Special Guest Cook!

My best friend, (who also happens to be a Registered Dietitian) Crissi, calls me all the time for recipes. She will normally call me with an ingredient she has at home and asks me what she can cook with it. That starts a whirlwind of ideas that we throw around back and forth and always come up with a dish that she ends up making and (thankfully) loving!

Here is a little something I helped her put together over the phone and her report on it.

Thanks, C!

So, once again I was inspired to cook by my BFF/Cook Extraordinaire, Lara.

I called her - emergency style - to get her ideas about what "quick" yet impressive appetizers I could prepare for my sister in law and her familia.

As always she was able to spew out a number of options- all of which sounded delisioso.

This is a good and bad thing, because I am Miss Indecisive when it comes to cooking new recipes, I can never stick to one dish... I always end up cooking at least 2-3 things at once.

Anywhoo- the idea that rose to the top were these amazing shrimp cakes.

I was heading to the market when I called Lara and had her "with me" as I picked up the ingredients I didn't have at home - shrimp, parsley and sour cream.

Once I got home, I put Lara's plan into action.

I tossed the raw shrimp in olive oil, chopped garlic, salt and pepper.

Next, I seared them on high for a couple minutes on each side in olive oil and a tablespoon of butter.

Then I pulsed the shrimp in the food processor.

I took out the shrimp and then added 1 can of corn, 1 yellow onion, and 1 stalk of celery until they were in small pieces, being careful not to fully puree them.

Then, I mixed the shrimp, corn, onion and celery together in a bowl with about 2 tablespoons of veganaise (vegan mayonnaise), 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, juice of 1 lime and 2 eggs.

Next, I formed them into mini cakes and let them sit in the refrigerator for about an hour, or longer if you have the time.

I thought I had breadcrumbs, but of course I didn't.

So I took cracker and ground them in the food processor.

I seasoned them with salt and pepper and had fresh breadcrumbs to bread my shrimp cakes with.

When my sister in law arrived, I started breading the shrimp cakes and seared them for a few minutes on each side in some olive oil... enough to coat the bottom of your pan.

Oh yeah, while the cakes were in the refrigerator, I prepared a cilantro sauce that Lara quickly walked me through (similar to the ones she made for the crab cakes).

The cilantro sauce ha1 bunch of cilantro, 2 cloves of garlice, 1 teaspoon of honey, the juice of 1/2 a lime, salt and pepper.

Super easy.

Throw it all in the blender or food processor, and VOILA!!

Needless to say, they were a huge hit. Even the kids liked them :)

Plus, the RD (registered dietitian) in me was happy that I was able to squeeze in some vegetables and demonstrate once again that not all crispy appetizers need to be deep fried to be delicious! :)