So, I just moved into my new corporate home for the summer in Redmond, WA, and realized that if I wanted to nourish myself without gaining more weight than I had during the school year, I should probably make home-cooked meals. So, I put on my adult pants and went grocery shopping last night. Since I'm still in broke-college-student mode, I decided to do a ten-ingredients-or-less kind of thing, especially because my pantry only consisted of salt and pepper and I couldn't carry much more than a few grocery bags on my own. This dish is not so refined, as it was more of a let's-see-if-my-stove-is-actually-functional kind of thing. And, yes...my stove works.
My super-cool corporate housing relocation specialist people supplied us with a set of knives, pots, pans, utensils, and flexible cutting boards (pictured here is the green one, for vegetables :) ). I chose to make a shrimp dish today, as peeled and deveined shrimp requires little prep work, and I really wasn't in the mood to clean and trim meat today.
What you'll need for this dish:
Parsley or Cilantro
Pasta (I used penne, as I didn't want to ungracefully slurp long noodles in front of company)
Tomato Sauce with Chilies (because I like my food like I like myself...spicy)
Red Chili Paste (because, let's face it, nothing is ever spicy enough)
Peeled and Deveined Shrimp
Small Potatoes (because I don't have a vegetable peeler, and you can eat these potatoes' skins)
My super-cool corporate housing relocation specialist people supplied us with a set of knives, pots, pans, utensils, and flexible cutting boards (pictured here is the green one, for vegetables :) ). I chose to make a shrimp dish today, as peeled and deveined shrimp requires little prep work, and I really wasn't in the mood to clean and trim meat today.
What you'll need for this dish:
Parsley or Cilantro
Pasta (I used penne, as I didn't want to ungracefully slurp long noodles in front of company)
Tomato Sauce with Chilies (because I like my food like I like myself...spicy)
Red Chili Paste (because, let's face it, nothing is ever spicy enough)
Peeled and Deveined Shrimp
Small Potatoes (because I don't have a vegetable peeler, and you can eat these potatoes' skins)
I cut up the potatoes into bite-sized pieces on my cute, green vegetable board with my not-so-sharp knife while waiting for a pot of water to boil. (Not just for fun...we will actually be using this water)
See? I told you! Throw in the potatoes (actually, more like gently submerge them because I'd rather not burn myself today), add a little salt, and let them mingle in the hot tub until they are nice and tender.
While waiting impatiently for the potatoes to cook, chop some parsley or cilantro...then chop it even finer because the potatoes aren't done yet and you're bored.
Once the potatoes are done, about an episode and a half of How I Met Your Mother later, drain them and return them to that pot. I actually made someone else do this for me, because I don't trust my wimpy arms to transport a vat of scalding water from the stove to the sink.
Add the whole jar of spicy tomato sauce with a little water and about three-quarters of your parsley, and let them envelop the potatoes. I turned the heat to low at this point so the potatoes didn't overcook and break down in my stew.
I added a few squeezes of this chili pepper paste to turn up the heat...then I tasted it...then added several more squeezes because I still wasn't satisfied. But this step is completely optional, guys.
I added the raw shrimp to the stew to let it cook and absorb all the yummy flavors. You could also cook them in a pan beforehand and then add them, but I wanted one less dish to clean, so...
You could actually serve this dish as a stew, but carbs are my bff, so I cooked some pasta, too!
Literally every competition on Food Network cares about presentation, so I figured I'd give it a shot, too. Ladle a couple of hefty spoonfuls of the pasta-stew mixture into a deep plate or bowl. Remember that one-quarter of parsley that we reserved? Yeah, sprinkle that on top of your dish and voila! A wow-evoking plate of deliciousness!
