Pasta with Garlic, Olive Oil and Red Pepper Flakes

I needed one more meat-free dish for dinner tonight, and I was getting a little tired of tilpia. I had some pasta to use up, and I found this easy recipe from Giada on the Food Network site. This recipe would be a great base to add fresh peppers, shrimp or chicken too. I didn't have any peppers or shrimp on hand for me, but Josh grilled some chicken to add to his pasta.Spaghetti with Garlic, Olive Oil, and Red Pepper Flakes
serves ~6(?), I cut the following recipe in half for the two of us (and we ate it all....)

1 lb. spaghetti (I used whole wheat thin linguine)
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and cracked (I used all 3, smack with the side of a large knife to crack them)
1 Tbsp. red pepper flakes, more if desired (I used 1 Tbsp.)
1/4 c. chopped flat leaf parsley
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh Basil leaves
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh Mint leaves (I omitted)
I topped with parmesan cheese - the kind from the can :)

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large pot, bring to a boil 6 quarts of salted water. Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 6 to 8 minutes. Drain pasta in a colander, reserving 2 tablespoons of the pasta water. The reserved pasta water will help create the sauce. Do not rinse pasta with water -- you want to retain the pasta's natural starches so that the sauce will stick.
2. In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until light brown and fragrant. It's important not too burn the garlic or else it will become bitter. Remove and discard the browned garlic. Add the red pepper flakes and saute for 1 minute.
3. Carefully add the reserved pasta water and stir to combine. (Adding the water will make the oil splatter, so stand back a bit!) Place the spaghetti into the pan and mix well for 1 minute.
4. Remove pan from heat and toss with fresh herbs. Top with cheese (and grilled chicken), if using. Enjoy!REVIEW:
This was a light sauce for our pasta, and it was fast and easy to make. I would add chicken/shrimp/or peppers, since the pasta itself is a nice base, but doesn't make for a very complete meal.

Shrimp Linguine with Spinach Sauce

I knew I wanted to make shrimp pasta for dinner on Friday, so I was off to look for a new sauce to try. I found a penne with spinach sauce recipe from Giada, and modified the whole thing a bit to fit my needs. My recipe is below, but I linked her original. I added shrimp, mushrooms, and tomatoes to the pasta to make a full meal. This sauce has a lot of garlic in it, and is stays raw - so if you don't like the taste of raw garlic, you will not like this. I thought it was really good though! (Please excuse the picture. Its spinach sauce! I just doesn't look pretty!)Shrimp Linguine with Spinach Sauce
serves 6 as written, I made half

1 lb. linguine, I used whole wheat
~40 medium sized sprimp, cooked with tails removed
~2 c. sliced mushrooms, I used portabella
~1.5 c. chopped tomatoes, I used roma
2 Tbsp. chopped basil

Sauce:
3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
4 oz. fresh baby spinach leaves
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
~3 Tbsp. olive oil

DIRECTIONS:
1. Cook the linguine according to package directions.
2. Saute the mushrooms in a small drizzle of olive oil for ~5 min, and tomatoes and shrimp for the last minute to heat through.
3. In a food processor, chop the garlic cloves. Add the cream cheese, salt, pepper, spinach, and parmesan cheese and process for 20 seconds. Stream in 2-4 Tbsp. olive oil until you are happy with the consistency. You want it thick, but not like a paste. You could also use some of the starchy pasta water to thin it out if you want a smoother texture but don't want to add too much extra fat. (I used 2 Tbsp EVOO and about 2 Tbsp of the pasta water.)
4. Drain the linguine, and toss with the mushrooms, shrimp and tomatoes. Top with the sauce and toss to distribute throughout the dish. Sprinkle basil on top and enjoy!
REVIEW:
We liked this a lot, but it is a raw sauce so the spinach and garlic tastes are STRONG. It didn't help that I made too much sauce for how much pasta I made (I didn't cut the sauce part in half) - I definitely could have saved some of it for another time. Another successful Lenten meal! You could use chicken instead though, and that would be good as well.

Spicy Grilled Shrimp

Its beautiful here today (60 deg in Michigan in March!) so Josh and I decided we would pull out the grill tonight. Josh threw on a steak for himself, but I don't eat meat on Fridays during Lent. I had some shrimp in the freezer, so I thought I would marinate and skewer those to toss on the grill. I looked up a few recipes, but kind of tossed this together based on what sounded good and what I had on hand.

Spicy Grilled Shrimp
(serves 2 as posted)

14 large shrimp (I used frozen, cooked with tails on)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice (I used fresh squeezed and added ~ 1/2 tsp of zest as well)
2 tsp hot sauce
1 tsp ketchup
2 cloves minced garlic
2 tsp chopped basil (parsley would work too, but I didn't have any)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 skewers for grilling

DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix all ingredients except shrimp in a quart sized Ziploc bag and massage to mix. Toss shrimp in bag and let marinate for 2 hours in the refrigerator . (I tossed my shrimp in frozen and let marinate all day while the shrimp thawed.)
2. Place shrimp on skewer, leaving a little space in between each shrimp.
3. Grill for a few minutes on each side, until pink. (Mine were already cooked, so I had Josh grill for ~1 minute on each side to heat through and get pretty grill marks.) Brush the extra marinade on the shrimp while grilling for added flavor.
4. Serve with some veggies or rice for a light healthy meal. Enjoy!

REVIEW:
These were super easy and really good! They were pretty spicy, but I tend to like things with a kick. Josh said these were tasty as well, but really enjoyed his steak :) He even wanted me to post a picture of it.