A Sweetheart of a Dinner, Part 1

Over the weekend I made a special Sunday Dinner for the family.  My daughter, Ms. A, was so very helpful and made the entire experience so much fun.  I experimented with new recipes and luckily, everything turned out well.

We started with a salad of mixed baby greens, carrot shreds and tomato wedges.

Next there was Coconut Soup.  I found the recipe in a 2005 issue of Better Homes and Gardens Appetizers magazine.

The ingredients.

The crab legs were cooked in a tablespoon of oil.  This was probably the strangest part of the process for me.  I usually steam them.

Then, the fresh vegetables were added and everything cooked a few minutes longer.  Next, I added the coconut milk and clam juice and let it simmer for 20 minutes.  Afterwards the crab legs were removed from the pan and the soup was strained through a fine sieve into another bowl.

This is the pile of cooked crab legs my daughter and I had to crack and pull the meat from.

And here are the individual containers of soup with the crab meat inside.  A little cilantro is sprinkled on top.  My husband (Steeler Fan), my son (Mr. B), and daughter, Ms. A cleaned their bowls.  Mr. B even wants to learn how to make it.

Next we had BBQ Shrimp.  This recipe was found in the April 2000 issue of Cooking Light magazine.

The dry ingredients.

Inside the pan is a mixture of worcestershire sauce, fat-free caesar dressing, hot sauce, margarine, the dry ingredients pictured above and of course, shrimp…the peels were kept on for flavor.

The shrimp was saucy, spicy and really good.  The french bread was put to good use with the sauce.