Dinner with Julie

Day 169: Minted Pea Soup and Shrimp & Black Bean Fajitas

I’ll tell you straight up, the soup is green, and refreshing in a way that only pure green things are, but I likely wouldn’t make it again. It’s like a pea smoothie; I can’t get past the cold grassiness of it. I’m thinking of throwing the rest on the stovetop tomorrow. Others may enjoy it, though. At least it’s healthy – besides being so green, peas are a crazy high source of fiber.

This morning we talked about no heat dinners on CBC, and so I made it for the occasion. I wasn’t surprised to come home with the whole batch. (Why is it said that something not so great is “nothing to sneeze at”? Is there any occasion that calls for sneezing at something that is particulaly good?)

Minted Pea Soup
Adapted from Real Simple magazine.

4 cups fresh or frozen peas, thawed
a big handful fresh mint, torn into pieces
a small handful fresh chives, torn into pieces
3 cups chicken or veg stock
1 tsp. each salt and sugar

Whiz everything in the food processor or blender until smooth. Makes about 1 1/2 L.

The shrimp fajitas, on the other hand, are great. I made them about a year ago when trying to come up with a way to incorporate guacamole into our dinner, on account of an overabundance of perfectly ripe ones in our fruit bowl. This time it was planned for the aforementioned show. You could throw the cooked shrimp right in there – frozen, even, if you want to keep the fajita innards cool en route to a picnic or bring it in your lunch – but I decided to give them a quick minute in a hot pan with a tiny dab of butter and shake of chili powder, just to fajita things up a bit. Either way.

Shrimp & Black Bean Fajitas

All these measurements are approximate; just wing it.

1 ripe avocado
1 clove garlic, finely pressed
2 Tbsp. lime juice (or to taste)
pinch salt
about 20 cooked, peeled shrimp, thawed (or not, if you want to keep it cool en route to a picnic)
1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2-1 cup crumbled feta
1/4 cup salsa
4 whole wheat flour tortillas

In a small bowl, mash the avocado, garlic, lime juice and salt until smooth. Spread a quarter of it into the middle of each tortilla. Divide the shrimp, beans, feta and salsa among them, and wrap like a burrito.

Serves 4.

June 17 2008 | sandwiches and seafood and soup and vegetarian | 2 Comments »