What's For Dinner Maddie?

Here it is, the first post of the new concept site What’s For Dinner Maddie? 

There comes a time when the enjoyment of cooking journeys into a world of obligation, where creativity is supplanted by chore, where pleasing through food has long since morphed its way into servitude. That task, faced daily by a multitude of harangued mothers, that question that creeps up in the afternoon and can loom larger and larger well into the early evening of homework and dance and hockey and dog walking and last minute playdates… what the HELL am I going to make for dinner?  The answer lies here at What’s For Dinner Maddie?

I cannot describe myself as an organized person.  I can only say I have my standards, and when faced with this dinner issue daily, my pride, my self respect and all that my mother has passed down to me about healthy eating looms large, so a box of KD ain’t gonna do it.  There are others like me, so this is for you, and for me.  What’s For Dinner Maddie is the site where you can turn to when you simply haven’t the energy to process and plan and decide what to have for dinner. And where you can turn to for the odd anecdotal comments that may or may not make you chuckle.  Don’t worry, no Rob Ford jokes; I live in Toronto, so they were never that funny.  It is for that day when you feel you had a life and then you find yourself standing in front of the wide open fridge bored out of your skull trying to figure out how to please hungry little people and big people alike and not really wanting to make one of the four dishes in your repertoire, but not really wanting to make anything else either, because you are tired and fed up and no one is going to appreciate you anyway.  Well, maybe they will!  Because today you are going to mix it up a bit.  Today you remembered that you have that bag of frozen shrimp in your freezer that you bought on sale at Loblaws, and you are going to make shrimp marinated in cilantro and lime.

This recipe is off the top of my head, so the amounts are just estimations and you can be flexible (or creative!).

ingredients:

1 bag of uncooked shrimp, peeled
-right now in my freezer I have a 400g (about 1lb) of President’s Choice zipper back shrimp, unpeeled. The last time I made this, I used a bag of peeled white pacific shrimp. Peeling the shrimp takes an extra few minutes and your fingers stink a bit afterwards… WhatEverrrr
Juice from 2-3 limes
1 bunch cilantro
2-3 Tbs olive oil
sea salt to taste

Toss the lime and cilantro in a food processor or blender and whir them together while drizzling in the olive oil – as the olive oil gets absorbed, the ingredients will all bind together.  You may need to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a spatula.

Toss mixture in a bowl with the shrimp and let marinate for about 20 mins; 10 is fine.

Heat a heavy based frying pan to medium and once hot, toss in shrimp; probably best to do in two batches.  Cook about 2-3 minutes per side, until they are pink and cooked through (don’t overcook or they get chewy).  Set aside in a fresh dish while you cook the second batch, and then once done, pour any remainder marinade into the pan and allow it to sizzle and thicken a bit and then toss the shrimp back into the pan to coat. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Presto! Serve with rice and your favourite veg or salad. I would opt for crispy fried garlic kale.  Stay tuned for that staple up next on What’s For Dinner Maddie? 

Happy chowing!