The instant party

You’ve got last minute drop in guests (the nerve!), everybody is feeling a little peckish, and you want to throw together some memorable nibbles for an impromptu cocktail hour.

Here’s what to do: Warm up some nuts (either in a pan, or in the oven with some olive oil and dried rosemary), put out a bowl of good olives, a loaf of baguette, and make this easy shrimp dish.

It’s like five minutes to fancy.

SPICY ROASTED GARLIC SHRIMP

(makes one tapas-sized dish)

Ingredients:

1 head roasted garlic (see recipe below. If you don’t have a roasted head hanging around and don’t have a spare hour, thinly slice a few cloves of garlic and cook in a pan of olive oil until crisp and browned. Drain on paper towel.)

21-24 raw, shell-on easy peel large shrimp

lots of good salt and pepper and chili flakes and olive oil

Method:

1. For roasted garlic, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut ½ inch off the top of the cloves, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and wrap in foil. Baked for about 35 minutes or until soft.

2. Preheat oven to 500 degrees (or hit the broiler button). Toss dry shrimp with a goodly amount of salt and pepper and chili flakes and olive oil and the roasted garlic that you’ve squeezed from the clove casings. Mix well, then pour into a snappy oven-proof baking dish and cook for 5-6 minutes (stirring once midway) or until shrimp or pink and cooked. Serve with baguette or other favourite crusty dipping bread.

Summertime pasta for one

I'm going to make this entry as short and sweet as the recipe that follows. Since last week's tale of fridge woes was quickly followed by a conference in Chicago, there hasn't been much me, or cooking around here. But there's always time for pasta on the fly.

SUMMERTIME SHRIMP PASTA

(serves 1)

whole wheat linguini (2-3 ounces)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1 fat ripe tomato, cored and chopped

mixed fresh herbs from the garden (I used chives, oregano, parsley), chopped

pinch of chili flakes

6-7 cooked shrimp

1 tsp lemon zest

1 Tbsp lemon juice

pinch of sugar

a scattering of capers

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Put a pot of salted water on to boil. When boiling, add pasta and cook as per the package instructions. Meanwhile, cook garlic in olive oil until it becomes fragrant, then add chili flakes, chopped tomato and a pinch of sugar, along with capers, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Stir in herbs, shrimp and zest at the end, when you swirl in the cooked, drained pasta.

Sobalicious

I know that in the past I've gone on and on and on about what a genius I am for making a fridge full of nothing into a plate full of something, but I truly think I've outdone myself this time, so my culinary prowess bears mention yet again. 

This dish is an antidote to Rachael Ray's one-pot wonders. 

First off, can we talk eye appeal? And yes, it's quite lucky that the sugarsnaps and green onion happen to perfectly match my glazed ceramic dish, but let me tell you something; those pops of yellow and pink didn't get there on their own. 

Now let's talk nutrition: Well, the vibrant natural colours are a dead giveaway to good health, and there's almost zero fat in the recipe. And soba noodles? They're made from buckwheat flour, and that can't be a bad thing. 

So while I'd normally eat my nutty soba noodles dead plain, chilled, with just a whisper of dipping sauce, sometimes even soba likes to get out and party. 

SWEET AND SPICY SOBA NOODLES

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

12 oz (usual size of a package) soba noodles

1 cup sugarsnap peas, stemmed of rough tip and string

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

a glug of good honey (about 1/4 cup)

handful of fresh cilantro leaves, stems removed

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1/4 cup water

salt and pepper to taste

about 20 medium shrimp, cooked (or substitute with cubed tofu, cooked chicken, sliced peppers, etc.)

2 Tbsp tamari or light soya sauce

2 tsp sesame oil

3 spring onions (AKA scallions), whites separated from greens, greens sliced

1 mango, peeled, pit removed, fruit cubed

Method:

Cook soba noodles according to package directions (usually about 7 minutes in boiling water). In the last two minutes of cooking, drop the sugarsnaps into the water, then drain soba and pods and rinse well with cold water.

While the noodles are cooking, to a blender add jalapeno, honey, cilantro, whites of the green onions, lemon juice, water and salt and pepper. Blitz until blended. Pour over cooked shrimp and let sit for five minutes.

In a large bowl, dress soba and sugarsnaps with tamari and sesame oil, then toss in sliced green onion and mango. Add shrimp with the spicy honey sauce, toss everything together, and serve.