Tag: vegetable stock

Categories
Main Dish

This flavorful vegetable pasta doesn’t ‘shrimp’ on flavor

Tuscan shrimp linguine is fairly quick to make but packs a lot of flavor from fresh vegetables. It would be a great summer dish, when gardens are in full swing.
Tuscan shrimp linguine is fairly quick to make but packs a lot of flavor from fresh vegetables. It would be a great summer dish, when gardens are in full swing.

Some wonderful friends of ours hosted Joey and me this past weekend while we were on a trip to speak to some college students.

We were treated to a great time, fabulous food and amazing company, getting to break bread with a lot of their friends while we were there.

Of course, we had to return to reality, and once we were back home late on Monday, work loomed, and our fridge was empty. Not feeling particularly sure I wanted to indulge in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich after the culinary weekend we experienced, I went to my Pinterest board to see what I could make for a quick dinner with only a dash into the grocery store.

The recipe I decided on comes from the blog “Sweet C’s” by Courtney Odell. You can find the original post at https://sweetcsdesigns.com/tuscan-shrimp-linguine/. I added seasoning in my version and subbed in asparagus instead of broccolini.

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Tuscan Shrimp Linguine

Tuscan shrimp linguine is fairly quick to make but packs a lot of flavor from fresh vegetables. It would be a great summer dish, when gardens are in full swing.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian, Tuscan
Keyword 30-minute meal, asparagus, basil, broccolini, cherry tomatoes, fresh spinach, garlic, grape tomatoes, linguine, shrimp, spinach, vegetable stock, white wine, yellow onion

Ingredients

  • 1 pound linguine pasta
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter divided
  • 1 small onion diced
  • 1/2 pound fresh asparagus cut into half-inch pieces
  • 10 ounces grape or cherry tomatoes
  • 1 cup vegetable stock or dry white wine
  • 8 cloves garlic diced
  • 1 pound uncooked shrimp peeled and deveined
  • 2 teaspoons dried basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 cups loosely packed fresh spinach cut into ribbons

Instructions

  • Start boiling your linguine according to package directions to cook it al dente.
  • While the pasta cooks, in a very large skillet, heat the olive oil and one tablespoon butter over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the onion and asparagus, and saute until they are both almost cooked through.
  • Add in the tomatoes, continuing to stir until their outsides start to wrinkle a bit, and they begin to burst (you can help them out at this point by gently squishing them with your spatula).
  • Add in the stock, garlic and the other tablespoon of butter, stirring to combine.
  • Once the butter is melted and the stock is at a low simmer, stir in the shrimp, basil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, continuing to stir regularly until the shrimp is cooked completely (it should be a light pink and starting to curl on itself a bit).
  • Stir in the cooked linguine, coating it with the sauce. Once everything is well-combined, stir in the fresh spinach, letting it wilt, and then serve immediately.

This was really tasty, and I couldn’t help but think it would be even better for those of you who will have gardens bursting with fresh veggies this summer. It was a simple, but filling, pasta that wasn’t overly seasoned, so the taste of the tomatoes and asparagus came through well.

If you’re not a shrimp person, you could easily use some pre-cooked chicken instead or just double the vegetables.

Even though I still need to do a proper grocery store trip, the bags are unpacked, the laundry is done, and the we’re back to another week of putting out the paper. But I do feel a bit lighter after this weekend.

There are few things as good for the soul as a great meal and even greater people to share it with.

This piece first appeared in print on March 7, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Side Dish

‘Tajin’ up the flavor with yummy seasoned rice

Tajin rice takes on all the flavors of the popular spice mix—chili peppers, lime and salt—and is perfect as a side dish to all kinds of Mexican dishes.
Tajin rice takes on all the flavors of the popular spice mix—chili peppers, lime and salt—and is perfect as a side dish to all kinds of Mexican dishes.

When we were stuck in the house for lockdowns at the start of the pandemic, I (like everyone else) started getting a bit stir crazy and began looking for ways to reorganize different parts of our house.

One of my first projects was my horribly organized spice cabinet. The way it was all stacked in, I had to pull half the contents out to find what I needed. I started looking online and discovered a large spice rack I could hang on my kitchen wall and immediately bought it.

That thing has been a game changer. I love having everything in its place, alphabetized and ready to use immediately. It also freed up an entire cupboard in the kitchen for other items.

Recently, I kept staring at a large bottle of Tajin Clasico (pronounced tuh-heen) seasoning in my spice rack, which I purchased for a failed recipe and hadn’t touched in awhile. I decided I needed to put it to good use.

If you’re not familiar, Tajin is a mild seasoning that features chili peppers, dehydrated lime and salt. The lime is the flavor that really sticks out when you first give it a try. Some people swear by it and put it on everything.

This comes from the blog “The Fiery Vegetarian.” You can find the original post at https://www.thefieryvegetarian.com/tajin-rice-recipe/. I added more spices in my version.

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Tajin Rice

Tajin rice takes on all the flavors of the popular spice mix—chili peppers, lime and salt—and is perfect as a side dish to all kinds of Mexican dishes.
Course Side Dish
Keyword chicken stock, garlic powder, onion powder, rice, Tajin Clasico, vegetable stock

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups white long-grain rice
  • 1 3/4 cup vegetable or chicken stock
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons Tajin Clasico seasoning

Instructions

  • Rinse your rise with cold water several times until the water runs mostly clear.
  • Add the rinsed rice, vegetable stock, garlic powder and onion powder to a medium-sized pot with a tight-fitting lid. Heat over high heat, stirring to dissolve the seasoning, until the mixture is at a boil.
  • Place the lid on the pot and turn the heat down to a simmer. Leave it on the heat, covered, for 10 minutes.
  • After 10 minutes, remove the lid and stir in the butter until it’s melted and fully incorporated. Stir in the Tajin and then let the rice sit, off the heat, for about five minutes to let the flavors meld. Add any additional seasonings if desired, and serve as a side to your favorite Mexican entree.

This was a nice side dish. We had it alongside some chicken tacos one night and ate the leftovers with quesadillas on another evening.

I will say that if you’re not a fan of Tajin or citrus flavors in your savory dishes, you definitely won’t like this rice, but we thought it was pretty good—especially as a side dish. I don’t know if it could hold its own as the main star of a dinner, but it probably depends on how much you like Tajin.

So, that spice bottle is still staring down at me from my spice rack, but at least it’s a couple tablespoons lighter. I’ll have to come up with some other ways to use it up—especially since it’s nice and tall and has to be stored out of alphabetical sequence in the rack. Now that I finally have things organized, I want to keep it that way.

This piece first appeared in print on July 14, 2022.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

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