It’s just been one of those weeks. The weeks when you are too busy and too tired to do things. The weeks when you want to sleep 12 hours but know you should work 12 hours plus clean the filthy house and pick the neglected weeds turned trees in the yard. The weeks when you find yourself eating apples and almond butter instead of cooking anything and you neglect your creative outlets.
The last few weeks have been exhausting, from bachelorette parties to weddings, to crazy work deadlines and falling into internet wormholes about the perfect pins and the healthiest foods. Life got in the way, as it is oft to do, and certain things fell to the wayside: exercise, relaxing and cooking. I realized I hadn’t truly created something new in the kitchen for 2 weeks. 2 weeks! That’s a long time.
Well, we cannot have that! I’ve got to get my center and my focus back, precisely because busy times are the times you need the most focus! So tonight, I changed things!!!! In the past 24 hours I’ve experimented with custard (DF,GF, RSF), egg white omelettes, kale salads, and Brazilian cut steaks. (Omelette and steak for the win!!) Instead of finishing all of my work at once, I took a break at 6:30 pm to walk around the lake and catch up with friends. It was amazing! And it was beautiful. And then I made a fabulous dinner that was filling and healthy and fun to make!
I stopped by the grocery store before finishing up work, and I wasn’t really sure what I was going to end up with. I just knew it had to be filling and hearty and good. 🙂 I have to thank Melissa for helping me choose what ingredients to put in here- she was the main inspiration for this being a parsley dish instead of a cilantro dish- and it worked swimmingly 🙂 What I ended up with was a surprisingly delicious and amazing pasta dish that’s filling, comforting, and good for the belly and soul. I also ended up with a broken blender 🙁 Note to all- don’t fill a magic bullet to the brim and leave it unattended.
So one food processor later, (sigh) we have this masterpiece.
Don’t worry- I recreated the sauce again in my back up food processor- the method described below should not harm any food processors.
Here’s to restoring the passion, not getting too far off-track, and healthy hearty living!
Garlicky Parsley Shrimp Spaghetti (squash) – a lesson in coming back from a break
Ingredients
Instructions
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Soak cashews in water for 2-12 hours. If you don't have time, boiled them for 4 minutes and let them sit in the warm water for 40 minutes.
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Place a washed and forked russet potato on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350 for 55 minutes.
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Slice the spaghetti squash in half, hot-dog style aka longwise, and de-pulp.
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Lightly coat the squash with olive oil using a pastry brush. Lightly salt and pepper.
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Bake in the oven, skins down, at 350 for 45 minutes - I added them to the same cookie sheet as the potato.
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Heat 1/2 tbsp of olive oil on the skillet at medium high.
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Dice shallots, garlic, and onion. Add to pan and saute until caramelized. If they start to brown too quickly add a little water and cook until the water burns off.
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Leave 1 tbsp of the onion/shallot mixture in the pan, and put the rest in the food processor.
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Add water, coconut milk, 1/2 tbsp olive oil, cashews, parsley, and 1/4 of the potato into the food processor with the garlic mix and blend until well combined. Leave a mildly chunky consistency so you can still see pieces of parsley in the sauce.
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Add 1/2 tbsp olive oil to the pan with an onion/garlic/shallot mixture and return the pan to medium-high heat.
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Add shrimp to pan and saute for 7-10 min or until pink. Flip and cook an additional 3-5 minutes until onions are browned and shrimp are fully cooked (and fully pink).
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Using a fork, remove the spaghetti-like strands from the squash and mix them with the sauce from the food processor.
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Plate the spaghetti and garlic parsley sauce.
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Top with shrimp
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Add parsley leaves for garnish
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Serve and enjoy!
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