Lemon Tahini Orzo with Seafood

My summer vacation is coming to and end...


...only one week left, before I have to go back to work at the school. Don't want to take much time in the kitchen making dinner...so here's a quick one.

First off these were the only photos I was able to get, and my camera just would not focus (really, it's stuck). Then it was too close to dinner so it was all eaten up! This is another versatile dish you can really add to it what you like or what you have in the fridge.

It was good warm and I'll bet it would be good cold or room temperature if it lasted that long! Great in a bento lunch.

I really didn't want to post this photo, but you can get an idea...next time I make it I'll be sure to change the photos.

Ingredients:
Cooked orzo (I really don't know how much I had, but you can eyeball it, probably 1 cup dry)
1 tablespoon white miso paste
3 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste - you can find some nice tahini in a middle eastern store if not your grocery store)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 table spoons water
1-2 clove garlic minced
1-2 teaspoons capers
sea salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
a handful cilantro or parsley chopped
1 tablespoon perilla oil (Korean) you can use any nut oil like walnut, hazelnut or even olive oil
Use what you have, any greens or veggies, I had snow peas, broccoli florets, pan grilled shrimp and sage leaves (that wasn't a hit with my husband, I would probably chop them) imitation crab.

Method:

I marinated the shrimp in Makoto's Sesame Ginger dressing for about 30 minutes the cooked them on a grill pan. Near the end of the cooking time of the orzo I tossed in the broccoli flowerettes and the snow peas, cooked and drained with the pasta.

In a medium bowl add the miso, tahini, water, lemon juice...stir to mix it all together and loosen up the miso and tahini paste. Stir in the garlic, capers and set aside. In large bowl or in a pan mix together the cooked orzo, vegetables, cilantro, oil, crab, and shrimp. Salt and pepper to taste, I thought it needed a little something so I added a little garlic powder, and a little soy sauce, but this is optional of course anything is optional.


I have some photos to brighten up my post since my food pics were so bad. Before summer ends we had to again visit the nation's number one beach!

...we do visit it often anyway since it's just minutes from our house, this was at 10:00 AM everyone is already in the water...



...a bright sunny day with clear skies... not like today...

...and filling up fast, even though our peak season is in the winter...good thing it's a large beach!

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Ginger Sesame Grilled Shrimp Skewers

Since I just posted the recipe for the rice in this photo... I thought I would share how I made the shrimp. Now I don't eat shrimp, but I do make it for my family. I always get these skewers already cleaned and skewered when they are on sale at Publix. That way I can make my family happy and I don't have to clean shrimp. When I make recipes that call for shrimp I usually just replace the shrimp with scallops. This time I did the shrimp for them and bought a few scallops for myself, but them Maranda wanted to try a scallop...so I let her have one of mine.

I just marinade it all with a sesame dressing that you can use for a dressing or marinade.


Ingredients:
1 piece about 1" peeled ginger root (minced)
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped shallot
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons mirin
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic chili sauce
sesame seeds
If using it for a dressing I add some pureed carrots and celery.
Whisk together ingredients and marinade the shrimp in a zipper baggie. It works well for scallops, and tuna steaks too. I usually sprinkle the sesame seeds on later. If doing a seared tuna I roll it in black and white sesame seeds before searing.

Grill the skewers on a hot grill for around 3 minutes per side until nice and pink. Grill or pan fry the scallops.


Just a few shots taken at the Ringling Museum grounds.

and another Gulf of Mexico sunset refection.

See you all tomorrow!