Gingered Shrimp & Noodles

Red Food Week continues on the Fire with shrimp!

Yes, shrimp is orange. But when I made the dish, the sauce turned pink because the pickled ginger was a bright red color. Did I mention it was also delicious?

The recipe calls for uncooked deveined shrimp. I'm busy Girl, I don't have time to shell and devein the shrimp, so I bought some frozen cooked shrimp and only heated them through to avoid that awful rubbery texture. It worked.

I like cellophane noodles. They've made an appearance on the Fire before. They are super easy to cook. Throw a bunch (they're packaged like small individual serving-size nests) into boiling water for 3 minutes then drain. You could also simply serve this over rice too. But the noodles cook up faster!

As it is, this dish cooks up super quickly, especially if you use the pre-cooked frozen shrimp. Great for those nights when I'm in the office super late.

Original recipe on Food.com.

Gingered Shrimp & Noodles
Yields 2 servings

3 ounces cellophane noodles
4 teaspoons oriental sesame oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, seasoned, sliced (also known as pickled ginger or sushi ginger)
1 tablespoon minced pickled jalapeno pepper
2 teaspoons honey
12 ounces cooked, deveined, peeled medium shrimp, tails left intact
4 green onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water

1. Cook noodles according to package (usually boil water and then place noodles in water for 3-5 minutes). Drain and transfer to bowl. Add 2 teaspoons sesame oil to noodles and toss.

2. Mix vinegar, cilantro, ginger, jalapenos and honey in small bowl.

3. Heat remaining 2 teaspoons sesame oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat.

4. Add green onions and garlic; saute til aromatic, about 2-3 minutes.

5. Add vinegar mixture and shrimp to skillet; stir until shrimp are just cooked through, approximately 1-2 minutes. Any longer and the shrimp will turn rubbery. (If not using frozen shrimp, cook a bit longer, about 3 minutes.)

6. Dissolve cornstarch in 1/2 cup water.

7. Add mixture to skillet; stir until liquid thinkens, approximately 2 minutes.

8. Mound noodles on platter. Top with gingered shrimp and serve immediately.

Sweet Smoked Paprika Chicken

Picture courtesy of Erika Kerekes,
LA Cooking Examiner

To continue on our theme of Red Food Week, I finally took a picture of Erika Kerekes' Broiled Boneless Chicken Thighs with Garlic Salt and Smoked Paprika before eating it.

I've made this dish only about a billion times. The reason is that there are all of 3 steps, so it's foolproof and perfect for a) lazy nights, b) late nights, or c) "I ain't got time for this" nights. And also days.

Seriously, 3 steps:
1. Coat chicken with paprika and garlic salt.
2. Broil for 7 minutes on each side.
3. Eat.

See? Easy.

Okay, so they come out more orange than red. But paprika is red, so there.

Erika recommends using smoked paprika, which is "available at Surfas and, now, at Costco, much to the delight of Los Angeles chefs everywhere." Surfas, which is a place I do love, can be pricey and I never have the patience for Costco, but I did have regular boring paprika and a sweet smoked paprika thanks to an overindulgent shopping trip at the lovely Silverlake outpost Spice Station (they also sell truffle salt for $10 per ounce, which is COMPLETELY worth it [and the indulgent part of the shopping trip]!).

Sweet smoked paprika is wonderful on the chicken. The thighs remain juicy even after 14 minutes in broil mode. And they come out sweet, and smokey, and plain ol' delicious.

Since most of my a) lazy nights, b) late nights, or c) "I ain't got time for this" nights (and days) usually also mean dinner for one, this recipe scales down nicely too. Take one chicken thigh, coat it with salt and paprika, broil, and done. Make 2 and you have lunch the next day.

Erika also recommends using more salt than you think you need. If you're on a reduced-salt diet, you can go easy on it, but she does make the point that you'll still be ingesting less sodium than a typical restaurant dish. Tonight I used a 3:1 paprika to salt ratio and it was fine.

The modified recipe:

Sweet Smoked Paprika Chicken
yields 1 serving

1 boneless skinless chicken thigh
2 tablespoons garlic salt
1 tablespoon each regular paprika and sweet smoked paprika

1. Preheat the broiler to high and place an oven rack 4 inches below the flame. (If you put the rack right under the flame, the chicken will burn before it cooks through.)

2. Line a baking sheet with foil and lay the chicken thighs out flat. Sprinkle each side generously with the garlic salt and paprika. (The measurements above are merely guidelines, use more as needed, and don't skimp on the salt!)

3. Broil the chicken about 7 minutes on each side, until the thighs are cooked through and have developed a nice crust (or as I like to put it, a yummy black char). Serve with some veggies or rice and eat immediately.

Thanks to Erika for providing us with a easy meal!

Aged Red Slaw

In honor of one of my favorite days of the year, Valentine's Day, this week is all about red food. Well, red and pink and purple. Because red is also my favorite color. And what better way to fall in love than over food?

Up first, some cole slaw. I'm not sure why it's called Three Week Cole Slaw, since it's ready in three days, but maybe it's just supposed to be one of the great mysteries of life. Oh, and remember when I hated cabbage? Not so much anymore! And the red kind is extra good for you.

The original recipe called for a white cabbage and white onion., but the red ones are so much prettier. Waiting the three days for this to age to sweet perfection was not easy. It smelled so good. Honey and vinegar, sweet and sour, yummmmm.

I took to eating this for breakfast mixed with quinoa. But it's also great in tacos, or just by itself, by the spoonful.

Other than substituting the colored versions of the veggies, I used celery salt instead of the seed/salt combo and added some dried dill weed. Delicious.

3 Week Cole Slaw
makes 12 servings

1 head red cabbage, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup oil (I used sunflower)
1/3 cup honey
1 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon celery salt
1 tablespoon dried dill weed

1. In a bowl, combine cabbage, pepper, onion, sugar and mix well.

2. Combine remaining ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a hard boil, then pour over cabbage mixture and stir until thoroughly combined.

3. Store in refrigerator in airtight container. Let stand at least 3 days. The flavor improves the longer it sits. Will keep refrigerated for 1 month.

Mix it up today and it'll be ready to eat by the weekend!