M’hijito came by the other day to eyeball the house I was thinking about buying. Feeling flush over the $150 his current attempt to kick the nicotine addiction is saving him this month, he invited me out to dinner.
I’d just bought a mess of gorgeous shrimp at Costco and offered to cook that. He said no, he’d rather go out to eat.
O.K. So we went to a neighborhood restaurant, where the menu was loaded with yup-sounding items ranging in price from $10 for appetizers to $20 and up. He said the food was all right but not as great as the menu sounded. We each ordered a beer; he asked for the seared tuna and I got a pork quesadilla.
For fourteen bucks, the pork quesadilla consisted of a wheat tortilla (about 2 cents worth), a small handful of pulled pork (available in bulk at Costco, probably around 50 cents or a dollar’s worth), some melted cheddar cheese (maybe 5 cents worth?), and a sprinkling of barbecue sauce (negligible). Unless it’s annealed onto spareribs, I’m not fond of barbecue sauce (which wasn’t mentioned on the menu), so I found this creation unappetizing. Beer was good, though.
M’hijito said the tuna was less than top quality (I tasted it: indeed, it was a bit strong) and not seared but scorched.
Neither of us came anywhere close to eating everything on our plates. He took the leftover quesadilla to eat at home, but since he left for New York City at 5:30 the next morning, the stuff presumably will go to waste. The tab, plus tip: $60!
For a fifth of that (or less), the two of us could have had the following:
Shoulda Had Shrimp
- 4 to 6 large shrimp per diner
- one juicy lime
- 1 or 2 fresh tomatoes, depending on number of servings
- spaghetti (enough to serve all diners)
- dried herbes de provence or fines herbes, if you have it; or a little dried basil or marjoram
- fresh basil, if you have it
- fresh parsley, if you have it.
- 1 or 2 cloves garlic (to taste, and depending on number of servings)
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- shredded Parmesan or Asiago cheese
Peel the shrimp and, if necessary, devein them. Lay them in a single layer on a plate or in a shallow bowl. Squeeze the lime over them, being sure each shrimp gets lime juice all over it. Allow to stand for 20 minutes or more. If you leave them to marinate longer than a half-hour, put them in the refrigerator.
Dice the tomatoes and sprinkle a little salt and pepper over them; mix in any dried herbs you decide to use. If you have basil, chop it up. Chop a little parsley. Peel and mince the garlic.
Bring a kettleful of water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti al dente.
While the spaghetti is boiling, skim the bottom of a frying pan with olive oil; heat over a medium-high flame. When the oil is hot, add the shrimp. Toss around until they turn bright pink; do not overcook. Add the garlic while you’re stirring the shrimp. When the shrimp appear to be almost cooked, pour any lime juice left in the marinating dish into the pan, and then add the tomatoes. Stir quickly. Add the basil (if you’re using it) and parsley at the last minute.
Apportion the cooked spaghetti among the diners’ plates and top with the shrimp mixture. Garnish with cheese, as desired.
You could serve the shrimp with rice instead of spaghetti. Or hold the starch and simply stir-fry or grill a combination of your favorite veggies (maybe some sliced zucchini, a few pieces of onion, and some sliced bell pepper?) to go with.