What do you do when you don’t feel like cooking? Keep it as simple as possible! Here’s an idea for what to cook for dinner tonight that’s super easy and delicious.
Shrimp only take a couple minutes to cook, so I defrosted some: anchor ingredient done.
What else is a no-brainer? Frozen French fries. Preheated oven and put some on a cookie sheet. Check. Where’s my veggie? Collard greens. Tore stems off and chopped so they could get cooking before adding the leaves. Check.
The greens braised on the stove top in shrimp stock with onions while the fries cooked in the oven. So I was free to explore what else would make this meal sing. A dip or sauce of some kind, of course. Would I create something with the stock derived from boiling the shrimp shells? A possibility.
Looking into the fridge again, I decided on a remoulade sauce. I don’t know why I don’t think of this more often. It’s delicious. In case you’ve never tried it, it’s a mayonnaise based sauce and it’s perfect both for seafood and dipping fries. There are many versions of it out there. Here’s how I made this one:
- 3 cloves crushed garlic
- salt
- about 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon sweet pickle relish
- 3 dashes hot sauce
- 1/8 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Adjust the measurements to your liking. I usually put horseradish in here, but I was out of it, so that’s why I added a touch of mustard instead. Had I not been so heavy with the garlic, I might have added some lemon juice. Experiment and see which combination of ingredients and proportions work for you.
I tossed the shrimp with some grapeseed oil, dried oregano and garlic powder before searing in a screaming hot skillet for a minute or so on each side. You know they’re ready to turn over when you shake the pan and they release easily. Same for scallops. Screaming hot skillet and don’t move them until they release from the pan easily if you want to get some color on them.
We enjoyed this simple meal immensely because it gave us an opportunity to relive our first trip to New Orleans where I originally tasted remoulade in a diner down the street from the inn where we stayed. After studying the menu, I asked the waiter what remoulade sauce was. I imagine it took great restraint on his part not to laugh when answering because it’s so common there. What did I know? Just like when my husband, Michael, asked another restauranteur if their catfish was wild. She didn’t hold back her laughter in this case because, of course no self respecting New Orleans native would serve farm raised catfish. Now we know.
What fun food experiences have you had while traveling? Maybe they will inspire you to cook something easy for dinner tonight. Read Shrimp and Grits next for more inspiration gained far from home.