Shrimp Scampi

All of my writing energy is going towards secondary applications for medical school right now, so postings will remain pretty sparse for a while. But I've really missed writing about food. Maintaining this blog really forces me to step outside of the typical meal rotations of soup, salad, and cereal and keeps me excited about my new-found situation of cooking for one everyday.

I'm really glad I found this recipe because it's super quick to throw together on a weeknight. It's also a really bright-tasting dish and a nice change from a tomato-based pasta sauce. Plus, since most of the ingredients are usually in my fridge anyway, as long as I remember to buy shrimp ahead of time, it doesn't take any advanced planning. Lastly, for quite a few reasons, I'm trying to incorporate more animal protein in my diet and shrimp seems to be an easy way to do it.

A dinner party for very important folk

The amazing, world-stomping (17 countries in one year!), Alphorn-tooting Madeleine Abromowitz graced the DC population with her presence this weekend. To commemorate the event, I threw a dinner party. And since the party was to be attended by Watson fellows and a Fulbright scholar, aka people who are "kind of big deals," I knew that I had to try my darndest to whip up the best that my little kitchen can come up with.



I had in mind a light summery meal of fresh bread, antipasti, and salads and my friends were nice enough to accommodate their contributions to that theme. On the menu were:

Two loaves of freshly baked bread
Roasted red peppers + mozzerella
Ina Garten's marinated artichoke hearts (recipe below)
Feta + watermelon + spinach + arugula salad
Pearled cous cous salad
Two types of quinoa (red and white!) salad by Rob and Roz
Zucchini corn cake by Colin
Potato salad by Helen and Bobby
Bean salad by Jess Engebretson
A fantastic peach pie by Madeleine
Chocolate cake