Soup's On!

One of my favorite things about the cooler weather is the introduction of soups into the dinner routine! Wes has his favorites and I have mine, and of course they're not the same. This soup/stew breaks the norm though because we both thoroughly enjoyed it. I think Wes was a bit skeptical of it because I caught him reading over the recipe a couple times prior to dinner. I too was skeptical because it appeared too easy and didn't have enough ingredients for me to think it would be superb. I trusted the many positive reviews on Epicurious and they proved to be right on. Although a bit expensive, this stew is super easy and delicious - definitely restaurant quality. You could modify and just use shrimp or just use fish if you were trying to cut corners a bit. The red pepper flakes do add a bit of heat, so adjust to suit your tastebuds!

BRAZILIAN SEAFOOD STEW

Servings: Serves 6 to 8

4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 1/2 pounds white fish fillets (such as red snapper or orange roughy), cut into 1-inch pieces

1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 1/2 cups chopped green bell peppers
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
2 cups chopped tomatoes
3/4 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 1/4 pounds uncooked medium shrimp, peeled, deveined

Whisk 2 tablespoons oil and lime juice in large bowl. Add fish and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper; stir to coat. Let stand 15 minutes.
Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onion, bell peppers, garlic and crushed red pepper; sauté 5 minutes. Mix in tomatoes, coconut milk, half of cilantro and half of green onions. Add shrimp and fish with marinade. Simmer until shrimp and fish are just opaque in center, about 5 minutes. Season stew with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl. Sprinkle with remaining cilantro and green onions.


By the way, one of my other fall favorites is PUMPKIN!! I'm not sure why I wait until the leaves start to fall before I break out the pumpkin recipes, but that's another tale. So far, I've tried many but here are a few: pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin oatmeal, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and my favorite so far, http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/detail.aspx?ID=28200!