Lunch for chumps

In an effort to procrastinate, I thought I'd take a stab at a little cooking photo essay-esque blog post... As you will see, I'm no food photographer and quite the amateur chef... so be gentle.

disclaimer: Everything I ever cook could be considered Ratatouille.I very rarely follow recipes or shop to meet recipes. The method to my madness is to take what I have, what I know I like, and what I believe to be healthy, and throw it together! Today I have created a surprisingly delicious and colorful lunch for one!

Shrimp and Asparagus with Red Quinoa (creative, huh?)

This dish only took me about 15 minutes to whip up and it tastes fantastic! Perfect for a day when I SHOULD be studying and not blogging...

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Dry red quinoa
1 cup Vegetable broth (low-sodium!!)
3 Asparagus stalks
10 Raw peeled shrimp
2 T. Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 t. Red pepper flakes
1/2 t. Chili powder
1/4 t. Dried oregano

Fifteen minutes, GO!

Boil 1/2 cup red quinoa with 1 cup vegetable broth

The boxed Red Quinoa is available everywhere, you just have to hunt for it. I typically buy it in bulk from the local foods store but found this guy on sale!

In a small bowl, thaw raw peeled shrimp
(as many as you wish!)

In a sauce pan, sautee asparagus in olive oil
(if you have onion or tomatoes, add those too!)

I just bought these male asparagus at the Farmer's market this morning, aren't they beautiful? Because they are so big, I sauteed them slowly to make sure they were cooked all the way through! Since I was only working with what I had, I only used asparagus but any veggies would be tasty! I wish I had an onion!

Season raw shrimp

As a lover of spicy food I seasoned my dish with red pepper flakes and chili powder and loved how it turned out. I've also tried seasoning this dish with curry seasoning which is also really good, but use your imagination!

Throw the shrimp in the saucepan until they turn pink
(about 3 minutes)

 Some people are weirded out by putting raw food next to veggies, if thats the case, set your asparagus aside, and cut 'em up! They should be done by now anyway (after about 10 minutes). Cook these shrimpies until they turn pink!

After 15 minutes, check the quinoa! It should have sprouted and
should be soft by now!

Ta da! The quinoa is done, the shrimp is done, and asparagus is done! Now chop up the asparagus into pieces, add about 1/2 cup of quinoa into the sauce pan and stir around on medium heat for about 1-2 minutes. I do this just to get the seasoning of the shrimp mixed well with the quinoa and asparagus, it's not mandatory.

Now for the best part! EATING! 

Final result!

Now that the fun has ended I must return to this...

Econometrics studying...yay.