po’ boys

Well, we definitely didn’t starve over Spring Break.

We finally went to Toppers Pizza and managed to eat there 4 times in 5 days. I’m addicted to the salad bar, but the pizza is fabulous, too! We took Jay there yesterday for lunch as he was unable to join us in our numerous earlier visits.

During Lent we don’t eat meat on Fridays so we enjoyed a roasted garlic, fresh roma tomato & mushroom pie…

Like, WOW! Like I could never eat meat again, WOW.

I like the pizza because it is thin, but not too thin and the crust is crispy and not too doughy. They also have a nice, fresh salad bar and a different selection of dressings like maple vinaigrette and chipotle ranch.

Last night for dinner we needed something meat-free, too. While Elliott & I were getting our toes done {finally!?!} I watched an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives and witnessed Guy Fieri inhale a shrimp po’ boy. Bingo. Our dinner idea was taken care of. I had also gotten a recipe from my chef friend, Leslie, for some Orange Cilantro Coleslaw that I’d been dying to try and thought it’d go well with the po’ boys.

When Googling the sammies, I got a little overwhelmed with several recipes and finally just went with Rachael Ray’s version for the shrimp and another one for the remoulade. I used cornmeal rather than the bread crumbs. I had originally wanted Jay to grill the shrimp to make them a little healthier, but then I figured I’d try the traditional way first and then if they were a hit, I’d try to health-ify them the next time around.

Let me just say, they were a TOTAL hit.

I ended up kind of making up by own remoulade ~ mayo, spicy brown mustard, lemon juice, sweet relish & Tabasco. Just dump all those things in a bowl, stir it up and spread some on your rolls before building your sandwich. I also used some super fresh Sara Lee French Rolls that were perfect for this. I heated them up slightly under the broiler first, too.

Here is how to prepare the shrimp:

Vegetable or peanut oil, for frying
1 large egg
1 cup milk
1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, deveined
Salt
1/2 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal or bread crumbs
2 tablespoons seafood seasoning a couple of palm fulls (recommended: Old Bay) —–> I used cajun seasoning

Preheat 1-inch of oil in a deep skillet over medium to medium-high heat. —–> I used about half that and it was plenty {shallow fry}

Pull shells & tails off shrimp. Beat egg and milk together. Salt shrimp then soak in milk batter. Mix together the flour, cornmeal or bread crumbs and seafood seasoning in a bowl. Using tongs, remove a few shrimp at a time and coat in breading. Add breaded shrimp to the hot oil and fry them 5 to 6 minutes or until firm and deeply golden all over. Place on a paper towel lined plate.

Spread some sauce onto your rolls followed by some lettuce and tomato slices. Add several shrimp and you have yourself a taste of Louisiana.

So good.

Orange Cilantro Coleslaw 

{ recipe courtesy of Leslie Babikan by way of Jo Lafferty 😉 }

1/4 cup fat free plain yogurt {I used Greek}

1/4 cup light mayo

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup orange juice {I used the juice of one orange and the zest, too}

3 tbsp. white vinegar {I used rice vinegar}

1 1/2 tsp. honey

7 cups shredded green cabbage

1 cup shredded carrot

1/2 cup chopped red onion

salt & pepper to taste

Whisk together the first 6 ingredients for dressing. Add cabbage, carrot and onion. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours to blend flavors.

So light and summery. I love different variations on coleslaw and will be making this lots.

Thanks, Leslie!

Thanks, Rachael!

Thanks, Toppers!

Because of you all, our Spring Break eats were super great.

Back to eating bananas, yogurt, kale smoothies, grilled chicken and boring salads.

And drinking more water.