Dilled Shrimp Salad with Herb-Dill Dressing

This recipe comes from the South Beach Diet book. It is our favorite recipe so far.

Dilled Shrimp Salad with Herb-Dill Dressing

Shrimp:
1 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 bay leaves
1 lemon, sliced
1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Herb-Dill Dressing
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 medium red onion,sliced
1 large head romaine lettuce
4 ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges
6 fresh mushrooms, sliced
fresh dill sprigs (optional)

To make the shrimp: Combine the wine, mustard seeds,pepper flakes, bay leaves, and lemon in a large saucepan. Add water to fill the pan two-thirds full. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add the shrimp, and cook for 2-3 minutes or until shrimp have turned pink and are no longer translucent in the center. Drain and cool. Discard the bay leaves.

To make the herb-dill dressing: In a screw-top jar, mix the olive oil, red wine vinegar,water,basil,dill,garlic,mustard and onion. Shake well. Place the shrimp in a large bowl and add the dressing. Toss well, cover and refrigerate until well chilled. Serve the shrimp mixture on romaine leaves and surround with tomato wedges and mushrooms. Garnish with dill sprigs if using.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies

1 box cake mix (I use spice and carrot)

15 oz can of pumpkin

1/2-1 cup of chocolate chips

Mix cake mix and pumpkin together. Stir in chips. drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake in 350 oven for 10 minutes.

Chocolate Cappuccino Cookies

I made these last week to take camping. The get better after sitting in an air tight container for a day or two. The recipe is from the Taste of Home cookbook The Best of Country Cooking 2003

Chocolate Cappuccino Cookies

1 tablespoon instant coffee granules

1 tablespoon hot water

1 egg white

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided

1/4 cup canola oil

2 tablespoons corn syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup baking cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

In small bowl, dissolve coffee granules in hot water. In a mixing bowl, combine the egg white,3/4 cup sugar, oil, corn syrup,vanilla and coffee; beat until well blended. Combine the flour, cocoa and salt; gradually add to coffee mixture.

Roll into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten to 1/4 inch thickness with a glass dipped in the remaining sugar. Bake at 350 for 5-7 minutes or until center is set. Remove to wire racks to cool. Store in an air tight container. Yield: 3 1/2 dozen. (I got closer to 50 cookies)

The dough is sticky, it helps to dampen palms when rolling into the small balls.