Trader Joe's Run: Seafood Extravaganza

We have been eating healthier since my medical emergency last summer. Of course, as most of you know, taste has not been sacrificed in any way. And there is something absolutely delicious in the idea that you can eat well and lose weight in the process.

Of course, for those of you following the Twitter weekend feed for #KaliFoodGoddess, not everything there is exactly healthy – because you should detour to culinary treats every once in a while. Ain’t nobody gonna give up bacon or fried chicken (but we have new ways to achieve the effect without clogging our hearts).

We did a Trader Joe’s run yesterday, to refill our pantry and fridge with goodies in anticipation of the coming snowstorm. If we end up home-bound for a few days, we’ll need for nothing in the food department.

We were sorry to hear that they’ve discontinued the crab meat, but we still managed to get a few seafood products from their frozen selection. Mom’s favorite, the seafood blend is still available and it is always a good meal. A mix of small shrimp, calamari rings and bay scallops, she usually adds a handful of medium sized shrimp (or lobster balls). And our go-to recipe includes their Asian stir fry veggie bowl which contains a generous amount of already cut baby corn, bamboo shoots, bok choy, broccoli, carrots, water chestnuts, mushrooms, onions (white and red), peppers (green and red), snap peas and snow peas—every once in a while somebody throws in celery, basil… Mom always adds garlic, because of course!

Last night’s version included freshly squeezed lemon juice and its aromatic zest. But because there is no salt content beyond what the seafood contains naturally, you can splurge and use a little soy sauce here, or fish sauce, or Worcestershire sauce. A little Old Bay seasoning wouldn’t hurt it either.  

In all, the seafood blend totals about 80 calories per serving and the veggies add about 25 more, and this gives you some wiggle room if you choose to add carbs to the mix. 

We usually have it with rice, but it's just as lovely with couscous or risotto or noodles. At the same time, there is enough here so that, if you prefer, you could let the stir fry be the entire meal. It will be still be delicious and filling.

One of these days, I want to see if I can pull off seafood fajitas with the blend.

We also got mahi-mahi, tuna, and salmon burgers. While we sometimes make these as lunch on small multi-grain flatbreads; we also make them the protein in our dinner, with at least one salad and vegetables. We’ve forgone rich sauces for the time being, and instead will occasionally use a dollop of Sriracha mayo.

To round up our seafood bounty, we got a couple of packages of the lobster ravioli and two small tubs of their fresh pesto sauce. I know, it’s predictable, but it is so good, we simply trust it will be delicious every time we make it! (And for those interested in such things, the calorie count is a lot lower than you’d expect: the ravioli totals 290 per serving and the pesto 260.)

I know some of you have started the year trying to move towards healthier choices, and I’d like to point to you a great website/app that rates consumer food products for their nutritional values, has a forum (I haven’t explored this feature because I’m not really a joiner), diet and fitness trends, and even recipes: Fooducate   

So, bring on the snow, Mother Nature! We will be pretending we are seaside somewhere warm having fresh seafood and loving life.

 [In the meantime, I experiment with our new AirFryer (currently making a turkey breast—which I will tell you about it later). And whatever is leftover will be the base for a soup. Snow soup is as much fun as rain soup, and I am looking forward to that as well. To those on the path of the coming snowmageddon: stay warm and safe.]