After a festive season of enjoying all the food things (with ZERO regrets!), I find my cravings turn to lots of seafood infused things come January. In many cultures around the globe (my Italian heritage included), seafood dishes are actually a meaningful way to welcome a new year. It’s believed eating seafood at the start of the year will bring luck, prosperity and good health! Bring in ALL that goodness & more, universe! So, our first food post of this new year is devoted to all that feel-good food symbolism – here are our favourite Simple Seafood Recipes we think your family will love too!
Simple Seafood Recipes Your Family Will Love x La Cucina di Kerrs
Pasta Pescatore
A simplified twist on a classic Italian Pasta Pescatore dish – this version without shellfish! One of my most cherished recipes I learned to make from my Papa we devoured on special holidays (including New Year’s Eve) in our family growing up. Don’t break this authentic Italian dining code, though – no grated Parmigiano cheese on Seafood Pasta, per favore! [*I still do sometimes…who’s gonna know?;)*]
Lemon-Garlic Seafood Recipes
Using lemon in combination with seafood makes for one symbolic meal! Lemons are considered a highly valuable commodity due to their natural cleansing, healing & purifying qualities. It’s believed lemons aid in accepting the changes in life and improves the sense of good fortune. Here are our favourite seafood recipes infused with lemon (and garlic – my flav-ourite combo!)
Sheet Pan Lemon Garlic Shrimp
While most shrimp recipes call for a sauté in a pan, sheet pan cooking shrimp is the way I was taught from my Papa’s culinary talents – check out his seafood food-torials HERE. TO MAKE this Sheet Pan Lemon Garlic Shrimp recipe, simply drizzle olive oil over your thawed jumbo shrimp, sprinkle garlic powder & sea salt, add chopped, fresh garlic and parsley, squeeze fresh lemon juice evenly over top and bake on 375 F for 8-10 minutes (until shrimp turn from dark grey to pinkish). That’s it! We added these lemon garlic shrimp to a seafood medley platter on Christmas Eve, including breaded Calamari, baked scallops and breaded butterfly shrimp. You could also serve these straight up paired with a salad, complimentary vegetables, or add to rice or pasta.
One-Pot Lemon Garlic Spinach Pasta
A simple and delish one-pot wonder you can whip up in under 30 minutes! Our Lemon Garlic Spinach Shrimp Pasta looks beautifully fancy when plated without all the fuss and may become your fave to serve at dinner parties or make for your next date night in!
One-Pan Lemon Garlic Shrimp Zoodles
Another one-pan wonder meal idea, this Lemon Garlic Shrimp Zoodle recipe is so flavourful and makes a great alternative dinner idea to the traditional pasta base if you’re looking to add more veg to your family dishes.
Sheet Pan Lemon Garlic Salmon
This sheet pan Lemon Garlic Salmon is a family favourite. Our oldest will experience his first round of High School exams this week and made a special request for this one.
What to Pair with Simple Seafood Dishes
Roasted or sautéed vegetables (like Italian Rapini) are some of my favourite sides to pair with simple seafood dishes. My most favourite is fennel – refreshing and reviving!
Try our Lemon Arugula + Fennel Salad Recipe! Perfect pairing choice for seafood!
Sea-Food for Thought
Have you read the ‘Story of the Fisherman’? It’s a story I came across at the start of my blogging journey and always redirects me when I feel I’m veering off-course, or uncomfortably far from shore. With so much noise about what we should be doing to live a “successful life”, so many spaces and places to cast our nets chasing a big catch of whatever society puts a heightened sense of importance on, this story prompts us to keep asking “and then what?” What is our “enough-ness” factor? Maybe you’re already living your ideal life and all that energy exertion reaching for some shiny thing with an insatiable appetite wouldn’t bring the satisfaction you’re being fed it would.
A small fishing village we visited in Italy’s Cinque Terre region before “Adventures with Kids.” Italians stay true to “The Art of Living Well” – I hope you get to visit one day. And if you do, we love this Guide on How to Dine Like a Local in Italy – it’s an art!
What I’ve learned to help me stay grounded in this loud and confusing world is how important it is to stay mindful of where and from whom this formula for success comes from. Does it reflect our own primo values? Have we spent enough time getting sorted on what those primo values are? Is this a source we actually should take advice from? Are they living with integrity? If not, reel it in…keep your line short and tight – closer to your heart. The only follower we should all be is that of our OWN knowing. Stay your own course. A good life is the one we say it is for ourselves. Goals are important things, but not everything. Our lives are happening in the NOW. And if you’ve had the brutiful experience of talking to someone at the end of their life, they’ll affirm the most meaningful parts of our lives will come from the millions of simpler, smaller moments we might miss chasing some big catch or spending more time goal-getting then actual life-living. Engage in “Retro-Casting” – a process of backward decision-making from a future we desire in order to take actions that align with it today. Empowering stuff.
I hope you found these simple seafood recipes helpful in deciding your next weeknight, dinner party or date night meal. Tell us your favourite seafood dish or comment below which one you’ll be trying. If you enjoy it, tag us at @House_of_Kerrs – we LOVE seeing what you create in your Cucinas with your crews!
Keep well, eat well,
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