Skillet Green Beans with Spiced Walnuts

I'm forever looking for an interesting way to serve green beans. I like them, but am not a fan of just steaming them or blanching them. I want flavor with them. 

Enter this recipe.  I pulled it out of my Light and Healthy 2011 cookbook from America's Test Kitchen.  Their recipes are so thorough and thought through. 

What I really liked about this recipe is you have a super hot pan which flash cooks the beans and they get brown and crunchy.  Yum.

Super easy, and low calorie.  130 calories per serving.

Skillet Green Beans with Spiced Walnuts

Photo by Life is Full 2011

Recipe from Light & Healthy 2011
Serves 4

1/4 c walnuts, chopped coarse
1 T unsalted butter
1 tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Pinch of cayenne
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 tsp olive oil
1 lb green beans, trimmed (I cut mine in half too)
1/4 c water

Toast the walnuts in a 12 inch skillet over medium-low heat until golden, about 5 minutes. Don't turn your back on them, they can burn quickly.

Add the butter and cook, stirring constantly, until the butter is browned, about 2 minutes. Stir in the sugar, ginger, cayenne, and 1/8 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Transfer the walnut mixture to a bowl and set aside.  Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel.

Heat the oil in the skillet over medium high heat until just smoking. Add the green beans and 1/8 tsp salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until spotty brown, 4-6 minutes.

Add the water, cover and cook until the green beans are bright green but still crisp, 2-3 minutes. Uncover, increase the heat to high, and continue to cook until the water evaporates and the beans are crisp-tender and lightly browned, 3-5 minutes longer.

Off the heat, stir in the reserved walnut mixture. Season with salt and pepper if need be.

Shrimp Cocktail Salad with Lemon-Horshradish Vinaigrette

Shrimp cocktail....YUM.  Big fan of shrimp cocktail.  Even just little bite size pieces of shrimp to dip in cocktail sauce makes me happy. Which is why when I saw this recipe I knew I had to make it for a number of reasons.

First - um shrimp cocktail!

Second - low calorie. Just 204 calories for this salad.

Three - did I mention shrimp cocktail.

There is a bit of prep of the shrimp and sometime it needs to sit before eating it. I didn't notice that when I started this recipe so I didn't let my shrimp sit for as long as it probably could.

Bottom line...super easy recipe and super delicious. I made no real changes to this recipe besides adding a cucumber and croutons to the ingredients.  What? I had the cucumber that had to be used and how do you eat a salad without croutons?

Photo by Jenn Wraspir

Shrimp Cocktail Salad
Recipe from Cuisine at Home
Serves 6
204 calories - according to my WW app it's about 5 points

For the vinaigrette, whisk together:
1/3 c prepared horseradish
1 T minced lemon zest
1/4 c fresh lemon juice
3T no salt added ketchup - missed this and so used regular ketchup
3T extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp each kosher salt and ground pepper

For the salad; heat:
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 onion, quartered
1 dried bay leaf
1 lemon, halved and juiced
1 T old bay seasoning
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black peppercorns

1 1/2 lb shrimp; deveined and shelled (about 30 shrimp)

12 c thinly sliced romaine lettuce
4 c chopped tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes)

So whisk together the ingredients for the vinaigrette and set it aside.

Heat the garlic, onion, bay leaf, lemon halves, old bay, salt and peppercorns in a large pot of water of high; bringing it to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Add shrimp, cook until pink and opaque (2-3 minutes). Transfer shrimp to a bowl of ice water; drain. Toss shrimp in vinaigrette, cover and chill for at least an hour or overnight.

Toss in romaine and tomatoes just before serving.