3. Serve hot.

Recipe Notes:

  • You can find Tangerine Hatch Chili BBQ Sauce on Amazon (<- affiliate link). Feel free to use a little extra for dipping, when serving.
  • If you’re using wooden skewers, soak wooden skewers for an hour, to prevent from burning.
  • I served these over rice, with a side of Asian Grilled Asparagus.
Shrimp and pineapple kabobs are brushed with a sweet and spicy BBQ sauce for a quick and flavorful weeknight meal.
Shrimp and pineapple kabobs are brushed with a sweet and spicy BBQ sauce for a quick and flavorful weeknight meal, especially when served with Asian Grilled Asparagus

#BBQWeek Recipes

See what the bloggers served up Wednesday for #BBQWeek and then scroll down and enter the giveway.

Cherry Chipotle Bourbon Baked Beans by Cookaholic Wife
Charred Corn Salsa by The Freshman Cook
Cherry Chipotle Grilled Pork Tenderloin by Tip Garden
Everything Bagel Pasta Salad by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
Grilled Asparagus Salad by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
Grilled Chicken Tikki Tacos by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
Grilled Kale Salad with Ricotta by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Grilled Nam Prik Shrimp Skewers by 4 Sons ‘R’ Us
Grilled Spiced Blue Hawaiian Cocktail by Daily Dish Recipes
Grilled Stuffed Meatballs with Pineapple Sauce by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
Real Hawaiian Macaroni Salad by Jonesin’ For Taste
Jersey Style Hot Dogs by Jolene’s Recipe Journal
Peppercorn Blue Cheese Burgers with Cherry Sauce by Strawberry Blondie Kitchen
Seasoned Barbecue Butter Shrimp Skewers by Family Around the Table
Sweet & Spicy Tangerine Shrimp & Pineapple Kabobs by Books n’ Cooks (above!)
Texas-Style Smoked Beef Ribs by Palatable Pastime

Enter the Giveaway:

Description of the 3 prizes listed here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: Thank you to #BBQWeek Sponsors Adam’s Extracts, Michigan Asparagus, and Not Ketchup for providing the prizes free of charge. These sponsors also provided bloggers with samples and product to use for creating #BBQWeek recipes. All opinions are my own.

The #BBQWeek giveaway is open to U.S. residents, age 18 & up. There will be three winning entries that will be verified. The prize packages will be sent directly from the giveaway sponsors. The #BBQWeek Bloggers are not responsible for the fulfillment or delivery of the prize package. Participating bloggers and their immediate family members cannot enter or win the giveaway. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with social channels mentioned in the #BBQWeek posts or entry.

Jerk Shrimp & Avocado Bites #SundaySupper

Spicy shrimp sit atop tortilla chips and guacamole for a quick but fancy appetizer. 

Jerk Shrimp & Avocado Bites

Today the #SundaySupper crew is getting ready for awards shows with fancy finger foods. Now I don’t usually watch the awards shows – I’d rather watch the recaps afterward on who won as well as recaps focused the fashion – but I LOVE entertaining. Any time I have an excuse to make an appetizer – be it a finger food or dip – I jump on it. So when close friends came for dinner a couple of weeks ago, I seized the opportunity to create a new appetizer that would compliment our main meal, tacos.

Jerk Shrimp & Avocado Bites

That meal was going to be simple because there would be 4 children under the age of 5 running around while the adults tried to play a board game. (Anyone else into legacy board games? After finishing Pandemic Legacy, our little group has moved onto Charterstone.) The plan was for me to make a big batch of tacos for the adults, and quesadillas for our picky children.

While taco night doesn’t usually call for appetizers, other than maybe chips, salsa, and guacamole, but that didn’t stop me. In fact, it’s a question I see frequently in some of the cooking/foodie groups I’m in. What’s an good appetizer to serve for taco and/or Mexican night? Usually the answer is chips and dip, or that an appetizer is unnecessary. While I agree, as a hostess, sometimes I want to serve something anyway.

I created these Jerk Shrimp & Avocado Bites to that little something extra. A bite that is a little fancier than chips and dip, but still easy and quick. And fairly light, so that guests don’t fill up on appetizers instead of a meal. These little bites feature both Caribbean flavors in the shrimp seasoning as well as a traditional guacamole that you’d expect to see with tacos.

Jerk Shrimp & Avocado Bites

Recipe Notes: This recipe can be as simple or as complicated as you’d like it to be. I use homemade jerk seasoning (it only takes a few minutes to make from pantry staples) and homemade guacamole (again, super easy, recipe coming Wednesday!), but you can certainly use store-bought seasoning and/or guacamole to speed things up even more. I used store-bought tortilla chips in this recipe, but you can certainly make your own chip or tostada if you’d like.

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Jerk Shrimp & Avocado Bites

Spicy shrimp sit a top tortilla chips and guacamole for a quick but fancy appetizer. 

Course Appetizer
Cuisine Caribbean
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 6 minutes
Total Time 16 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 165 kcal
Author Liz

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
  • 2-3 Tbs. jerk seasoning
  • 12 large shrimp deveined and peeled
  • 6 Tbs. guacamole
  • 12 tortilla chips

Instructions

  1. Heat a heavy, cast-iron skillet over medium heat. When hot, add olive oil.
  2. While skillet is heating, coat shrimp with jerk seasoning. Place in hot skillet and sautee for 1-2 minutes per side, until shrimp are cooked through.
  3. Place 1/2 Tbs. guacamole on each tortilla chip. Top with a seared shrimp.
  4. Serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

I used homemade jerk seasoning in this recipe, although you can certainly use store-bought, if preferred. 

This recipe makes 12 bites, enough for 4-6 as an appetizer.

Calories per serving: 165 calories/served 4; or 55 calories per bite.

A Books n’ Cooks original. 

Jerk Shrimp & Avocado Bites on Books n' Cooks

Don’t forget to check out what other fancy finger foods the #SundaySupper crew have created for you – for awards shows or simply weekend entertaining. 

Fancy Finger Food for Awards Show Parties

Best Meat Finger Food

Visual Effects in a Veggie Finger Food

Supporting Role Sweet Finger Food

Sunday Supper MovementThe Sunday Supper Movement is committed to bringing our readers delicious recipes that encourage them to gather and eat together around the family table. Search for your favorite ingredients on our Sunday Supper website. Also check out the Sunday Supper Pinterest boards for plenty more ideas and inspiration.

Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.