Recipe: Shrimp, Asparagus, & Gnocchi with Pesto
Last Sunday night I was having one of those moments were I was starving but absolutely nothing sounded good.
Typically in moments like these, I just end up eating a bowl of cereal. But for some reason on this particular night I decided that no, I would not have cereal. I would cook, damnitt.
And so I grabbed some random ingredients out of the fridge, which were asparagus and shrimp. I looked at these two things and thought.
And then something magical happened. I ended up making a dish that I’m now obsessed with. I’ve actually made it twice more since Sunday. It is that good. And, y’all, the reason this is magical is because I’m not the kind of person who is good at making up recipes. I am a recipe follower. And even though this isn’t anything earth-shattering or insanely inspired, I’m still ridiculously proud of myself on this one.
Shrimp, Asparagus, & Gnocchi with Pesto
Ingredients
Chicken or vegetable stock
Butter (or olive oil, if you do not have the love for butter.)
Garlic, chopped or minced
Gnocchi
Shrimp, deveined and de-tailed.
Asparagus
Pesto (I just buy the pesto in a jar at Trader Joe’s. Because I’m too lazy to make my own.)
Directions
Pour enough stock into a pot to boil the gnocchi. It doesn’t have to be a lot, just enough so that the little gnocchis can simmer in the stock. When the stock comes to a boil, gently drop the gnocchi in.
While that is doing it’s thing, melt the butter (or, if you insist, olive oil) and garlic in a pan. Once that is melted and the pan is coated, add the shrimp and asparagus and stir it occasionally. But keep an eye on the gnocchi.
When the gnocchis float to the top of the pot, drain the stock and add the gnocchi to the pan. Stir them around a bit and then add as much or as little pesto as you’d like.
Give it all a good solid stir, and voilà! Time for noms!
Total time for this is probably around ten minutes. It is seriously easy and seriously yummy and currently my favorite dinner. So if any of you end up coming over to my place any time soon, you can expect to be eating this.
Words of Wisdom for Your Wednesday
Tune In Tuesday: The Good Mad
It is no secret that I love all things with banjos and fiddles and mandolins.
I probably have pigeon-holed myself on the music front because of how much I like those instruments.
I promise that I like other types of music tooooooo.
But you are not going to get an example of it today. No, siree. Today I give you:
THE GOOD MAD.
I discovered this band via a television show. But not in the normal way. For awhile I was recapping The Lying Game for Off-Color TV, but then stopped because of several factors. Mostly because it wasn’t getting a lot of traffic on the site. But the bright spot of the show was Ally Gonino, the actress who plays Laurel. She is one of the best actors on the show (including the adult cast members) and was always the person who could make me laugh or feel some sort of emotion other than “This is really soapy.” And then the writers messed with Laurel’s storyline and made her the type of girl that Laurel shouldn’t be, and that was about the time I quit watching and recapping.
But I was still interested in Miss Gonino. So, I come to find out that she is super musical and is in a band called The Good Mad.
And they’re real good.
So there you have it! I hope you enjoyed The Good Mad and that you’re having a great Tuesday!
Tune in Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads!
What’s Making Me Happy {7}
Well, this week has had a lotta bit of good and a pretty good chunk of bad too. The good is career-related (I know I’ve been vaguely saying that in the last couple posts. Soon I will tell you. SOON.), the bad tax related.
*shakes fist at taxes*
Taxes really are The Worst. THE WORST.
But that’s all really boring and I am positive that none of you want to hear about it.
So instead I’ll tell you about the couple things making me happy this week.
1. New CMS
Tihs is so insanely nerdy, but on Monday I received the new edition of Chicago Manual of Style. And it’s soooo pretty. The teal and coral color scheme is oh-so au courant, and CMS still believe in the Oxford comma.
It’s the little things, ya know?
2. Joss Whedon has read Jane Austen
3. Jane by Design
The other night I was super bored after catching up on Fairly Legal (which also makes me very happy), so I decided to go through my OnDemand options. And for some reason, I decided to watch Jane by Design. Which is so completely adorable. And totally unrealistic. But so stinkin’ cute. If you’re open to very unrealistic TV shows about high school girls balancing two lives and working in the fashion industry and being pursued by her high school crush AND a (much older) straight fashion designer, then I recommend it. It’s actually not dumb. Well, I mean it is, but the writing isn’t terrible and the acting doesn’t make me want to gouge my eyes out. It’s good escapist fun. Hooray!
4. Slow Motion Ballet + Radiohead
‘Nuff said.
And those are the things making me happy! If you’d like to share what’s making you happy, please feel free to do so in comments.
Yay Sunday!
What I’m Writing: Character Consistency
This week I’ve been overtly concerned about character consistency. I was writing along and all of a sudden I was all, ‘Oh my God. What if I’ve somehow started writing Dan as if he’s totally different from the Dan at the beginning?! And holy bazoo, what about Willa? Would she actually say that?’
It’s a very chilling thought. Because, yes, as a writer you want your characters—especially teenage characters—to learn and grow, but you also want them to still be them. Unless you’re writing a paranormal or fantasy novel, it’s not like your characters are going to suddenly be radically different. (At least typically. I’m sure there’s a good example of it somewhere.)
And while I think I’m exaggerating the issue, I have been writing super slowly this week because I weigh everything. Instead of just writing as quickly as I can make my fingers type, I’ve been really considering my characters’ reactions and motivations and inherent traits. Which is actually probably going to drive me (more) bonkers at some point.
And, y’all. I really don’t need to be more bonkers.
So I need to buck up and just write and write and write, and worry about character consistently later.
Hopefully this is just a phase that I can shrug off and not have to fight. Because fighting myself is NO FUN. Especially when you’re SO CLOSE to finishing the first draft.
But I’ll stop bemoaning and give you a little snippet of stuff I’ve written this week. Since I gave you a Willa scene last week, here is a Dan scene. You know. For balance.
Read more…
Bethany Larson 