I spent the later part of today reading “Julie and Julia” by Julie Powell. I love this book and I am so excited for the movie to come out this summer (on my birthday, no less!). It’s the true story of a secretary-cum-food-blogger who changed her life by deciding to make all of Julia Child’s recipes (524!!) from one cookbook in a single year. It’s also the story of Julia Child. I am loving this book! Julie experiences so many mishaps in the kitchen, but what I love is that when a recipe falls apart, she never gives up. She just starts over and does it until she gets it right. It’s funny and it’s really inspiring without being a bit sappy.
I discovered I’d be on my own for dinner tonight, and I was having trouble deciding what to make. I had taken shrimp out to thaw two days ago and wanted to use it, but I was lacking inspiration as to how. But as I browsed “Good Housekeeping” this afternoon, I found a recipe for a salad topped with watermelon and feta. I realized I had that in my fridge and decided to run with it!
To be honest, I actually didn’t look at the recipe (you can find it here), and I think theirs might be more simple than mine. But here’s how I made it!
For the salad:
2 c fresh spinach
1 c Romaine
Diced red onion, cucumber, tomato, and jicama
A few torn up basil leaves
1/4 c feta cheese
3/4 c watermelon
For the shrimpies:
About 15 frozen cooked shrimp, tails on, thawed (you can do a quick thaw by soaking them in water for about 5 minutes)
Marinade of apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice, 1/2 tbsp olive oil, garlic powder, black pepper, and red pepper flakes
For the dressing:
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp flax seed or olive oil, 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice, a teaspoon each of chopped dill and mint
Let the shrimp marinate from 30 minutes to an hour.
Prepare the salad ingredients, as shrimp cook extremely quickly.
At this point, I had my own kitchen disaster, my second after the black bean fail last night! I was making the salad and topping it with ground black pepper. I love pepper, so I use a heavy hand. Suddenly, my new pepper grinder broke and about a cup of black peppercorns flooded my salad! I scooped most of them out and was able to salvage the salad, but a lot fell to the bottom of the bowl. I blame “Julie & Julia” for making me a worse cook.
Place shrimp in nonstick pan coated with cooking spray on stove. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side.
Top the salad with the shrimp and dressing and enjoy!
I had mine with a whole wheat roll and finished it with a glass of the orange-mint infused iced tea I made earlier and a green apple. The meal was so light and summery, but packed with flavor and healthy protein, fiber, and antioxidants. The feta, watermelon (I love putting fruit in a salad), and spinach go great together, and a little chewy shrimp never hurt anyone. And it’s actually pretty and tasty enough to serve to others and would be great with a glass of white wine.
This dinner would have been infinitely better if I hadn’t spent it picking black peppercorns out of each bite. They look like bugs and/or shit, so while their spicy bite was bad, their appearance was worse.
I’ll leave you to get excited for “Julie and Julia”…have a great Friday night!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjvJHsJD8ic]
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