Self Care: Shrimp and Chorizo Rice Bowls

Today, when I made this delicious bowl for lunch, was cold and rainy.  We haven't had much winter weather here in Georgia, but it's been a gray winter and I know most of the country has been buried in snow.  This recipe is a bright taste of summer to help you get through the last dregs of a rough winter.  Shrimp is a special treat I cook every once in a while and that combined with these bright flavors are just the ticket to perk up a winter day.

You can use whatever size of peeled and deveined shrimp you can find, and frozen is just fine!  You can also peel and devein the shrimp yourself, but I usually take the timesaving shortcut.  Chorizo proved to be a challenging hunt in Athens.  I was looking for Spanish style chorizo, a small link of cured sausage, rather than the loose, uncured Mexican style chorizo.    I was surprised to find that neither were available at my usual stores and eventually found thinly sliced chorizo at Publix - made by the Italian brand Fiorucci.  It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but it turned out to be a nice crispy addition to the dish.  If any Athenians know where I could find the links of cured chorizo please let me know!

Start by marinating the shrimp.  This is not the type of marinade that you want to do far in advance.  The lime juice will begin to cook the shrimp, and while that is great for making ceviche it's not what we're going for here.  Mix together two tablespoons of chopped cilantro with the juice of one lime, one tablespoon of honey, a clove of crushed garlic, chili powder, salt, and pepper.  Refrigerate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients, about 20 minutes.

While the shrimp marinates, prepare the rice.  Bring one cup of salted water to a boil with half a tablespoon of butter or oil.  When the water boils add half a cup of white rice, stir, and reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for 22 minutes.  Once the rice is simmering dice the chorizo - if it's hard to cut put it in the freezer for a few minutes.  Add the chorizo to a pan over medium heat with a scant drizzle of oil.  The chorizo has a lot of fat that will render out, so you don't need to add much oil.  While the chorizo crisps dice the red onion and jalapeño.  Remove the seeds and stems of the jalapeño to moderate the heat in the final dish.  When the chorizo is crisp remove to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.

While the onions and jalapeños soften in the same pan and oil from the chorizo dice the tomato and cube the avocado.  Season the tomato with a little salt and pepper on the cutting board.  When the onion mixture has softened add the shrimp without the extra marinade liquid.  The shrimp will cook quickly, about two minutes per side.

When the shrimp and rice are both done add all of the ingredients to a large mixing bowl with the juice of one lime and the remainder of the cilantro.  Serve immediately. 


Shrimp and Chorizo Rice Bowls

Ingredients

• 10 oz. peeled and deveined shrimp (large, extra large, or jumbo)
• 1/2 cup diced chorizo
• 1/2 cup uncooked white rice
• 1/2 large red onion
• 1 small jalapeño pepper
• 2 plum tomatoes
• 1 large avocado 
• 3/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 limes
• 1 clove garlic
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1/4 tsp. chilli powder

Instructions

1. Chop about 3/4 cup of cilantro and set aside in a bowl.
2. Marinade shrimp in the juice of one lime, olive oil, honey, crushed garlic, chili powder, salt, and pepper.  Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.  Do not marinate for more than 20 or 30 minutes!
3. Bring 1 cup of salted water and 1 tbsp. butter or oil to a boil. Add 1/2 cup of white rice, reduce to a simmer, cover, and set timer for 22 minutes.
4. Dice chorizo and brown in a pan on medium heat with a scant drizzle of oil.  Allow the fat to render and the chorizo to crisp.
5. Remove chorizo from pan and drain on a paper towel.
6. Dice onion and jalapeño, removing the seeds and ribs.  Sauté in the same pan used for the chorizo and allow to soften.
7. Seed and dice the tomato and cube the avocado while the onions and jalapeño cook.  Season the tomatoes with some salt and pepper on the cutting board.
8. Add the shrimp to the pan (do not pour the remaining marinade in the pan) and cook about two minute son each side.
9. When the rice is done fluff with a fork and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
10. Add the shrimp and onion mixture, the tomatoes, avocado, juice of one lime, and the remaining cilantro to the bowl and stir to combine.

Quick Dinner: Rigatoni with Sausage, Mushrooms, and Spinach in a Pink Sauce

There’s something about a pink sauce… The tangy, acidic tomato combined with the rich and silky cream is so luxurious.  The smooth sauce finishes with a wonderful heat that cuts through the richness and rounds out the flavor.  Needless to say, pink sauce is a big part of my life.

This recipe is an expansion on a recipe I’ve been making forever.  One day I was making the pink sauce with sausage when my roommate Christine said, “That reminds me of something I make with mushrooms and spinach.”  I thought, “Wow, that sounds even better than the original recipe” so I decided to try it out.  This also contributes to my general food philosophy, which is “more vegetables are more good.”  And yeah, I guess the heavy cream in this recipe also contributes to my overall philosophy of moderation.  Vegetables are good, and so is cream (sometimes).  The other great thing about this dinner is that it’s quick!  It took me 45 minutes from filling the pot with water to sitting down and eating this while watching The Borgias on Netflix.  It’s not necessarily the meal for a night when you have a late meeting, but it’s definitely an achievable weekday dinner.

Start by bringing a large pot of salted water to a boil and prepping the mushrooms.  There is this big urban myth that you can't wash mushrooms, and I'm here to tell you that it's just not true.  Alton Brown agrees, and made a point to mention it during his live show in Athens a couple of weeks ago.  Gone are the days of delicately brushing each mushroom with a little brush - you're welcome.  I like to put a colander in the sink and run a steady, but not too powerful, stream of cold water outside of the colander.  I quickly wash each mushroom so there is no visible dirt and place in the colander.  Place the colander next to the cutting board and trim the woody end of each stem (but don't remove the stem completely) and slice. One more quick note about mushrooms: you could use regular white button mushrooms here, but the cremini (or "baby bella") mushrooms have a more robust flavor and firmer texture that I especially appreciate for Italian dishes.

Once the mushrooms are prepped remove the sausage from the casing and brown in a little olive oil over medium heat.  Break up the sausage into bite-sized pieces as you cook and be careful to stir frequently so they do not burn.  Once fully cooked, remove the sausage from the pan and add the mushrooms, crushed red pepper flakes, dried oregano, and salt and pepper.  Cook the sausage until brown and cooked through before adding the crushed garlic (I use my favorite kitchen tool - a garlic press) and spinach.  Season the spinach with salt and pepper to build well seasoned and even layers of flavor.  Once the spinach wilts return the sausage to the pan and add one 14.5 oz can of crushed tomatoes and season with a little more salt.  Stir together and add heavy cream and bring to a simmer.  If you didn't want to add the heavy cream (which I'll grudgingly admit is a valid healthier alternative) you can use one 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes and proceed without the cream.

Add the cooked pasta to the sauce, turn off the heat and stir until fully combined.  Serve with grated cheese, and maybe garnish with some fresh basil if you're a food blogger or you're planning to put this on Instagram.

Rigatoni with Sausage, Mushrooms, and Spinach in a Pink Sauce

Adapted from Today's Mama, and Christine Licata

Ingredients

• 1 lb. rigatoni (or other tubular pasta)
• 3-4 links of Italian sausage
• 10 oz. cremini mushrooms
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3-4 cups of spinach, chopped
• 14.5 oz. crushed tomatoes
• 1 pt. heavy cream
• ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ tsp. oregano
• Salt and Pepper

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil
2. Wash and slice mushrooms
3. Remove sausage from casings and cook over medium heat until browned.
4. Remove sausage from the pan and add sliced mushrooms, season with salt and pepper.  Cook until browned and cooked through.
5. Add crushed garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, oregano, and chopped spinach to the pan and season with salt and pepper.
6. Once spinach has wilted return the sausage to the pan and add crushed tomatoes.  Season with salt.
7. Once tomatoes begin to simmer add heavy cream and season with black pepper. 
8. Stir to combine until sauce begins to bubble and reduce to a simmer.
9. Once pasta is cooked to al dente drain and add to pan.
10. Serve with grated parmesean or romano cheese.

Self Care: Fettuccine with Arugula Pesto and Crispy Shrimp

I think we've come to the time of the semester where we all really need some self care.  This semester in my masters program we have an extra eleven hours a week in practicum which means a lot less time.  We're stressed, and we're really ready for summer.  With this in mind I thought it would be time for another self care recipe, and you can bet that means some pasta and heavy cream!  Next time I do a self care recipe maybe I'll avoid pasta. Maybe.

Despite being a creamy dish, the arugula pesto is light and refreshing - perfect for spring!  I think you'll enjoy its spicy, garlicky flavor in a lot of applications.  My roommate and I have already resolved to spread it on french bread, add more cheese and bake it in the oven.  I also want to try it stuffed in a chicken breast with sun dried tomatoes and feta.

Making the pesto is easy - simply combine the arugula, almonds, cheese, garlic, and olive oil in the bowl of the food processor and blend.  Make sure you toast the almonds in a dry pan before adding them to the pesto.  This will bring out a fully developed almond flavor.  I use pecorino romano cheese because it's what my Southern Italian family uses, but you can use parmesan if that's what you have.  (Mini Italian history lesson - cows are not able to graze in Southern Italy, but sheep are abundant there.  That's why many southern Italians use pecorino, a sheep's milk cheese, versus parmesan which is a cow's milk cheese.)  If you plan on using the pesto as a sauce on it's own, without the cream, slowly drizzle in more olive oil to make it a bit more like a sauce and less like a paste.  Combine the pesto with the cream and set it aside.

Next fry your shrimp.  Season your flour with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika.  Pat your shrimp dry with a paper towel and dredge it in the seasoned flour.  Brown the shrimp in oil over medium-high.  It should not take more than two minutes on each side, so keep an eye on the shrimp!  Remember, when the shrimp is C shaped it's cooked, when it's O shaped it's overcooked.  Once the shrimp is cooked put it on a paper towel lined dish to drain,

Once your pasta is cooked al dente add the sauce and shrimp and serve with some more grated pecorino romano cheese!

Fettuccine with Arugula Pesto and Crispy Shrimp

Adapted from How Sweet It Is

Ingredients

• 4 oz. of arugula (approx. 1/3 of a bag)
• 1/3 cup of grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/3 cup of raw, slivered almonds, toasted
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 1/2 pint of heavy cream
• 1 lb. fettuccine
• 1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 3 tbsp. flour
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and cook fettuccine until al dente
2. In a dry pan, toast almonds for a three minutes, stirring occasionally until they become fragrant
3. Combine arugula, cheese, almonds, garlic, and olive oil in the bowl of a food processor and blend
4. In a bowl mix the arugula pesto with the heavy cream and set aside
5. Season the flour with garlic powder, salt, and pepper and dredge the shrimp in the flour - make sure the shrimp is completely dry before you dredge it
6. Brown the shrimp on each side in olive oil in a skillet on medium-high.  The shrimp will cook quickly, it should not take more than two minutes on each side
7. Toss the sauce with the cooked pasta and the shrimp

Self Care: Rigatoni with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Let's talk about self care, y'all.  It's important.  Many of you have probably read Ken Schneck's Huffington Post article about the alarming lack of self care in our field.  We need to do a better job taking care of our emotional and physical health, and for me nothing says emotional health like a big, creamy bowl of pasta.  This pasta dish is one of my favorites.  It's creamy, tangy, and has the most beautiful orange color.  

One of the great things about this dish is that the food processor does most of the work.    You don't have to work too hard to chop up the vegetables, which you'll see reflected in the photos. Roughly chop your peppers, tomato, onion, and garlic and add them to a saucepan over medium-high with 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes.  

Let's talk about the tomato in there for a minute.  I developed this recipe after reading a lot of similar recipes that only had red peppers in them, and that's what I did the first time I made it.  I found the pepper taste to be a bit too tangy, so after playing around with the proportions I added one medium sized tomato to round the flavor out.  Tomatoes have a lot of water in them so make sure you seed the tomato before you add it to the pan to eliminate some of the liquid in the final sauce.

Once the vegetables are cooked through add them to the bowl of a food processor to make the base for the sauce.  The pepper mixture should be a gorgeous bright orange color.

Add the red pepper mixture back to the pan and pour in the heavy cream. Yeah baby, heavy cream - this is a self care meal after all.  Don't forget to season your cream salt and black pepper.  I love black pepper and cream, so I was pretty generous with it.

Stir the cream and red pepper mixture together and bring to a simmer.

Add the cooked rigatoni to the pot with the sauce and the basil and mix together.

I usually serve this with an arugula salad dressed with lemon juice, oil oil, and parmesan cheese.  Or you can just forget the salad and grab a glass of wine, and plop down in front of the TV, this meal is for you after all!

Rigatoni with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Ingredients 

• 1 lb. rigatoni
• 1 8oz. jar of roasted red peppers
• 1 medium tomato, seeded
• Half of a large yellow onion (or 1 small-medium onion)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
• Half pint of heavy cream
• 1/4 cup of fresh basil, cut in chiffonade

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil and cook pasta to al dente (about ten minutes)
2. Drain the jar of red peppers
3. Coat the bottom of a large saucepan with olive oil and put on medium-high
4. Roughly chop the peppers, tomato, onion, and garlic and add to pan with crushed red pepper flakes.  Season with salt and pepper
5. Sauté the peppers onions, and garlic for about five minutes or until the onions are translucent and transfer them into the bowl of a food processor
6. Blend vegetables to the consistency of a thick sauce
7. Add the blended pepper mixture back into the saucepan and add the heavy cream.  Season the heavy cream with salt and black pepper
8. Bring the pepper mixture and cream to a simmer while pasta cooks, stirring occasionally
9. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce.  Add the fresh basil and serve with grated parmesan or romano cheese