Stuck in a rut

Toward the end of one week, when the contents of my refrigerator were dwindling and the vegetables I still had were rapidly approaching their end of shelf-life, I found myself standing in the kitchen looking at a bag of shrimp, a pile of fresh basil, and a bundle of the largest asparagus I'd ever seen.

I can't be the only one who gets stuck in ruts with certain kinds of food. For example, I always either grill or roast asparagus with a little olive oil, some salt & pepper, and whatever other spices or herbs I feel like throwing on there. Don't get me wrong, I love eating asparagus that way, but on that particular night, I just didn't feel like it. I turned to Google, typed in, "shrimp, asparagus, and basil" and found Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp, Asparagus & Basil.  

Well, why didn't I think of that? I skimmed the recipe and quickly realized it's an easy-to-make, mess-free dinner. And if it tasted as good as it sounded, it definitely had potential to join the ranks of go-to dinners for nights when I don't feel like cooking, but definitely feel like eating.

  

The recipe directs you to cook the asparagus stalks and tips separately as the stalks need a few more minutes to soften. However, I had monster asparagus and knew that those big wamma-jammas would need more cooking time all together. I cut off the asparagus tips and then cut the stalks into matchstick-sized chunks. Then, I halved the matchsticks. I added all of the asparagus to the skillet when I added the white wine, allowing it to cook for the duration of the time it took to prepare the dish. They were perfectly cooked in the end (go me).

 

 

 

 

You know it's a crowd pleaser when conversation from the peanut gallery (of one) ceases with the exception of lots of "mmm" and "yum." And just as the recipe's author promised, it was E-A-S-Y to make. From now on, this dish will most certainly be a regular at our dinner table. 

Perhaps I will try on a new asparagus rut for a while...