shrimp salad/clam chowder

thank goodness for sunny days - trying to use natural light

Now that I live in the lovely DC area , I cook... a LOT. Probably not quite as much as when I was in Carlisle (where's that?!) but certainly much much more than in NYC or LA. The options are just more - limited. What this means for you, dear reader, is that I have a backlog of one million and fourteen recipes to share with you. If you think about it, every dinner has at least 3 or 4 components and then there are a couple of lunch items... and I am always trying out new recipes.

So today, we have two lunch recipes - both low-carb. Let me just gripe about that for a second - the label "low-carb" or "vegan" or "gluten-free"or "fat-free" makes me think ugh... taste-free.. but honestly there are a lot of fantastic things that are naturally low-carb/vegan/gluten-free/fat-free without the label. I'm not switching out weird artificial stuff for anything that would ordinarily be there, so whether or not you care about carbs, you can make these. The only difference is if you start the clam chowder with a roux, you'll get a thicker soup, the stuff you're probably used to.

Which brings me to my last point before we get into the food - FYI I decided this low-carb thing is NOT working for me so screw it... besides, I'm going to NYC this weekend. The pizza is practically calling my name.

  

shrimp salad for two

 excuse the bowl - my mixing bowls are more functional than beautiful

• 1/2 lb shrimp, peeled or not
• 2-3 tablespoons good mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 lemon
• fresh pepper
• chopped dill or chives (optional)
• 3 tablespoons minced onion (red/white)
• 1/4 cup minced celery
• hot sauce, to taste

1. Bring a pot of water, a generous pinch of salt, and a few slices of lemon to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the shrimp and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook until the shrimp are barely cooked through - 3 minutes or so.
2. Remove with a slotted spoon and run cold water on it to stop the cooking. Peel and devein, if they aren't already. Drain, obviously.
3. Mix everything together, squeezing in lemon juice to taste. Salt to taste - and keep tasting! It's the key to making great food. Or even decent food.
4. Serve, either on some greens if you're doing low-carb like I was or on a toasted, buttery roll to make a shrimp roll! There's a whole nerdy cooking debate about what kind of roll... brioche for fancy, but a lot of the NYC lobster roll places use a buttered hot dog roll!

Clam Chowder (the fast, low-carb way)

soup is hard to photograph =/

• 2-4 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped celery (doesn't have to be too small)
• 3 cloves chopped garlic (optional)
• 4 (10 ounce) cans minced clams
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2-3/4 cup cream (to taste - I used to use less, but if you're doing low-carb I'd use more to get it thick)

1. Place diced bacon in large stock pot over medium-high heat. Cook until almost crisp; add onions and celery and and sweat for a few minutes. Add garlic if using. Add liquid from the clams. *note - I'd add some diced peeled potatoes sometime at this point. Bring to a boil, and cook uncovered for 15 minutes or so, till the celery is tender.
2. Add the cream and pepper. Taste it - I didn't need any salt, but if you do obviously add it!