Friday Night Challenge: Nutty Arugula Salad

First of all, a series of mea culpas for 2 gaps in this week's Friday Night Challenge--namely asparagus and seitan...unfortunately, fresh out of both. I figured I could go out scouting for asparagus, but I'm sort of like it as I am with morels--I enjoy them immensely when in season and when we freeze what comes from our yard and woods. Once they're gone, the patience kicks in and we wait until next spring with great anticipation. I checked the freezer and yep, the last of the asparagus was gone. However...I took liberties and replaced it with another vegetable that I picked from the garden fresh and it does begin with an "a". I used arugula or rocket, as some know it. I love this stuff...a green that tastes just like fresh pepper...fantastic! As I said in the beginning of the blog, no seitan to be found for many a mile; however, I am intrigued with it after figuring out its qualities. Next trip to Btown will probably yield some.
So, whatever was left of the ragged Challenge? Plenty! I had quinoa, lentils, and nuts. So, first things first--prepare the quinoa and lentils. Easy-breezy...pretty much a 2 to 1 ratio of water to grain/legume--a touch of salt in the water. Bring to a boil and then once the grain or legume is added, scale back to a simmer. Time is the big difference here. Quinoa needs about 20 minutes; lentils about 10...much longer and you'll have mush. So, cook both the items. In the meantime, take 3 or four small leaves of arugula and dice into ribbons. Next, take the walnuts (around 2 T.), place in a baggie and pound with a rolling pin. Keep one in tact for the finished product. Spoon the quinoa on a plate, add some lentils on top of the quinoa, scatter the arugula ribbons around, and then sprinkle on the walnuts. Add 1/2 walnut to the stack. That's it. Incredibly easy and tasty. No dressings, oils, or anything else needed. The combination of nutty/pepper tastes are great.

Enjoy!

Friday Night Challenge: Raspberry Thai Shrimp Pasta

Tonight's challenge just seemed to frame itself as the items appeared in the comments section:

fish (cook's choice)=shrimp    pasta     fruit (cook's choice)=red raspberries   peas    Greek yogurt

The fish, fruit, and other ingredients, just seemed to point to a Thai dish. Quite easy to do as follows:

Thaw shrimp (if needed)--be sure to use raw. Heat just a bit of vegetable oil in a skillet. Add the shrimp and cook. Add a bit of Thai chili sauce and cook for a bit.

While the shrimp is cooking, prepare some miniature pasta in boiling salted water. For the peas, I microwaved a bag of sugar snap pea pods and had them at the ready. Finally, I crushed some red raspberries into some Greek yogurt and cooked over low heat. I added a bit more Thai chili sauce to the yogurt  and let it warm.

Then, to assemble, pour off the oil and liquid from the shrimp, pour the water off the pasta--mix the two together. Add the raspberry -yogurt sauce and then the pea pods.

Enjoy!