Last Night's Dinner

So yesterday was Friday and usually we don't do much on Fridays because we're tired from the week. I had class until 2 and then Ryan and I went to Megamaxi to look for some more herbs for our little garden and pick up a few things. Then I had a FABULOUS skype date with my dear friend Jenna! (Jen, It was soo great to talk with you!) Anyways, when I got home Ryan and Chuki went downstairs to play (read - I needed time in the apartment to myself!) I got the whole place picked up, and was just starting to clean the kitchen when our friend Sebas called!




Now, Sebas was a friend of Caitlin's and we got to know him when she was staying with us. His family has always had boxers so it was an instant connection! In fact, he's helped us out by watching Chuki before when we were out of town. Which we are VERY grateful for.

Anyways, we hadn't seen Sebas in ages because he'd been in the US for a month and then another month just happened to fly by. So he called and we told him to stop by. The problem was, it was dinner time and we hadn't eaten... what to do, what to do...

I had just gone through all of the blogs that I read earlier in the day and had a fresh bunch of ones tagged 'to cook' but I needed something simple and fast. Sebas would be here in 15-30 minutes, depending on traffic, and he was with a friend. It always makes me a little nervous to try something new with guests and especially something that had to be quick.

Anyways, I had my eye on this recipe from Big Girl Small Kitchen for Shrimp Angel Hair Pasta and because I was thinking about it when we were at Megamaxi, we had picked up 1/4 kilo of shrimp for about $3. Plus, we had just planted a baby mint and a baby basil plant in our new little garden. So it was decided. And it was delicious.

This is such a simple recipe and it litteraly comes together in 5 minutes + the time it takes you to boil water. (Which here, happens to be quite a while.) I threw the pot of water on before Sebas got here and by the time we had finished our cocktails, everything was ready. Plus, the greatest thing was that we only spent about 5 minutes chatting in the kitchen, instead of an hour or instead of me being in the kitchen while they chat in the dining room.

Here are the few changes I made to the original but other than that the recipe is taken straight from Big Girl Small Kitchen:
- one whole bulb of garlic
- grated gouda cheese over the top, but any salty cheese would work!

Shrimp Angel Hair with Three Herb Dressing
Makes 4 servings 

Ingredients
1 pound angel hair or capellini
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1/2 cup chopped mint
3/4 cup chopped chives
1/2 cup chopped basil
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain and set aside in a large bowl. Toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

In a large skillet, heat the remaining olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and the garlic. Saute the shrimp until they are pink on both sides, about 2 or 3 minutes. Add the pasta to the skillet along with the herbs, lemon juice, and salt. Toss to coat.


Everyone gobbled it up, alongside our new cocktail we've been drinking... tequila, sprite, and lime juice served in our mismatched wine glasses. It feels much fancier in a wine glass, and it's so light that it's almost like champagne! After dinner, we were all ready to go out for an equally fancy event... beer pong!

MULUB,
Taylor