Lemon Garlic Pasta with Shrimp, Kale, and Goat Cheese

HI HI HI HI!!!

Make this pasta.

OK, bye.

JUST KIDDING.

On a serious note, I want to tell you a little story about this pasta. I got home a little later than usual but I still wanted a hearty, delicious homemade dinner. I didn't succumb to the take out menu, and I am so glad I had that willpower. This meal came together in less than 30 minutes, but I was hungry. Ravenous. I needed food in my belly. I took a bite of this pasta right out of the serving bowl and after that first bite, well. I knew I had to share this with you. I needed to wait just a few minutes longer, snap a few (really unremarkable) photos, and let everyone on the interwebs know what an amazing dish this is.

In the end, it's a happy story. I had two big servings of this pasta, I'm not hungry anymore, and now, just below, you hold this recipe in your hands.

This dish, despite being a pasta recipe, is delightfully light and fresh. It is hearty and flavorful. It starts with a pasta of your choice--I'd recommend a whole wheat or Trader Joe's Brown Rice and Quinoa pasta for gluten free. Pasta = happiness, as we all know, so this is a good place to start. Save a bit of the pasta cooking water too, it will come in handy later when we make our sauce. Then, there is chopped kale, sauteed in a bit of olive oil with two generous cloves of minced garlic. Lovin' ya. Big, juicy shrimps are sauteed until golden brown and gorgeous.

The fun part about this pasta is that we are making a no-cook sauce. In a big serving bowl, we are whisking together the juice of 2 lemons and about 1/3 cup of olive oil with a big handful of grated parmesan cheese and lots of black pepper. SERIOUSLY, that's it. Pasta, kale, and shrimp all get a big toss in this lemon sauce along with that pasta water, creating a nice, slurp-able sauce.

OH wait. You thought that was it? That description there was perfect and you're ready to dig in? That's fine, but wait. There's more more more. And you don't want to miss this. GOAT CHEESE. Yes, yes. Crumbled on top of each bowl while the pasta is still hot. And it's going to melt, and become creamy, and dreamy, and you will finally understand what love is.

Here's what you need for Lemon Garlic Pasta with Shrimp, Kale, and Goat Cheese* (Print Recipe!)

1 pound pasta of choice
1 bunch kale, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined (fresh or frozen & thawed is fine!)
2 lemons, juiced
1/3 cup olive oil, plus more for sauteeing
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and lots of pepper to taste
4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

Here's what you do

Prepare pasta according to package directions. Reserve a cup of the pasta cooking water (you may not need all of it, but better safe than sorry).

While the pasta cooks, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the kale and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the kale is wilted and tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Be sure to stir occasionally so as not to burn the garlic.

Push the kale to the side of the skillet and add a bit more olive oil to the pan. Add the shrimp and cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side until it is pale pink in color and slightly browned on the edges.

In a large serving bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil and parmesan cheese with a generous pinch of black pepper. Add the hot pasta and toss to coat. Gently fold in the shrimp and kale mixture and drizzle in a bit of the reserved pasta water. I used about 1/4 cup, just to loosen the sauce a bit. Season to taste.

Finally, spoon the warm pasta into bowls and top with crumbled goat cheese. Each person should lightly stir the goat cheese into the pasta to create a nice, creamy finish. Enjoy immediately.



*Gas Stove Girl Original Recipe

Simple Sides: Garlicky Spinach with Crispy Bacon

I have this vision for a new series and as you can see I am calling it "Simple Sides."

Oftentimes I feel like we all get bogged down with the main course that sometimes the hardest thing to do is pull together some delicious side dishes to round out the meal.

This happened to me this past weekend. I was cooking oven roasted chicken thighs that I wanted to have a really delicious crisp skin and juicy meat. After I popped the chicken in the oven I realized that I hadn't made any plan on what to serve alongside this chicken. Panic ensued and I went scurrying through my fridge and freezer trying to see what veggies I had on hand.

Luckily this story has a happy ending and this Garlicky Spinach with Crispy Bacon is just that. This side dish comes together in a flash and it is packed with great flavor. Anything that has bacon in it HAS to be good, so this should seem like a no-brainer. Add tasty garlic and protein-packed spinach to that equation and we are in side dish heaven.

I don't know about you, but at big holiday meals I am always loading up on extra potatoes and veggies rather than turkey or ham and if this spinach was part of that, Lord knows I'd be going back for seconds and thirds.

The recipe below is a perfect side for two, but it can easily be multiplied to serve a larger crowd.

If there are more vegetables or side dishes you'd like me to try out as a Simple Side, feel free to leave a comment below!

Parmesan Crusted Pork with Pasta Aglio e Olio

I made this incredibly tasty, surprisingly good for you dinner last week and I can't stop thinking about it.

We are bringing all good things together -- parmesan cheese, garlic, red pepper flakes. We are making a lightened up pasta dinner that won't leave you full of guilt and dazed in food comatose.

For this Parmesan Crusted Pork with Pasta Aglio e Olio recipe, I pounded out boneless pork tenders to about 1/2 inch thickness, breaded and baked them until crispy brown. A whole wheat pasta is the perfect vehicle to soak up a slightly spicy and totally garlicky olive oil sauce. That's what "Aglio e Olio" means after all--"with garlic and olive oil."

To bread the pork, I mixed together panko breadcrumbs with freshly grated parmesan cheese. The panko is so wonderfully crispy that I find it hard to sacrifice. Of course, if you prefer whole wheat breadcrumbs they would be a perfect substitute.

I don't think I can choose what my favorite part of this meal is -- the pork or the pasta. Together, they make a delicious weeknight meal that comes together in no time!

Even the fiance thought this was tasty and full of flavor. He even requested a shot of him enjoying the meal! Yum yum!

Chopping Garlic and Onions

This past weekend, I hosted my parents and younger sister for the weekend while my sister was touring some colleges in the New England area. I was kindly asked to make a meal from my young blog and wanted to keep it a little fancy. I made my Polish Girl Chicken Parmesan and it was hit! It was a great meal to feed a fairly large crowd because it was easy to double and entertaining for people to watch in action!

Anyway, I am sure you don't care to hear about our whole weekend but I just wanted you to know why I have been somewhat off the radar this weekend (as a 9-5 working person, the weekends offer a great opportunity to cook more challenging meals).

In order to make up for that, I thought I'd offer you a couple of quick tips that took me a while to get right.

If there is one thing I hate, it is a big, face-puckering chunk of onion or garlic in an otherwise outstanding meal. Getting an onion or clove of garlic cut up finely enough to enhance a meal rather than take away from it can be fairly challenging for a new cook. So these aren't some great big best kept secrets, but just some beginner tools you might find helpful -- especially if you are going to try some of my dishes...I LOVE ONIONS AND GARLIC! And for both of these tasks, make sure you have a nice, sharp knife! This will really ease the entire process.

How to: evenly chop an onion
First, cut your onion in half, like so:

Lay each half flat side down. Parallel to your cutting board, cut the onion in half again (BUT DO NOT cut the whole way through)

Now make between 4 and 6 cuts (depending on the size of your onion) perpendicular to the cutting surface. Again, do NOT cut the whole way through. The top of your onion is going to serve as a grip during the cutting.

Make small slices in the opposite direction of the previous cut so that you have wonderful little nuggets of onion, perfect for sauteing, soups, slow cooker recipes, etc.

How to: Finely mince fresh garlic
Peel your garlic clove and place on a cutting board.

Lay your knife flat and gently pound the garlic to mush it down. Pound gently 4 or 5 times, putting a little muscle into it once you get comfortable with the feel of it.

Once your garlic is smashed, run your knife through it to create tiny cubes of garlic.

I really love fresh garlic because it is a little more flavorful than the minced stuff. It's also very cheap! So save a little bit of cash and do the mincing yourself!

Happy Cooking, Everyone!