Whats for dinner: Garlic-lime pan seared shrimp with quinoa, corn on the cob and fresh blackberry cobbler

May 7, 2010 by Ben

One of the reasons I wanted to start this site was to cook more. I love to cook, but don’t always take the time to do it. One of the main features of this site will be cooking and sharing recipes. If you have a great recipe please share.

I love going out to eat, don’t get me wrong, but its expensive, and not always that great for you. Cooking allows me to be creative, work with my hands, and eat good food. What’s not to love? And if you don’t cook, give it a try. It is easier than you think. I plan to feature a new recipe or two each week as I chronicle what I’m making and eating each week.

Tonights Dinner: Garlic-lime pan seared shrimp with quinoa, corn on the cob and fresh blackberry cobbler.

It sounds like a lot of work but its actually quite easy. I made all of it in less than an hour (not counting baking time on the cobbler)

I am not an expert chef. This is an easy meal anyone could make. I promise. Just give it a try.

Here is the recipe and directions

Garlic-lime pan seared shrimp:

Ingredients:2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon sugar

Garlic-Lime Butter
3 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
1 medium garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (you can use parsley, but the cilantro gives it a nice kick)
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

toss shrimp, salt, pepper, and sugar in medium bowl.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch skillet over high heat

Add half of shrimp to pan in single layer and cook until spotty brown and edges turn pink, about 1 minute.
Transfer first batch of shrimp to large plate.
Repeat process with remaining tablespoon oil and shrimp

Make the garlic-lime butter:

mix 3 tablespoons softened unsalted butter with fork in small bowl

Stir in 1 medium garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, and 1/8 teaspoon salt

After second batch has stood off heat, return first batch to skillet and combine with butter mix.

Cook shrimp in butter mixture for another minute or two. Serve immediately.

Quinoa

If you’ve never had quinoa (pronounced kinwa) its amazing. Its kind of like rice, but way better and super easy to cook.

Directions:

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water

Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Thats it. Seriously its that easy.

Corn on the cob

I love fresh corn on the cob and its finally starting to show up in the stores.

Directions:

I just wrap it in foil with some butter and throw it on the BBQ for 10 minutes rotating it half way through.

And for desert… Blackberry Cobbler

I love blackberries. I LOVE LOVE LOVE blackberries. I grew up in Washington and they grew like weeds all around our house and it was a crappy job to have to clear them out of our yard, but I loved picking and eating them when they were ripe in summer. Seriously, fresh blackberry milkshakes are heaven. Cut to…I tried to plant some in my yard down here in southern California thinking, “hey, they grow like weeds this will be easy”. And they all died a week later.

Anyway, this desert is awesome and super easy

Ingredients
4 cups fresh blackberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 large egg
1 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons butter, melted
Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (optional)