I think I’ve actually blogged about both of these before… Ah, the sign of old age for a blog. Do I repost the recipes or just include links? I think I’ll repost them and save you a few clicks. These are from Mark Bittman’s The Minimalist Cooks Dinner

Shrimp, I’m discovering, is (are?) one of those great weeknight menu items. They cook up fast. They can stay in the freezer until you need them. And they’re a treat, at least in my household. This is NOT CheapCooking in a monetary sense; but it makes a nice weeknight meal in a short time.

2 pounds shrimp
1/4 cup butter
2 Tbs (or more!) Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbs or more lemon juice or so (1 lemon basically)

How much simpler can you get?! Heat the butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the shrimp and Worcestershire sauce. If the shrimp are raw, cook until done. If the shrimp are already cooked, as mine were tonight, just heat through a few minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and serve!

My eldest wanted this over pasta because the last time we had shrimp I served it/them with pasta. But tonight, I cooked up the coconut rice from the same book (although there is a mistake in the ratio of liquid to rice!). I remember this early blog entry in particular because it was one of my first that got a comment and I was thrilled! (And it was a positive comment!) But I just and went and looked for the comment and realized it was from before Blogger supported comments, so it’s gone, alas. It was from someone from the islands (Jamaica if memory serves) who said they made this all the time!

I always mark variations I’ve done in my cookbooks so had noted the incorrect proportions the first time. Saved me some thinking time tonight.

So here’s what I did tonight…

1 15 ounce can of kidney beans (undrained)
1 cup rice
1 15 ounce can of coconut milk
1/4 cup or so of water
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the kidney beans in a saucepan over high, stirring, until most of the liquid has evaporated. I left at least 1/4 cup in there because I was in a hurry to get the rice cooking. Add the coconut milk and rice and water (basically at a 2:1 ratio, but the cans keep shrinking!). Bring to a boil, stir, then cover, and lower to a simmer for 20-25 minutes. Add the salt and pepper now or at the table.

The combination of the shrimp and this rice is just perfect to me. I pour some extra shrimp “sauce” over the rice, put some fresh ground pepper on it, and could eat way more than I should!