Tomorrow is my birthday! Woo hoo! I love my birthday, but I’ve been so busy planning for our little guy’s arrival that I haven’t given it much thought this year. I did, however, decide to make a special birthday meal. And by that I mean I made it in August since I’ve been trying to get the blog ahead in anticipation of taking a few months off, but it had the spirit of my birthday just the same.

I thought I would combine two of my favorite dishes: salmon and risotto. I’ve had risotto with plenty of proteins on top, but never salmon. Now after having them together I don’t know why every restaurant doesn’t have a salmon risotto dish on their menu because it was so crazy delicious.

The lemon herb risotto is rich and creamy, while still tasting light because of the lemon and fresh parsley and chives. The risotto is a little cheesy, without being too cheese forward, which is perfect when paired with the tender salmon.

I baked the salmon very simply with some olive oil, salt and pepper and added some crispy panko breadcrumbs over top for extra texture. I could eat this combination every day of the week! It hit all the right flavor and texture notes and I gobbled up every last bite. Plus, it got two thumbs up from Matt, who I consider my in-house salmon skeptic. If he honestly enjoys it then I know it must be good!

If you’ve never made risotto before then now is the time! It’s the perfect cozy fall dish and is definitely not as intimidating as it seems. Enjoy, everyone!

 Risotto recipe from March 2017 issue of Food Network Magazine.

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We’re wrapping up a week of healthy dinners here on Lemon & Mocha with a lightened up twist on a classic: Crispy Baked Fish and Chips. Tender, flaky fish coated in a crispy exterior and some homemade french fries, all served alongside a creamy tarter sauce – yum!

We’ve done a few things to the original dish to lighten it up with the most obvious being that we’re baking the breaded fish and french fries instead of frying them. I’ve baked breaded chicken many, many times, but I had never tried it before with fish. It came out so well! The fish was tender and perfectly cooked while the outside was crispy.

The breading in this recipe is interesting and helped in aiding with the crispiness factor. No panko or nuts here; instead the fish is breaded with crisp rice cereal! Also known as Rice Krispies cereal or whatever Trader Joe’s or store brand you prefer. A bowl of Rice Krispies was my go-to during my first trimester so we have plenty of boxes stockpiled in the house. I love that the breading process is only a two step as well. The fish pieces get dunked in some frothy egg whites and then coated in the crispy rice cereal. That’s it!

The baked french fries were also a big hit for Matt and I. I’ve baked fries before, but the trick about preheating the baking sheet in the oven was a new one for me and I definitely think it helped make them crispier. Finally, the tarter sauce has been lightened up as well! I’m not sure about you, but in addition to using tarter sauce on my fish, I love dipping my fries in the stuff. This healthier homemade version is made with a Greek yogurt base and has no mayonnaise. I am a self-proclaimed mayo addict and I was prepared to not like this yogurt version, but it was really good! I didn’t miss the mayo at all and felt like I was eating regular tarter sauce.

The only downfall for this whole meal is that it is not make-ahead friendly, but I’ll let it slide every once in a while for a delicious and healthy fish and chips dinner! Happy Friday, everyone!

 Recipe from July/August 2010 issue of Food Network Magazine.

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I have another restaurant inspired dish for you! I say inspired because it is actually quite different from the original. This time it’s from a New England classic – Legal Sea Foods. There’s a few restaurants Matt and I have been to over and over and Legal Sea Foods is definitely in that category. It helps that there’s a lot of them here in Massachusetts and that we’ve always seemed to have one near us, whether it was the one in Chestnut Hill while we were still at Boston College or the one in Harvard Square that we could walk to when we lived in Cambridge.

It was at their Harvard Square location that we first tried their Thai style fried calamari. It is described on the menu simply as “Thai style – pineapple and peanuts,” and when it came out we could smell the rich peanut sauce.

The crispy fried calamari was smothered in an addictive peanut sauce, scallions, chopped peanuts and pineapple chunks. We were hooked! They are actually pretty spicy and normally I cannot do spice, but I will happily suffer through every time just for some of these saucy, crispy calamari bites!

Now if you’re wondering why I’m talking about calamari when this is clearly a shrimp recipe that is a big part of why I’m using the word “inspired.” This Crispy Baked Coconut Shrimp with Peanut Sauce and Pineapple can be served as a party appetizer or as a main course alongside some rice and salad.

The panko breadcrumbs, which are already crunchy, get pre-baked to ensure they create the crispiest coating for the shrimp. The shredded coconut is another departure from the original, but I love the flavor combination along with the peanut sauce and pineapple. A little savory, a little sweet and a whole lot of deliciousness. I hope you enjoy these Crispy Baked Coconut Shrimp with Peanut Sauce and Pineapple!

Baked shrimp recipe from Pinch and Swirl.

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Remember when I said I had exciting dinner recipes to share with you all? Well get psyched to start cooking because this is one of those recipes! In fact it was so good that I bumped it way up in the schedule just so you could have access to it sooner. This Lemon Artichoke Shrimp Scampi in a Foil Packet is fresh, zesty, garlicky and just the right amount buttery.

Like last week’s Skillet Balsamic Peach Pork Chops with Feta and Basil, this dish is on the table in under thirty minutes making it perfect for weeknight mealtime. Also like last week’s dinner recipe, it tastes gourmet enough for company. Even better is that all the cook time is either on your grill or in the oven giving you plenty of time to hang out with your guests or relax with your feet up and a glass of wine until dinner is ready!

I pulled this recipe from one of my food binders. It was a random side-column weeknight recipe in an issue of the Food Network Magazine from a couple years ago. Normally I skip over these recipes, but I’m so glad I saved it! Never would I have thought it would be so delicious. Now I’m really motivated to continue cooking through my food binders to see what other hidden gems have been sitting in there for all these years!

These foil packets have artichoke hearts, lemon slices and shrimp all layered together and cooked with garlic, oregano, fresh parsley, olive oil, white wine and a little butter. The best part is after they’re cooked you top them with a crunchy breadcrumb mixture of toasted panko, Italian seasoning, lemon zest, grated Parmesan and more garlic. I served the shrimp over whole wheat cous cous, which is both super quick to make and soaked up all the extra lemony-butter sauce perfectly. I like serving extra veggies with dinner so I steamed some broccoli, too, but that definitely made the portions too big since the packets on their own are pretty shrimp-packed.

I made these foil packets in our big toaster oven so I included the oven instructions in the recipe below. If you’re making them on the grill I included the instructions from the original recipe, although I have not tried these foil packets on the grill so I can’t guarantee the recommended cook time. If you do make them on the grill just follow the instructions to check them after ten minutes to see if the shrimp are cooked through or not. I found in the oven the shrimp took longer than I thought to cook through, which is why I listed seventeen to twenty minutes for the oven cook time. I think it was because they were wrapped up in the packet so it took them longer than if they were just on a baking sheet directly exposed to the heating element. Also, I found the shrimp in the middle of the packet, which means they were under the thickest, folded part of the foil, were the shrimp that were taking the longest to cook. I hope you all try this one soon!

 Recipe from July/August 2017 issue of Food Network Magazine.

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My go-to diner order is a tuna melt. I love tuna fish and when it’s sandwiched between two toasty slices of bread along with some gooey melted cheese I’m in heaven. I had some leftover egg roll wrappers from the Baked Barbecue Chicken Egg Rolls and when I was brainstorming what I could make with them I thought of my favorite diner food. Skinnytaste turned me on to baked egg rolls with the Southwest Turkey Baked Egg Rolls from her cookbook and I’m constantly thinking of new variations.

I stuffed the egg roll wrappers with cheddar cheese and a quick tuna salad I made with canned tuna, mayonnaise, scallions and fresh ground black pepper. Then I baked them until they were crispy and crunchy on the outside and had the perfect melted cheese in the middle.

As I mentioned in my Pasta Tuna Salad post (if you love tuna fish then you will go nuts for that dish!), Matt does not like tuna fish so I made these for myself for lunch. This is a small batch recipe as it only uses one can of tuna fish to make two servings. You could certainly make more if you are making it for more people, but I would not recommend saving them for leftovers as they taste best fresh from the oven.

Now that I have those Goat Cheese Spinach Pesto Egg Sandwiches on my mind from Wednesday I’m thinking I missed an opportunity to put some everything but the bagel seasoning on the top of the egg roll wrappers just for some added flavor. I’m not sure if you’ve ever had tuna fish on an everything bagel, but it is so good. There’s this place I used to order from at work that would make a tuna melt on an everything bagel with some of the bagel scooped out so it would get nice and crispy. Like these egg rolls! Minus the everything but the bagel seasoning, but maybe next time!

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