This past weekend was full of everything.
A party for Theo—his first birthday—was worthy of a proper celebration. I’ve gotten quite good at simplifying and streamlining. No dishes that require multiple steps. No stopping to photograph and document while the party goes on. I vowed to just enjoy the moment, perhaps steal a photo from a family member to share on Instagram, but otherwise forget the fuss and focus on what matters: a lovely child and that feeling you get when all of your family is in one place.
It’s something worth remembering.
Okay there was one dish I served that required a couple of steps (I lie), but the truth is I didn’t take the time to make it blog-ready. So I’m going back and making it over again (and I’ll post the whole menu in case you need to feed 15 people this weekend and don’t want to stress out to much), because it was pretty fabulous, and if I don’t get the recipe that lives in my head on here now, it’ll be lost forever. That’s all coming later.
For now it’s weeknight dinner, as unfussy as possible—with 10 minutes of prep and 5 minutes of cooking—but oh so much flavor.
The food processor does most of the work to make this “marinade” or “sauce” for your shrimp—whatever you want to call it is fine. You toss it all together, throw it in a saucepan, and serve it over rice, or tabbouleh, or a side of greens.
Whatever, I’m not picky.
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro
- ¼ cup fresh parsley
- Juice of ½ a lemon
- zest of ½ a lemon
- ¼ cup blanched almonds
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 small red chiles, seeded and chopped
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- Pinch freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
- In a food processor, combine ¼ cup olive oil, cilantro, parsley, lemon juice, lemon zest, almonds, garlic, chiles, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Pulse until ingredients form a uniform mixture, not quite a paste but close. If mixture feels too dry, add a little more olive oil.
- In a large bowl, toss shrimp with spicy herb mixture.
- In a medium saucepan, heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add shrimp and cook until just pink, about 3-5 minutes.
- Serve shrimp over rice, tabbouleh, greens, or other sides.
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