How To Cook The Red Quinoa with Pineapple and Shrimp

Ever since before Thanksgiving, I've been kind of in a cooking slump. My excuses were closing on a condo, packing, moving, visiting my family in Seattle, coming back, unpacking, getting settled, etc. Really, I could go on with these excuses for ever. But I need to remember how satisfying it is to make a simple meal in my kitchen and not to be eating out every single night.
Over the weekend I was inspired by a recipe Anna developed for Fitness Magazine and decided to make Red Quinoa with Pineapple and Shrimp. The flavors in this recipe are bright, sweet and spicy. They definitely will wake up your taste buds during the cold days of winter, but the dish can be made year round.
Red Quinoa with Pineapple and Shrimp
Ingredients
for the shrimp
15 large frozen shrimp with tail on, defrosted {The ones I had were already cooked. If you use uncooked shrimp, just increase the cooking time by a little.}
zest and juice of one lime
2 garlic cloves, microplane'd
pinch of red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
salt
for the quinoa
water
salt
2/3 cup red quinoa
1/2 cup chopped fresh pineapple
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
drizzle of olive oil

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients for the shrimp and marinade for 20 minutes.
2. Cook shrimp in a bit of olive oil until it's warmed through: do not overcook.
2. Meanwhile, bring salted water to a boil, add quinoa and cook for about 15 minutes. I also added pineapple core to the water to give a slightly sweet flavor to the quinoa. Drain the quinoa and get rid off the pineapple core. Add chopped pineapple and cilantro. Check for seasoning and drizzle with olive oil.
3. Serve shrimp on top of the quinoa. Enjoy!

Tips For Cooking Banana Pudding

Pudding may be the most delicious dessert in the world now, more and more people like to eat it now. And there are also a lot of kinds of flavors, different flavors have their own styles, but the top popular ones are the fruit flavors, they are fresh and healthy, I love banana pudding very much, and I often make it at home by myself.

Ingredient

2 2/3 cup whole milk, divided

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean

1 large egg

2 large bananas, sliced

vanilla wafers (or Pepperidge Farm Chessman cookies)

To make the vanilla pudding:

Bring 2 cups of the milk to a boil in a medium saucepan. While its heating, combine the sugar, cornstarch, salt and vanilla bean in a medium heat proof bowl. (Smitten Kitchen suggested throwing the remnants of the vanilla bean pod in with the simmering milk, to infuse more vanilla flavor and that is what I did.) Gradually whisk in the remaining 2/3 cup milk, and slowly so that lumps do not form. Then whisk in the egg. Once the milk is boiling, very gradually add it to the cornstarch mixture, whisking the entire time.

Return the whole mixture back to the saucepan and stir constantly with a silicon spatual or wooden spoon. Once it comes to a simmer, cook for one minute longer, which will cook the cornstarch and egg completely.

Pour into a bowl or dish, cover completely with plastic wrap, then chill in the refrigerator for no less than 2 hours.

To assemble the banana pudding:

Once chilled, you can begin to assemble the banana pudding. If you are going to layer the pudding in one dish, you'll need transfer half the pudding to a new container. The layers will begin and end with pudding. Add a layer of pudding, a layer of sliced bananas, a layer of wafers, followed by another layer of vanilla pudding. Add a layer of whipped cream, if desired. Decorate the top with more banana slices and wafers if desired.