Shrimp with diced tomatoes, basil and feta
Hey everyone! Hope you’re having a good night 😀 I just had to ask myself what day it is, since my belly is not full of Indian food- it is full of shrimpies though, which is of course the next best thing! I’ll get my Indian fix in the next 48 hours so no need to fret 😉
I was planning on having a smoothie for lunch, but when the time came all I wanted was a salad beast.
And a BEAST it was:
Spinach, sweet onion, tomatoes, bell pepper, avocado, dulse and cucumber, all drowning in a spicy almond butter dressing loosely based on the Pad Thai sauce I made the other day. It had 1/8 cup water, 1 tbs almond butter, 2 tbs chickpea miso, a splash of sesame oil, a splash of Nama Shoyu, a garlic clove and cayenne pepper.
It looks a like a lot of dressing, but it perfectly coated every spinach leaf:
I went into work for a while, trained my client who is always dressed to perfection (she’s super cute), and then came home to get ready for spin and Zumba.
I was hit in the face with a midday slump so I turned to Raw Vegan Redbull (aka green juice) to help me out:
1/2 english cucumber, 1 green apple, handful of parsley, 2 kiwis and half a lemon.
It gave me wings 😉
Spin and Zumba were SO much fun –I’m going to miss teaching while I’m at school– and then I came home to make some anniversary dinner with the pilot.
The meal was based on the glorious dinner that my friend Jeni made for Girl’s night a couple of weeks ago:
Shrimp with Diced Tomatoes, Basil and Feta
I sautéed some shrimp with a little EVOO and seasoned them with sea salt and red pepper flakes before putting them in the baking dish:
(undercook them a little.. you want them to be pink, but they’ll finish baking in the oven)
In the same skillet, I added more EVOO, a small chopped onion, 3 cloves of gahhhlic, sea salt, pepper and Italian seasonings and let them sweat out for 5 minutes on medium heat.
To that, I added a can of drained organic diced tomatoes and fresh basil from the garden.
After adjusting the seasonings and letting the tomatoes heat through, I poured the sauce over the shrimpies:
Top with feta cheese (or half of it with feta cheese if you roll like the pilot and I do):
Bake for 10 minutes at 350* and serve over pasta or zucchini noodles 😉
While I was making the shrimp dish, I asked the pilot if he would mind making the artichokes since he’s a pro.
He had the ‘chokes boiling and seemed to be pretty occupied over by the stove. When I asked what he was doing, he presented me with this:
He carved an artichoke stem into Viesa.
See the resemblance?
My pilot is so multitalented 😀 Hahah.
And then: THE POWER WENT OUT!!!
We had a beautiful meal by candlelight and opened the front door –we put the baby gate up so the puppies wouldn’t escape- and watched the lightening. Pretty romantic, eh?
We had chokes:
The pilot’s plate:
My plate:
Such a delicious meal 😀
Now the power is back on and I’m going to get back to my book before we go to bed. The girls and I are seeing the movie tomorrow night and since I’ve only been able to read sporadically, I have about 200 pages left. I’m hoping I can finish it before the movie!! AHhhhhh!
Have a great night and I’ll see ya in the morning <3
Much love,
G
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That does sound like a great romantic dinner, no lights, great food, a great husband and lighning! Enjoy the movie!
Oh I want to see the movie so badly!! I hope you enjoy it 🙂 I love the shrimp dinner, and it definitely does sound romantic…eating by candle light- yes, please!
Have a great night, love.
I love the Viesa artichoke! He IS talented, indeed. 🙂
Hope you enjoy the rest of the book, and the movie! I haven't read it yet…
🙂 That is sooo cute :)! I hope you enjoyed your romantic dinner!
Your dinner looks great – you've inspired me 🙂
It's too bad that you have to rush through the book! I really loved it, and needed to take my time because I had trouble following along with all of the time jumping hahah! Still have to see the movie so I look forward to your review!
omg I love the artichoke viesa. hysterical.
love artichoke viesa!!! pilot is muy talented. 🙂
Your salad beasts always make me smile! Your dinner (s) looked SO good – hope you enjoy the rest of the book! My book club is going to see it Wednesday – i'm SO excited!!
Yum, I haven't had artichokes in forever, they look so good! Especially the Viesa one!
Dinner looks fabulous!! Love the little artichoke carving, you've got a talented hubby there! How fun that you got to enjoy your romantic dinner by candle light!
I just got a juicer so I'm on the prowl for juice recipes, I'll definitely have to give your "redbull" a try!
I've decided that part of my current "Five Year Plan" is to have Indian food with the Fitnessista (that's Fitness-seeeesta for the lay person). Now how are we going to make this happen? I'm thinking a meetup in AZ or So-Cal is inevitable. 😉
Wow, you had dinner done just in the nick of time. When I lived in NC and SC the power would go out all the time. It didnt even have to be weather related, just random. Fun times.
Anyway, your juice looks really good. I just got a juicer but am already in arghh but I dont want to juice b/c I dont want the cleanup. Any tips? It's a breville juice plus elite.
i love shrimp. it looked so amazing
What a rockin salad! That's one beast I'm not scared of…I just want to eat it!
You've got to be kidding me.
I can't believe the pilot's artistic skillz.
wow the shrimp dish looks great.
love the carving and the chokes! yummy. lol!
-muffy
mmm the shrimpy looks so good. Love the feta in there. Sounds like you had a nice day (despite the lack of indian food :)).
Power out! Drama! I love it. xo
What a great romantic meal! I think shrimp may be an aphrodesiac. It's so classy and indulgent and goes perfect for a romantic dinner.
WOw, kudos to the piolet for being a choke master! DO you think he could teach me a few things because I have no idea how to attack this veggie?
Have a great time with your girls!
morning pretty lady! did you know that I read your blog like 5 minutes into my work day, every day? i just can't wait to see what creation you make!!!
love the presentation of the pilot's pasta… kind of looks like a bird's nest with baby shrimpies, trying to tell us something??? just kidding!!!
have a fabulous day! i am making shrimp tonight too- giada's fusilli with shrimp and arugula YUM!
That does sound like a romantic dinner! How cute =)
Aww and the Viesa Artichoke is so funny!
That does sound romantic! I think that thunderstorms are awesome. Dinner looks great.
The Viesa stem is hilarious!
I loved seeing your hubby's skills at food art. 🙂 The shrimp pasta looks delish! Sounds like you two had a great night!
what a romantic dinner!!:)
Love the Viesa stem… I think that a Bella-inspired artichoke stem is in order!
Glad you guys got to enjoy a nice dinner together… let us know how the movie is!
FINISH THE BOOK BEFORE THE MOVIE! Can't wait to hear what you think of both! They are my favorites!
Love the meal you cooked. I need to follow this recipe. I'm so lazy in the kitchen I never do anything. It is romantic that the lights went out in time for your dinner to make it candlelit! And SO funny and cute how the artichoke looks like the pup!
Sounds like a nice night ~ I shall definitely give the prawn dish a go with the zucchini noodles. I am not sure I will ever be able to give away certain sea foods.
Enjoy the last of your book!
Great meal and I love the puppy-choke totem pole that the Pilot carved! 😀
I hate when the power goes out! But at least you made the best of it–that meals looks delish! You should have the pilot do an artichoke demo, I am not good at prepping them!
at least dinner was made when the power went out! i love the artichoke carving 🙂
Haha love the artichoke carving! What a great night! I mean, loosing power drives me insane but a romantic candlelit dinner? How perfect!
the carved artichoke is the cutest thing ever! the pilot is clone-able, right? 😉
oooo… so romantic <3 it's great that the power outage worked to your advantage!
your salad looks so good. i'm definitely going to be trying out that dressing very soon.
great idea on the shrimp. i've never thought about baking the shrimp and sauce together like that but i'm sure it takes the flavor over the top.
enjoy the movie!!
Could you share with us how you prepare Artichokes? I've always had the jarred kind mixed with pasta or dips but would love to try the real thing.
Thanks!
~amyjogo
Beautiful meal. I'll have make our own little power out picnic some day…sounds super romantic!
That little carving of Viesa is too funny!
Yum, those shrimp look so delicious!
Take your time enjoying the rest of the book! The movie ends differently anyway and the book was much more enjoyable in my opinion!
You have the best post titles. If you had to pick just two, what are your gave spices and why?
The salad beast is incredible! Love the summer for major salad cravings!
I am in love with your love for Indian food! You rock it sister. Sorry, SISTA.
Looks like a beautiful dinner! The artichoke puppy is way too cute! 🙂
Hey Gina!
You inspired me to try first green juice ever yesterday – it was celery/cucumber/spinach/ginger and it was so good!! I was visiting NYC for the day so now I just need to find somewhere near where I actually live so I can have more green juice in my life =).
LOVE the new site! Your pilot is very talented – that artichoke heart is adorable!!
Snazzy new site, gal!!! Looks excellent. I’m very impressed with the pilot’s carving steez!
I love shrimp and spaghetti–sounds like a perfect anniversary that you will remember 🙂
Your new site looks great! Much easier to navigate 🙂
Your blog got an AMAZING makeover. Well done!
You have to give the pilot props for that artichoke sculpture again and tell him I knew it was Viesa before I even read the text that told me so! No lies! Dead ringer for the pupperooni.
Love the new layout and it will be totally awesome with the recipes linked that way. 🙂
Only question I have is if there is a way to still have the ppl that comment with linkable names to take us to there blog? I don’t know how that works but I have found a lot of great blogs from your comments. 🙂
That dinner looked YUM!!!! I must admit though I would have eaten the Pilot version.;) I love Feta…….
Love the new look! It’s awesome!! Great looking dinner too!
suzanne- cayenne and cumin, hands down 😀
amy l- i’m technologically impaired, so i’ll need to check on that one
Wow, LOVE the new bloggie!! You did a great job, everything looks awesome and the pictures look so much better!