Garlic Shrimp With Basil, Tomatoes, And Pepper Flakes

Garlic Shrimp With Basil, Tomatoes, And Pepper Flakes from Serious Eats

Verdict: Meh

This fail has nothing to do with the recipe, and everything to do with me. Strike one: bought pre-cooked shrimp. Strike two: didn't use fresh basil. Strike three: just kind of winged it...which in some cases can work, but this time it didn't. The whole dish wasn't bad, per se, but I didn't care for it. I served linguine instead of orzo with the dish, which may be another strike, because DY says I suck at cooking pasta (okay, he didn't say that, but it was implied). I did, however, absolutely love the little cooked grape tomatoes. Grape tomatoes may be my favorite kind of tomatoes ever.

Marc's Cashew Chicken

Verdict: Win

I'm not sure how Asian this take on cashew chicken is, but DY and I still enjoyed it. I used soy sauce, but used less than for what it asked for in fear of making the dish too salty. Instead of raw cashews, I used the roasted and salted cashews (only available cashews at Walmart...) and omitted any salt. As a vegetable component, I added chopped celery (very mom-esque), but omitted the mushrooms. I did use the optional minced ginger though. The chicken was pretty tender (even without cornstarch).

Grilled Chicken Fajitas

Grilled Chicken Fajitas from Annie's Eats

Verdict: Win

First, I have to say that I love Annie's Eats not only because the recipes are wonderful, but I love hearing about Annie's life, who is a resident physician in Indy with a family consisting of her husband and a beautiful baby boy. Her life just seems too perfect.

Anyway, I cheated and had to pan-fry the chicken since it's too cold outside to grill chicken. I also just served it over rice, instead of on a tortilla, because it was going into my (now broken) bento box. I omitted the cilantro (I'm cheap) and only stir-fried one bell pepper. I liked the touch of the Worcestershire sauce and the lime. It's a little plain pan-fried on rice, so next time I'd like to try following the recipe to the tee.