Dinner from Trader Joes

One of my favorite stores as some of you know is Trader Joes. Part hippy grocery store, part regular grocerty store, part liquor/wine store, all contained within the space normally occupied by 2 7-11s, sometimes less. Great quality stuff at fantastic prices. I’m sorry if you don’t have one nearby, especially since today’s recipe is made entirely from items purchased there.

Seafood with Artichoke Hearts

Simple and good. If you can find the ingredients at Whole Foods or your local market, it would be worth while.

Needs

• 1 bag frozen seafood mix (shrimp, calamari, scallops) from Trader Joes
• 1 bag frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
• Jasmine Rice
• 2-4 TBLS butter
• 1 lemon
• Olive oil, salt, pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• Garlic. Lots and lots of garlic.

What to do

• Coarse chop your artichoke are garlic
• Add olive oil to a hot saute pan.
• Artichoke hearts and garlic in. Saute until hot. Put some color on the ‘chokes if you want. Not necessary if you don’t.
• Add the seafood mix. Saute until heated/cooked through.
• Drain most of the liquid from the pan. Don’t get a colander dirty for this, just tip the pan over the sink and hold the goods back with your wooden spoon.
• Add the butter and juice from one lemon. Cook until you get a rockin’ butter sauce.
• Finish with the chopped cilantro. Salt and pepper to taste

Serve this over a bed of Jasmine rice.

Changes/Additions You could boost the color/flavor by adding fresh diced tomatoes or green onion. Or a little pesto (regular or sun dried tomato). Serve over pasta instead of rice would be good as well. Add a shot of dry white wine to the pan after draining, before the butter to get more of a scampi flavor.

Beverage choice The butter is going to want something crisp/acidic/sharp to contrast. A nice Pinot Grigo, Fume Blanc or Savignon Blanc. You beer drinkers should learn to drink wine, but if that’s not an option, any fine Mexican brew would be nice with this.

If it’s not already, this recipe should totally be in the Cooking with All Things Trader Joe’s book.

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