Bitter Melon with Shrimp

This is not my photo.

Bitter Melon, also known as Bitter Gourd is an Asian vegetable that is known for healing properties. It can lower blood sugar,  a component of the seeds can possibly prevent HIV from infecting human cells, and the extract can  be used to slow the spread of cancer to cells. More research is needed to make sure that these uses are warranted and are feasible. It also may lower triglyceride levels. Here is a link that explains these uses in further detail.

The seeds and peel should be removed as they may cause headaches in some people. Bitter melon is safe to consume and is used throughout the Far East, South America, India, Africa and throughout the Caribbean.

Here is a simple recipe that uses bitter melon that I found while I was looking for recipes that used this vegetable. I kept on seeing it at Tan-A and was wondering what to do with it and Chris and I both thought that this stir fry looked wonderful.

I will be salting my bitter melon and placing it in a colander for about an hour to make this melon less bitter, then blanching it and finally shocking it in cold water before cooking.

Wow, this is very bitter so bitter we couldn't eat it....It looks better than it tastes.

Seafood Pizza

I know that this sounds a little weird but it looks delicious. My friend, Sara went to Morocco and came back talking about Seafood Pizza, and I went looking for recipes. A lot of recipes came up, but when I saw this recipe from Janet is Hungry, I knew I had to try it. White sauce, Parmesan Cheese, Mozzarella Cheese, Imitation Crab (you can use real crab but I don't eat crab), tomatoes, cilantro, shrimp, onions and  green bell peppers....what's not to like? I love pizzas made with white sauce instead of red sauce/tomato sauce bases. I will be making my own crust for this pizza. I also cut the shrimp down to about 1/4 pound.

Pizza Crust

2 1/2-3 cups bread or AP flour, can use whole wheat for half of flour (for this pizza, I did 1 cup whole wheat and the rest AP)
1 package yeast
1 tsp. sugar OR 1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. oil
1 tsp. salt
1 cup warm water

In a large bowl, place water and yeast. Add sugar and set aside for about 5 minutes, until yeast has bloomed. Add oil and salt, stir. Add 1&1/2 cups flour, stir. Pour dough out onto floured board and knead in enough additional flour to make a soft dough.Do not be alarmed if you don't use all of the flour. Cover with tea towel or bowl, let rise about one hour or until doubled in bulk. Punch dough down, knead and roll out in a greased cookie sheet or pizza pan. Cover with tea towel and let rise for about 30-60 minutes. Proceed with recipe.