Shrimp & Orzo; Zucchini & Fresh Tomato Salsa - Party Leftovers Into A Meal

Sorry, we ate the whole thing before I even thought about posting this, so there are no photos. 

On Labor Day we had a a houseful of folks over for cookout and a kind of pot-luck.  People brought salads, desserts, appetizers and there was a lot of stuff left.

I had made "Italian Salsa" to go with the corn chips: diced fresh garden tomatoes, garlic, finely diced jalapeños, parsley, basil (NO CILANTRO) and a little sugar.

My cousin Rose had made a nice casserole of orzo and there was a good portion left.

Another guest brought cooked shrimp and there were 12 - 18 shrimp left.

There was a plastic container with lots of sliced onions untouched by the burger lovers.

I'll make it brief. This is just an example of how you might create something wonderful from what's in the fridge. And it was done in less than thirty minutes - probably closer to twenty.

My cooking mind went to work, thinking basically "shrimp" "garlic" "orzo" but I needed a vegetable:

I put a handful of sliced onion into a skillet with a little olive oil to sauté.

[I'm not sure anything I cook is sautéed as the flame is always on "high" - as the song goes: I never do anything "Nice" and "Easy" just "Nice" and "Rough"]

I went out to the garden to get swiss chard but instead decided on two medium size zucchinis. I cut them up and tossed them in with the onion. Let them cook a bit, even get just a little golden color on some of the zucchini slices.

Ah! I remembered the Italian Salsa, so I put two or three ladles of that juicy tomato and jalapeño and basil mixture in to cook with zucchini.

While that simmered, I peeled and chopped some garlic, sautéed that in olive oil and tossed in the left over cooked shrimp and let them get good and garlicky.

Then I added a couple of ladles of orzo with a little water so it would steam-heat. I kept stirring it all so it wouldn't burn.

When it was heated through we had delicious zucchini with tomato-jalapeño and garlic shrimp with orzo.

Didn't matter if the zucchini mixed in with the shrimp and orzo because it was even better that way than keeping each separately! A little parmesan cheese on top. Yum.

Oh, was that good!

So, have a party! Use up those left-overs! Be creative! Dinner's ready!

Not Quite Vegetarian Chili

I've always loved vegetables but now I am trying to lose weight so more veggies the better.  But chili without meat...I'm not quite there yet.

For tonight's dish, I used a couple of pork chops diced up a lot smaller than bite size; 

2-3 cloves garlic, 

and diced: 

2 small onions, 

1 green pepper, 

6 jalapeno peppers, 

1 cup celery, 

1 zucchini;

2 tbsp olive oil, 

3/4 cup red wine, 

salt, pepper, chili powder, brown sugar and 

3 cans of beans (not pictured) - kidney beans, black beans, pinto beans ( more or different - as you like)

1 large can of crushed tomatoes (not pictured).

 Saute the garlic and the meat in a tablespoon of olive oil; add salt and pepper; add red wine and cook for a few minutes;  remove the meat and juices;

saute the onion in 1 tbsp of olive oil for a few minutes;

add the green pepper, jalapeno pepper, saute a few minutes; 

 add the celery and the zucchini; saute until heated through, a few minutes; add salt.

return the meat to the pot, add the tomato and beans;
add a tablespoon brown sugar and chili powder to taste

I realized I had a piece of grilled rib eye steak left over from the other night so I cut it up fine and added it to the chili...why not?

Serve with grated cheddar, jack or other cheese of your choice.  Salad and wine and homemade bread completed tonight's dinner.

Enjoy!