Recipe Recap Week 24

This week I made two new things.  For Father's day we went over to my parent's house for some swimming and cooking out.  Each of the "kid's" made something to have as an appetizer.  I decided to make Paula Deen's Shore is Good Seafood Dip.  Kevin and I tried this in her restaurant when we went to Savannah a few years ago and it is also in her Lady and Son's cookbook.  It is a creamy dip made of shrimp and crab.  This was pretty tasty and easy to throw together.  The only thing I did different was I added in a little bit of Slap Yo Mama Cajun seasoning to give it just a slight kick.

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1/2 of a 10 3/4-ounce can cream of shrimp soup (discard top half and use bottom part of soup)
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 pound freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 (6-ounce) can crabmeat, picked free of any broken shells, drained
• 6 ounces shrimp, fresh or canned, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the bell pepper, onion, and celery and saute for 2 minutes. In a bowl, combine the soup, mayonnaise, Parmesan, crabmeat, shrimp, and pepper. Stir the sauteed vegetables into the seafood mixture and spoon this mixture into a lightly greased 8 by 11-inch casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve with toast points or crackers.

The other new thing I made was a Pesto Chicken salad.  This recipe was in my big green binder.  Something I had torn out from Cooking Light.  This was very good.  I love chicken salad and I am always trying out new varieties.  Some are hits and some are misses.  I will definitely make this one again.  Kevin loved it too and said I should start making it so that he can bring chicken salad sandwiches to work. 

1/2 cup low-fat mayonnaise

1/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt

1/3 cup commercial pesto (such as Buitoni)

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

4 cups cubed skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast

1 cup diced celery

1/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

1 (1-pound) focaccia bread, cut in half horizontally, toasted

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Stir in chicken, celery, and walnuts.  Spread onto bread. 

The recipe said to put lettuce and roasted red peppers on the sandwich as well.  We just did the chicken but maybe next time I will try that as well.