Key West Shrimp with Salsa Verde and Lemon Spinach Orzo

 

Here is a great way to use the salsa verde from the last post. I will be sharing another recipe that includes this amazing sauce later this week too! I have found myself a bit obsessed in the salsa verde department lately, making three batches in as many weeks. I just can’t help it, I really love the stuff.

Anchovies, garlic and lemon are right on the top of my list of favourite ingredients. Capers and tarragon and flat leaf parsley are up there too.  Max has a total thing for anchovies as well and he would choose eating them straight out of the jar over a cookie any day of the week. The kid loves salty, briny, sour things just like me. Having just found out my sister has a dislike for cilantro that rivals my own (how did I not know this?) I started thinking about genetic predispositions towards flavours and foods. Do food preferences or biases run in families?

In addition to the pungent, earthy flavour of salsa verde I also love the process of making it.

The older I get the more I savour quiet moments in the kitchen with just a sharp knife and a wooden cutting board. I love the process of preparing to cook; tying my hair back, pulling out a clean apron to wear, washing my hands, gathering the tools and ingredients. I enjoy focusing on each ingredient, the methodical/rhythmic chopping, slicing or mincing. Putting the prepped ingredients into little mise en place bowls.

I once read on a food site a raging debate on the use of bowls and dishes to prepare ingredients for a recipe. How people simply loathed washing all of the extra dishes in order to properly prep for a meal. Who cares about washing a few extra bowls? For me the mise en place set-up is absolutely one of the best parts of the  cooking process, getting everything all ready and organized, lined up in pretty bowls. True joy.

Is this weird?

Anyway, back to this recipe. This is a great weeknight dish as it is simple and easy, quick and adaptable. It is a breeze if you happen to have a bit of salsa verde already in the fridge. It should be noted that salsa verde is best made within two hours of serving to preserve its beautiful bright green colour but I have used it a day or two later from the fridge where I have sealed it with a thin layer of olive oil and it is still very, very good. If it is coming out of the fridge let it come up to room temperature and check and adjust your seasonings, maybe a quick squeeze of half a lemon and another grind or two of pepper and you are back in business.

Don’t have shrimp? Use some salmon or halibut. No orzo? Use penne or rice or farro or couscous. Anything and everything tastes amazing with this salsa verde. At least my family thinks so…

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2 Responses to Key West Shrimp with Salsa Verde and Lemon Spinach Orzo

  1. Tracy says:

    It’s not weird. I’m the same way. One year for Christmas I gave Roberto a homemade gift—the words mise en place framed. It’s our kitchen mantra.

  2. Tracy: Thanks. I am not at all surprised that you would understand.

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