{"id":1448,"date":"2009-08-11T17:35:39","date_gmt":"2009-08-11T23:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hottie-biscotti.com\/blog\/?p=1448"},"modified":"2009-08-11T17:41:18","modified_gmt":"2009-08-11T23:41:18","slug":"dinner-rush-shrimp-with-mango-sauce-and-quinoa-salad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hottie-biscotti.com\/blog\/2009\/08\/11\/dinner-rush-shrimp-with-mango-sauce-and-quinoa-salad\/","title":{"rendered":"Dinner Rush: Shrimp with Mango Sauce and Quinoa Salad"},"content":{"rendered":"

The school year is about to begin! \u00a0My first day of teacher prep began today, so my casual lifestyle with tons of free time is about to come to an abrupt and unpleasant end. \u00a0Taking 8 months off from work to take a couple of part time jobs was pretty great. \u00a0It enabled me to move in to our new house and spend time getting things organized and just like I wanted them, running errands as needed, going to the gym whenever I wanted to, playing with the dog, baking and cooking without time restraints, perusing the Internet at my leisure and blogging whenever I pleased! \u00a0These days are sadly over. \u00a0I will miss you, my lazy life.<\/p>\n

I must somehow move on to my new life with a positive attitude and a determination to somehow manage a full time job and the rest of the things I need and want to do. \u00a0Hold on, there are women who have more demanding jobs than I do, AND they have children, AND they’re members of groups and clubs, AND they take care of their house, AND they cook dinner, AND do laundry, AND blog! \u00a0If they can do it, then measly little me can do it!<\/p>\n

I will not allow my new Monday thru Friday, 8-5 (or 6 some days) job keep me from making dinner on the weeknights. \u00a0I will also not stoop to macaroni and cheese from a box or putting a frozen pizza in the oven. \u00a0I WILL make real dinner! \u00a0So, every week I will make, review and blog about quick and easy dinner recipes that can be accomplished by a full time working woman…like I will be as of August 24.<\/p>\n

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These recipes come from Epicurious Dinner Rush from issues of Gourmet and SELF. \u00a0They are both quite delicious. \u00a0The most time consuming thing about them is the chopping and prep. \u00a0I modified the quinoa recipe quite a bit after speaking with my wiser and younger sister, Sarah, who told me that the preparation of the quinoa in the actual recipe was a bit ridiculous. \u00a0I hadn’t ever used quinoa before, so I thought the process of washing it 5 times in cold water, cooking for 10 minutes in boiling water and then steaming it in a sieve for 10 minutes above the boiling water was normal! \u00a0Turns out, all you have to do is cook the quinoa as you would rice. \u00a0Hooray! \u00a0That little change made this dish much faster.<\/p>\n

There is a recipe for lime and cumin dressing that goes with the salad, but I didn’t use it. \u00a0Instead of the olive oil based dressing, I simply tossed the salad with lime juice, cumin and some kosher salt. \u00a0I found the salad to be incredibly light and refreshing. \u00a0I thought about adding chopped tomatoes, but opted not to this time. \u00a0It would be delicious, though, so I may try it next time. \u00a0Here is the original recipe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Shrimp is always a good choice for a quick meal. \u00a0Shrimp cooks quickly, just 2-3 per side, in a hot skillet. \u00a0The mango sauce has a great combination of flavors. \u00a0Sweet, spicy and perfect with the shrimp. \u00a0I served the sauce warm, but it would be good chilled also. \u00a0Here is the recipe<\/a> from epicurious.<\/p>\n

I served this meal with a few warmed corn tortillas, so Ben made shrimp tacos. \u00a0I liked it better without the tortillas, Ben liked his taco version better. \u00a0I think he likes when all the components of a meal come together in a nice little package. \u00a0He likes burritos, sandwiches, pizza, stromboli, lasagna, enchiladas, chimichangas and always seems to mix the food on his plate into a new casserole type dish.<\/p>\n

This is a fairly quick recipe, and definitely a good choice for a weeknight dinner.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Shrimp with Mango Sauce<\/h2>\n

Gourmet, Makes 4 servings<\/p>\n

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