Shrimp with Tomatoes and Cilantro
Mark Bittman’s cookbook How to Cook Everything is my go-to cookbook when I need inspiration. I look up an ingredient in the index and Mark never fails me. He has thousands of recipes and at the end of each of them he includes variation ideas. Brilliant. Tonight it was shrimp. I found his recipe for “The Simplest and Best Shrimp Dish” with a variation that included all ingredients I had at home–tomatoes from the farmer’s market on Sunday and fresh cilantro from one of my friends’ gardens. I had mine with a salad of mixed greens, extra virgin olive oil, and rice vinegar on the side, but what I really wanted was a nice chunk of French bread to soak up all of the amazing garlicky sauce. I admit that I didn’t really measure any of the ingredients, I just added the amount that looked right to me (a handful of shrimp, one large tomato, 3 cloves of garlic, etc). I included his recommended quantities.
Shrimp with Tomatoes and Cilantro
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 gloves garlic, cut into slivers (I like to use a cheese grater to grate the garlic directly into the pan)
About 1-1/2 pounds shrimp, 20 to 30 per pound, peeled, rinsed and dried
Kosher Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 plum tomatoes, diced (My tomatoes were not plum, they were huge home-grown tomatoes)
Chopped fresh cilantro leaves for garnish
1. Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over low heat. There should be enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Add the garlic and cook until it turns golden, a few minutes.
2. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the shrimp, some salt and pepper, and the tomatoes. Stir to blend and continue to cook, shaking the pan once or twice and turning the shrimp once or twice, until they are pink all over and the mixture is bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve immediately.
