Easy Recipe: Wild Shrimp with Arugula & Burst Tomatoes from a Small Kitchen
15-Minute Recipe, A Shoe Caddy, and Philosophy on Life
Moving to a new home recently provided us with a much larger kitchen. In Park Slope, our kitchen was more like a very small closet. It was a whopping 42 sq feet galley kitchen where we cranked out meals for many holidays and celebrations fit for a king and queen! People often marveled that so much could be prepared, and done well, from such a small space.
An enormous pantry was positioned to discreetly blend in, and house anything unnecessary in the kitchen. That pantry was a stunner in both looks with its sleek white lacquer doors and polished nickel hidden pulls. And in functionality - it was an organizing and storage dream!
It helped me avoid the NYC cliché of having an oven filled with extra pots, pans, books, or even sneakers. It is a truism of life in Gotham. I found a way around it. However, I did have a friend who proudly used her oven as a shoe caddy. Yes, a shoe caddy, closet, storage unit!
In case you’re wondering, Shoe Caddy Woman never learned to cook.
She never emptied that oven.
She had two very good reasons.
Space in NYC is at a premium and she couldn’t part with her shoe caddy.
She was too busy with her big job to want to cook.
Instead, she would invite me over for dinner. When I arrived, all the ingredients would be on the counter waiting to be turned into something wonderful. It always made me laugh because we had the same big job, we often traveled together on business and experienced many of the same challenges.
For me, cooking has always been a creative outlet. I love it!
But for her, it was a nuisance and “just another task”
The image of this petite spitfire holding a glass of wine, chatting away in shorts, a t-shirt, and flip flops, as I made Wild Shrimp with Aruluga and Burst Tomatoes is forever printed in my mind. This recipe is in honor of our CGOTM days (career-girl-on-the-move).
Simple. Delicious. And the aroma will make people knock on your door and ask “may I come over?”
Even though our current kitchen towers over the old one, the recipes in that tiny kitchen will continue to be used. They were built upon a few simple rules:
Recipes should be easy.
Cooking should be fast.
Ingredients should be fresh.
Everything must be prepared on a 24 x 24 counter space.
Good meals need only a handful of amazing ingredients to make something spectacular. The fresher the ingredients, the better.
Today, the recipe should only take you about 15-20 minutes to make.
There’s no fancy machinery required.
Just a good sharp knife, and a large cutting board.
Wild Shrimp with Arugula & Burst Tomatoes
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 ½ - 2 pints of grape cherry tomatoes
1 ½ - 2 pounds wild shrimp – peeled & cleaned
8 cloves garlic – finely minced
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
7 oz fresh arugula or baby spinach
¾ cup dry white or rose wine
1 fresh lemon, juiced
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions:
Peel & clean the shrimp ahead of time. Most stores sell them this way, so you don’t need to do it yourself.
Pour the olive oil into a large skillet on medium-high heat along with the cherry tomatoes. Cook the tomatoes until they blister – which means they become a little golden. Ideally, a few should burst open. But if not, don’t worry about it.
Add the shrimp into the skillet with the minced garlic and red pepper flakes. Stir and flip the shrimp until they are pink on both sides, but not cooked through. This should take about 3 minutes.
Add the white wine to the skillet and scrape the bits off the bottom of the pan. Then add the arugula on top. Lower the heat allowing the shrimp to cook through and greens to wilt. About 3-4 minutes.
Smash about 6 or 8 tomatoes into the wine and garlic broth. Squeeze a fresh lemon over the entire mixture, stir, and serve as is, or over the pasta of your choice.
Serve with a little grated cheese on top – if you like. But it’s not necessary.
Bon appétit!
REMEMBER: Life is nothing without adventure, good friends, and great food.