shrimp stir fry

I am really excited about this one kids! I mean, how can you go wrong with stir fry?
That's right- you can't.
So let's get to it.

Now, stir fry is a really easy dish that you can make with just about any combination of meats and veggies, combined with some noodles, and maybe a little soy sauce, tossed in a big hot pan until it's all cooked. Sometimes I make some just to use up all the extra veggies I've got in the fridge/freezer. But this time around I actually planned ahead (shocking, I know), and shopped for all the ingredients I wanted. To be specific:
Shrimp, rice sticks, bok choy, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, baby corns, onion, garlic, soy sauce, clam juice, a little oil and a little corn starch (dissolved into a little water until it looks like whole milk).
Get all the ingredients chopped up and ready to be tossed into a hot pan, because once you start this dish, it comes together really fast!!!

To begin, fill a pot with water and start to bring it to a boil. 

While that is heating up, heat up a little oil in a large skillet/wok on medium-high and start the stir fry. 

Shrimp:

 Garlic:

 Onions:

 Bamboo shoots:

 Water chestnuts:

 Baby corns:

 Once it's all in the pan, stir it all up and let it cook for a little while.

At this point the water should be boiling, so toss in the rice sticks, set the timer for 3 minutes, stir, and get back to the other pan.

Next, add a little more clam juice, some soy sauce, and the corn starch mixture, which will help thicken up all the juices. This will give you a really nice, lightly creamy sauce. You want to wait to do this so that all the other ingredients have a chance to get nice and "fried". If you add the liquids in the beginning, nothing will have a chance to get crisp. It will all be kind of soggy.

After you add the liquids, add the bok choy. This cooks pretty quickly, and will absorb some of the liquid, so that's why I add it last.

Stir, and cook for a few more minutes (until the rice sticks are done).
Then, just drain the noodles, and get ready to toss everything together:

That's it!
I hope you like this one, because you should. It was Delicious!!!!!!!!!!!
Let me know if you end up trying it.

See you soon :)

summer pesto pasta salad

Ok, here it is- my second summer pasta salad.
Now, I know this is very similar to a pasta dish I made last summer, but it's so good I couldn't resist!
I mean, it's got pistachio pesto in it. Yes, I said pistachio pesto. And yes, it is as good as it sounds.
So let's get to it!

Before you begin the pesto, boil some pasta. I used bow ties for this, but you can use whatever you like.
This way, by the time the pesto is ready, the pasta will also be ready. Because remember- timing is Everything when you are cooking.

While the pasta is cooking, start the pesto in the food processor:

Pistachios.

 Fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

Basil (I am growing 3 different kinds, so I used a little of each).

Start to mix this a little using the "pulse" button.

 Then drizzle in a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

And mix it until it starts to look like pesto.

Then I remembered that I forgot to add garlic, so I tossed some in.

Once everything was in, I mixed it all on Low until it was to the consistency I wanted.

Once it was ready, I put it onto a bowl so I could use it for the salad.

When the pesto was done, I started getting the other ingredients ready: shredded carrots, zucchini and summer squash.
All I did with these was grate them on the same grater I used for the Parmesan cheese (with the exception of the carrots- I cheated and bought them).

And a little more cheese.

Once everything was ready, I tossed in the pasta that was miraculously done right when I needed it. All I did was drain it and toss it into the bowl. I did not rinse it (never rinse your pasta!)

Next- add some pesto.

I recommend adding just a little at a time so that you don't put too much in. This is a good rule for any type of dressing that you are putting on any type of salad.

Oh, and if while you are mixing this you realize you need to add a little more oil, then go ahead. Or some salt. Or some pepper. Or some garlic. Whatever. This is your dish, so add whatever you want so that it tastes good to you. For example, I may go back and some cherry tomatoes cut in half to this, I think would be nice!

Once it's mixed, put it in the fridge to chill for a while, then you are free to enjoy it!

See ya soon.

shrimp and lettuce "tacos"

Improvisation,

This is what happens when you think you have the ingredients to make shrimp tacos and you don't.

I thought I had flour tortillas. I didn't.

I thought I had salsa. I didn't.

I thought I had tomatoes. I didn't.

I thought I had black beans. I didn't.

But I did have shrimp (well, that's a good start if you want to make shrimp tacos Carrie!), and I did have rice, and I did have an avocado, and a mango, and some cilantro, and some iceberg lettuce, and some sour cream, and some canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.

And that was enough for me to make something to eat for dinner.

So I did.

Step one: boil some white rice.

Step two: boil/sautee/grill/whatever you prefer some shrimp.

Step three: mash up an avocado.

Step four: chop up a mango.

Step five: pull some leaves off a head of lettuce.

Step six: mix a little of the sauce from the peppers into some sour cream.

       *Please note: this picture is not mine, but I wanted to post it so you would know what these look like. 

         And if you like Hot stuff, you will Love this! I love putting a little of the sauce into different things. 

         It adds a nice, smoky, spicy flavor.

When everything is ready, all that's left to do is assemble your shrimp & lettuce "tacos"

Lettuce, then rice, then shrimp, drizzled with some of the adobo-chipotle-sour cream, then topped with mango, avocado and cilantro.

Yum!!!!

I swear I'll have more pictures next time.

:)