The Emerald Isle - Day One

Ireland might not have been at the top of my international travel destination list, but when I received an invitation to the nuptials of my friend Abel and his wife Sinead, there was suddenly no place else I'd rather go. Since the wedding was to occur the day after Thanksgiving, I quickly set about the task of renegotiating my holiday agreement with Justin. Originally, we had planned to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family and Christmas with mine, but in order to make Ireland work, we capitalized on the mid-week occurrence of Christmas in order to split the holiday between both families. We were all set to cross the pond in order to celebrate our friends.

Our journey, though stereotypically exhausting for international air travel, was notable for two reasons: we had purchased a Groupon for a fancy chauffeured car to deliver us to O'Hare, and we were on the same flight as Abel's parents, so we got to visit with them while we waited for our flight.

Sleep was elusive on the plane, and we arrived in Dublin tired, but determined to make the most of our day regardless. In order to see as much of the country as possible, we had made the decision to rent a car, which was a somewhat terrifying prospect, to be honest. Though I have traveled extensively abroad, I've always relied on cabs and public transportation to get around, but Justin is a braver, and more experienced driver than me, and I was ready to put my life in his capable hands.

We soon found ourselves responsible for a gunmetal VW Golf, which we made sure to equip with a GPS device. Though it added to the expense of the entire enterprise, we both felt that driving on the left in a foreign country with different rules of the road was enough to worry about without the additional stress of trying to navigate for ourselves. As it turned out, maneuvering our new vehicle proved to be a challenge from the start -- the car rental agents had parked the vehicles so impossibly close together that exiting the lot was an exercise akin to the infamous scene in Austin Powers where the eponymous character manages to get a car stuck between two walls.

Despite the rocky start, Justin quickly got a hang of driving on the left, and our GPS quickly conveyed us to our first stop of the day, the gardens at Powerscourt, a palatial residence built in the 18th century by the viscounts of Powerscourt. Though there is no longer much to see at the residence, which holds a branch of Avoca, an Irish retailer/restaurant chain, a museum dedicated to childhood, and a Ritz-Carlton hotel, the gardens are said to be the finest in Ireland.

Though it was drizzling and overcast, once we stepped out into the gardens, we found ourselves in no position to argue with that assessment. The grounds at Powerscourt are divided into several sub-gardens, each laid out in a different style. Those that directly abutted the house were done in a baroque Italianate style, with carefully-manicured terraces leading down to an artificial lake, and sweeping views of a nearby mountain. As we started down the grand stairs, it finally hit me -- I was in Ireland, a foreign country, with the man I love. It was unexpectedly emotional and exhilarating all at the same time.

Though I have seen plenty of Japanese gardens in my life, we strolled through the Japanese gardens at Powerscourt largely because they were there, and we wanted to make the most of our admission fee. It turned out to be the single most romantic place we've ever been together, full of labyrinthine hideaways and idyllic waterfalls. Plus, there was virtually no one else there, leaving us to explore all the nooks and crannies of the garden by ourselves. 

Next, we hiked over to a quaint, medieval-looking tower that was actually a much later, strictly ornamental lawn decoration known as the Pepperpot Tower, as it is said to have been fashioned in the shape of one of the 19th century family members' favorite pepperpot, or pepper shaker. Magically, just as we started to take photos of the idyllic scene, the gloomy haze lifted and the sun came out, giving us exquisite lighting conditions. It was as if Mother Nature suddenly realized we were outdoors trying to take photos and decided to give us an assist.

In spite of being in a state of starvation and dehydration from our flight, we decided to cross the grounds and see the other half of the estate, though it looked significantly less interesting on the map. We did find a lovely English-style garden which had some late-blooming roses to see, and there was another small artificial lake with a fountain. The highlight, however, was a modest pet cemetery, filled with loving odes to the many dogs, horses, and even Shetland ponies that had kept the family company over the centuries. Even if this half of the grounds wasn't quite as impressive as the first portion, I was glad that we got our money's worth, plus, the view of the house that we were afforded on the way back was absolutely exquisite in the sunlight.

Since we were so hungry, we decided to go ahead and have lunch at the Powerscourt Avoca franchise, where we discovered that despite being a chain, their food was surprisingly good, especially their light but flavorful salads. Duly fortified, it was time to brave driving on the left once more to move on to our next destination for the day, Glendalough.

Glendalough, which is something of a national park, consists of an early medieval monastic site nestled in a glacial valley with two lakes and a wealth of hiking trails. Knowing that Justin loves a good nature walk, I had selected Glendalough to appeal mostly to him, plus it was loosely on the way to Kilkenny, which was our final destination for the day. Through Justin's driving skills, we made it there in one piece, but we were so exhausted from our travels that we made the somewhat unusual decision to take a quick nap in our car in the parking lot, otherwise we would have had no energy to undertake even a modest hike. I set an alarm on my phone so we wouldn't waste too much time, and even though it was an extremely unorthodox strategy for me, the person who likes to wring every possible iota out of my vacation time, it was definitely the right decision.

Somewhat refreshed, we set out to tour Glendalough, starting with the monastic settlement, which was built by the followers of the hermetic St. Kevin, who supposedly lived until the age of 120 during the 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries (a claim I find decidedly dubious, given the average life expectancy back then). Glendalough achieved the zenith of its influence as a religious center during the 1100s, and was partially destroyed by the British in the late 14th century, leaving the ruins that are visible today.

A quirk that seems unique to the Irish religious architectural vernacular is the round tower. Due to the constant fighting between rival tribes and rival towns, the round bell-tower grew to prominence because it was more difficult to scale. Typically, the actual entrance was located a few yards off the ground, accessible only by a ladder that could be pulled up in times of strife to protect the monks or other inhabitants.

The ruins were also surrounded by an atmospheric old cemetery, full of crumbling, moldy tombstones. I love to incorporate historic cemeteries into my travels (my soft spot for them is comparable, though not quite as intense as that for churches and cathedrals), and though I did not know that Glendalough boasted a cemetery when I selected it for our itinerary, it turned out to be an unexpected bonus. 

After thoroughly inspecting the first set of sites pertaining to the monastic settlement, we embarked on a hike through the glacial valley, hoping to make it to a second set of ruins at the juncture where the higher of the two lakes drains into the lower one. The hike wasn't quite as scenic as I was hoping, given that the leaves were somewhat lacking in fall foliage in late November, though I was surprised there was still as much green as there was. 

Unfortunately, we were quickly running out of daylight, and faced with the choice of continuing our hike and having to return in the dark and complete our drive to Kilkenny in the dark, or turning around and driving in what little daylight was left, we decided to turn back.

Given how exhausted we were, it is a credit to Justin's driving ability that we made it to Kilkenny in one piece. The roads were narrow, winding, and fenced in with stone walls for long stretches at a time, and I quickly passed out, leaving him no company to help him stay awake himself. While the GPS did manage to navigate us to the correct town, it was of little use in helping us locate our hotel. We ultimately drove past it several times before finally parking illegally, albeit temporarily, so we could call and ask them where the entrance to their parking lot was. We finally found it, and checked into the Langton House Hotel for the evening.

We found our room to be modern, but very cramped, though at that point, we were mostly just happy to find a bed. Though our guidebooks offered several suggestions in town for dining options, we were too worn out to venture forth and locate any of them. Instead, we took the path of least resistance and ate an acceptable, if somewhat overpriced dinner in the hotel pub, before finally hitting the sheets for some much deserved slumber.

A Religious Experience - Part Ten

Two years ago, when I embarked upon my plan to tour Chicago's great churches and religious sites, I never would have predicted that I would still be at it today. I had envisioned the project with a relatively short list of sites that I thought I could check off in short order. However, I quickly learned that American churches are difficult to visit unless you want to sit through a service, and once I moved to the far north side of the city, it was suddenly much more difficult to get to the churches in order to see them. That's what makes Open House Chicago so great for me; dozens of ecclesiastic spaces open their doors for an entire weekend, with zero pressure to do anything besides appreciate their beauty. 

Our Open House Chicago experience this year started in our own neighborhood, on the Loyola campus. Being a Jesuit university, I knew they had to have a church somewhere on premises, but it wasn't visible from the road. When I saw that it was going to be a part of Open House Chicago, I knew we had to check it out...

Madonna della Strada Chapel
6525 North Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL

Though Loyola University Chicago was founded in 1870, it did not move to its present location along the lakefront until the 1910s. It took another decade for school officials to begin a fundraising campaign to construct a chapel for students at the site, and construction did not begin until 1938. Architect Andrew Rebori was selected to design the edifice, having already completed the university's Cudahy Library, so that the buildings would be complementary. 

Madonna della Strada, or "Our Lady of the Way" was named after the first Jesuit church in Rome, where the order was founded. Despite that homage to the past, Rebori took a distinctly modern approach to the design for the Loyola chapel, drawing his inspiration from the style of Art Deco, the internationally prominent decorative and architectural style of the 1920s and 30s, as opposed to classical or even medieval ecclesiastic precedents.

The lakeside facade of the building is intended to capture the essence of the Blessed Sacrament being held toward the heavens in benediction. I personally don't see it, but the strong vertical lines, clean curves, and geometric motifs definitely capture the spirit of Art Deco, along with the font used in the inscription over the entrance.

Inside, the building was filled with light, though the priest who was there to answer questions indicated that much of that lighting was a result of a renovation circa 2006-2007. Prior to that, the primary sources of light were the north and south facing stained glass windows, and a series of small glass panels tucked away into the crevices of the sanctuary, only visible from a specific angle. Apparently, the goal was to have indirect sources of light, in order to create a sense of heavenly mystery.

A scene from the Passion. Those robes they're wearing are so angular, they look like they could stand up by themselves. Definitely not your standard-issue ecclesiastic artwork.

Ordinarily, I am a sucker for stained glass, but the ones inside Madonna della Strada felt incongruous to me. Whereas the painted altar and murals are full of angular lines and structurally draped fabrics that looked like something straight out of a WPA project, the stained glass was designed in a classical style and imported from England. They were really the only element of the entire building that harkened back to the traditional language of ecclesiastic art and architecture.

While the windows along the southern side of the building depicts such traditional religious fare as the apostolic works completed by the Jesuits and their most significant saints, the north side features the patron saints of Loyola's various schools at the time the windows were completed during the 1950s. My personal favorite was Saint Apollonia, the patron saint of dentistry, and therefore Loyola's now-defunct School of Dentistry. It's not every day that you find a saint studying a tooth in a stained glass window.

The quirky homage to Saint Apollonia feels at home in a church where architectural conventions have been tossed aside in the name of modernity. Madonna della Strada is certainly the first Art Deco church I've seen, and it was fascinating to see such a unique approach to portraying old ideas like man's connection to God and the story of Christ. It's hard for me to believe that I've driven by it literally hundreds of times in my life, and never knew it was there, but I'm happy to have had the chance to experience this unusual piece of Chicago and ecclesiastic architectural history, right in my own backyard.

100...

Back on January first of this year, I proclaimed 2012 to be "the year of quiet domesticity," and I resolved both to cook more at home and to try more new recipes. For eleven months, I have steadily chipped away at that resolution, and today I am proud to announce that I have cleared one hundred new recipes from my cooking queue!

Given that I have shared more cookie recipes on this blog than any other type of food in the past three and a half years, it seems somehow appropriate that the hundredth new recipe I tried this year was one for cookies. Considering it's the middle of November, and we're about to leave for a week-long vacation, I'm actually way behind on testing new cookie recipes for this year. Without coworkers to share them with, however, my heart really wasn't in it until I found out about my new job. Since I'm going to be starting tomorrow, I thought maybe I would celebrate my first day with some cookies.

Even though I haven't been baking, I've still been searching for potential recipes for this year's Cookie Bonanza, and this year I've found myself in the market for a new citrus-themed cookie. I've done lemon cookies for three out of the past four years (the first year, I didn't really focus on having a decent representation of different flavors in my assortment), and the last two years I've tossed in an orange-plus-other-fruit cookie for good measure. What I'd never done before was a lime cookie to represent the citrus family, so I was focusing my efforts there.

While I have a formidable collection of cookie books sitting on my bookshelf, I'd checked out a copy of Nick Malgieri's Cookies Unlimited from the library, since I had such good luck last year with his tangy, zippy lemon ginger bars. I found several inspiring recipes within its pages that I wanted to try, but the one that moved to the top of my list featured lime and macadamia nuts. 

It didn't seem like an immediately obvious pairing to me, which is part of why it interested me, but both ingredients have tropical connotations, so I figured I'd give it a try. The cookies were very simple to make, emerging from the oven as a sort of hybrid between a sugar cookie and a shortbread. They didn't really scream "Lime!" like I had hoped they would; instead, they had more of a slightly tart, vaguely citrusy quality that balanced the sugar, but did little more. I might have chopped the macadamia nuts a little too finely as well, because they enhanced the already butter-forward character of the cookies, but didn't contribute as much texture or visual interest as I would have liked.

I suspect these cookies might be a little better with some grated lime zest, which would add a nice pop of color, but I don't really have the time to try it and find out. They weren't bad cookies by any stretch of the imagination, just subtle ones, and the Cookie Bonanza is a place for big, dramatic flavors. Only the best for my friends and family!

Macadamia Lime Cookies

adapted from Cookies Unlimited by Nick Malgieri

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch salt

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 c. sugar

4 tablespoons strained lime juice

3 oz. macadamia nuts, chopped, but not ground in a food processor

sugar for rolling the cookies before baking

Preheat the oven to 350.

1. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir well to mix.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together on medium speed the butter and sugar until light, about 3 minutes. Lower the speed and beat in half the lime juice, then half the flour mixture. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl. Beat in the remaining lime juice, then the remaining flour.

3. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a rubber spatula to finish mixing the dough.

4. Place the sugar for rolling the cookies in a shallow bowl. Use an ice cream scoop or measuring spoon to scoop out the dough into equal pieces. Roll between the palms of your hands to form a ball, then roll the ball through the sugar. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving two inches between each cookie.

5. Bake the cookies for 15-20 minutes until they are golden and firm. Slide the papers from the pans to racks and cool completely. 

Happy Days Are Here Again...

I have wonderful news today: I have accepted a job offer from the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, a specialty medical association that caters to board-certified hand surgeons. I am going to be their new Publications and Communications Coordinator, meaning that I will be managing various book and e-book projects, as well as assembling their weekly member newsletter. I honestly couldn't be more excited.

My primary objectives for my job search were to stay in the non-profit world, to be able to employ my writing skills, and to leverage my experience in project management, and this job satisfies all three of those requirements. The staff members I have met with so far seem wonderful, and they have beautiful, technologically sophisticated offices. I can't wait to start!

In total, I was unemployed for 44 days, or about six weeks. Considering the national average duration of unemployment is close to forty weeks, not days, I have been incredibly fortunate. I'm looking forward to getting off of COBRA and Illinois unemployment insurance benefits, and going back to paying my bills without dipping into my savings. Things could have been so much worse, and I am so lucky that things unfolded the way they did for me.

I want to give special thanks to everyone who helped support me during this time: to Diane, the HR director from the History Museum, who revamped my resume, gave me pointers on writing attention-grabbing cover letters, and introduced me to several HR directors at other non-profits for networking opportunities; to my Mom, who took me out for lunches, talked to me on the phone during the day, and helped keep me sane; to my Dad, who reached out to his network on my behalf, and who gave me many of his patented pep talks; to my friends, for their support and encouragement; and to Justin, who didn't push, didn't nag, gave me the space to handle my job search on my own terms, and who loved me so very well. Thank you everyone; I am truly blessed to have people like you in my life. 

I feel like such a burden has been lifted. Now, we can leave for Ireland without having the anxiety of unemployment looming over me. I don't have to fret about every penny that gets spent. I can truly relax, and focus on celebrating Abel and Sinead, the way things should be. 

Most of all, I am eager to tackle the new challenges that this position will bring, and to forge a new set of working relationships with my coworkers. Wish me luck!

Ba, Ba, Black Sheep...

Pride goeth before the fall, or so they say. After my experiment with shrimp went so well, I was feeling pretty confident in my cooking skills. Perhaps it was time to conquer another protein that I didn't have much experience with -- lamb. Though people seemed to be polarized by lamb, with some of the mind that it is too strongly flavored, I've always enjoyed the buttery, rich flavor of lamb when I've eaten it in restaurants. Lamb chops are actually one of my favorite dishes, though I very seldom order them because they are so expensive that I can't afford to pay for them myself, and I feel guilty about requesting them when someone else is footing the bill. 

The same problem applies to cooking lamb at home. With the exception of the occasional package of ground lamb that I've managed to find on sale, lamb typically remains firmly outside of our budget. However, when I received the enormous Thanksgiving supplement to this week's grocery store sale bill, I happened to spot a decent price on lamb shoulder chops. As it turned out, I had a recipe for that very same cut of meat saved to my Pinterest board, so now seemed like the perfect time to try my luck.

The recipe also happened to call for most of the same fresh herbs that I had already purchased for my shrimp experiment, which was an added advantage. I would be able to make two dinners from the same herb purchase before stashing the leftovers in the freezer, and any time you can make better use of the ingredients you already have on hand is a good thing, if you ask me.

Chopping all of the herbs for the gremolata, an Italian condiment made of citrus zest and minced herbs, was the most time consuming part of this dish by far, but the wonderful aromas drifting from my cutting board made it seem like short work. Soon, it was time to toss the lamb into the pan, and I followed the directions precisely, even using a meat thermometer to ensure proper cooking. The chops looked beautiful on the plate, if slightly under-browned from cooking so quickly.

However, when we cut into the meat, we were greeted by a disaster of epic proportions. The lamb had failed to cook evenly, resulting in pockets that were a lovely medium-rare, and other parts that were so raw we had to toss them in the microwave just to make them edible. The meat was riddled with gristle, bone fragments, and huge chunks of fat. By the time we cut it all away, there was little actual meat left to eat, and we both ended the meal so hungry that we had to supplement our dinners with leftovers from the fridge. I'm not sure what lamb shoulder chops are usually used for, but this was clearly not it.

I felt like a huge failure, but Justin did his best to make me feel better. He pointed out that I generally have a very high success rate with my forays into the culinary unknown, and that he appreciates my desire to put nice meals on the table for us, and that I'm always willing to try something new, even if it doesn't always work out. Since he's the one who has to eat most of my cooking (besides me), I am thankful that he feels that way. We really are a perfectly matched set, and I am so lucky to have him in my life.

Your Window To The World...

Every Saturday, I have a little tradition: while I do housework or whip something up in the kitchen, I watch our local PBS affiliate, WTTW. When they're not airing some sort of prestige programming during pledge drives (which seem like they're occurring all the time, year round), Saturdays on WTTW are dedicated to cooking programs, and I look forward to their line-up all week long. Granted, I watch plenty of Food Network and Cooking Channel, but I find that their programming has gotten away from actual educational content and moved toward cooking competitions and reality programming on the Food Network, and travel features on the Cooking Channel. If you want to see shows where you'll pick up actual helpful tips and techniques, the less glossy, more information dense programs of WTTW are where it's at.

There's Cook's Country and America's Test Kitchen, both from the team behind Cook's Illustrated, where their exceedingly geeky staff goes into more detail about the process of cooking and baking than you ever thought possible; Primal Grill, a ludicrously over-the-top ode to grilling, which I used to loathe, but have subsequently found to be full of helpful information now that we actually own a grill; and shows by low-key celebrity chefs like Lidia Bastianich, Hubert Keller, Jacques Pepin, and my favorite, Chicago's own Rick Bayless. I would way rather spend my Saturday with them than Bobby Flay, Rachel Ray, Paula Deen, and their ilk.

However, today I exchanged spending the afternoon in front of my television watching WTTW for spending the afternoon at WTTW itself, taking a tour of their studios and production facilities. Mom has been a member of WTTW for as long as I can remember, and it is through the gifts of people like her that I continue to enjoy their programming, (for my part, I can't afford to donate at this stage in my life) and their membership department contacted her recently to offer her and her family a behind the scenes tour as a thank-you for her support.

Since I'm a fan of WTTW, and I'm always on the lookout for interesting (and free) things to do around the city, Mom extended the invite to me and Justin. I think we were among the youngest people there, aside from a mother who had brought her two young daughters to see where Sesame Street comes from, and a bored-looking teenager shooting daggers from his eyes at the mother who had dragged him there. It doesn't exactly bode well for WTTW's membership base, I think, but it did prompt an unanticipated level of excitement about seeing the set for Chicago Tonight, a show I have watched approximately once in my life, when my dad was on it, and prompted all kinds of idiotic questions, such as, "Just what kind of bird is Big Bird supposed to be, anyway?"

A forest of lighting hanging above the Chicago Tonight set.

The crowd aside, it was an interesting afternoon. If we'd wanted to leave hammered, we could have played a drinking game focused on the guide's use of the phrase, "It's the magic of television!" but it was still fascinating to see some of the tricks used to bring television programs to the masses on a non-profit budget. Most of the sets were tiny, compared to how they appear on the screen, and they looked cheap and tacky without all the lighting effects. We got to see three different studios, one that was being set up for yet another pledge drive, the one where Chicago Tonight is filmed, and one that was set up for Roger Ebert Presents: At the Movies, which is actually a syndicated show that leases studio space from WTTW.

The nerve center of WTTW, where the magic of television happens.

Perhaps the best part of the tour was the broadcast room, where staff members sat in front of dozens of monitors showing the live feed of what is being output to viewers, and a timed delay of how it is showing up on their televisions at home. They watch all four local WTTW stations (the original, a channel with no kid's programming to appeal to older viewers, and a whole channel dedicated to cooking, DIY, gardening, and travel shows) to make sure there are no technical problems, and to resolve them when they occur. They also manage the computer programs that control the television lineup and retrieve the proper footage at the proper time. More than anything else, it gave a true sense of how the station really works.

I love a good behind-the-scenes tour. A similar tour of the Field Museum when I was in middle school had me convinced for most of my life that I wanted to work at a museum, and though I didn't experience any such epiphany about wanting to work in television, it was still really neat to see the inner workings behind our local PBS affiliate. Thanks, Mom!

Shrimp Is The Fruit Of The Sea...

We don't eat a lot of seafood around here, and it's not just because fish and shellfish tend to be some of the most expensive forms of protein at the grocery store. To be honest, it's because I'm not entirely comfortable preparing it. Everyone seems to have a story about eating bad fish at one point or another, and not living in a coastal area, I'm always a little concerned about the freshness of the seafood at my local grocery stores. I've grown comfortable with whipping up the occasional salmon dinner (after all, it's tasty, healthy, and one of Justin's absolute favorites), but most of the time, I just can't bear the thought of spending a ton of money on something I might screw up due to inexperience, or that might make us sick.

Nonetheless, when I saw shrimp on sale for five dollars a pound today as part of Dominick's "$5 Fridays" promotion, I decided it was time to be brave. Initially, I wanted to make an Asian-style shrimp soup that my mom makes, and I thought she had once emailed me the recipe. However, a search of my Gmail inbox yielded only one hit for my query of "shrimp" -- a roasted shrimp and herbed quinoa recipe that I had wanted to save, but somehow never pinned to my savory recipe Pinterest board. Given how obsessed we've been with quinoa lately, this recipe seemed like it was meant to be.

Though this recipe was ready in about thirty minutes, making it an ideal quick and healthy weeknight meal, it is not for the feint of heart, or palate. Bold flavors dominated the dish, from the raw herbs and garlic in the pistou (sort of a French riff on pesto) that coated the quinoa, to the potent dried herbs and spices on the shrimp. Justin and I both really liked that the meal had so much going on, but I could see how it would be overwhelming for picky eaters. 

This meal was also surprisingly filling. Usually, Justin helps himself to seconds of whatever we are eating (when he doesn't, I start to worry that he didn't enjoy whatever I made), but both of us were stuffed after one bowl. I think it has something to do with the quinoa and its much-touted protein. We're going to have plenty of leftovers for lunch tomorrow, which stretches the value of this meal even further, which I think anyone can appreciate.

Given the price of shrimp, we're probably not going to eat this meal all the time, but it is a good meal to have in my pocket in case the shellfish goes on sale again. Plus, I'm feeling more confident in cooking shrimp in my kitchen, now that I've got a success under my belt that doesn't involve simply poaching them in soup. Overall, I'd say this recipe was a success across the board.

Quinoa with Spice-Roasted Shrimp and Pistou

adapted from Food and Wine

1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

5 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 c. basil leaves, packed

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme

1 clove garlic

2 tablespoons freshly-grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 c. quinoa

3 c. water

salt and pepper to taste

1.  In a resealable plastic bag, toss the shrimp with the garlic and onion powders, paprika, oregano,  dried thyme, 1 tablespoon of the oil and a teaspoon each of salt and pepper until coated. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425°. In a food processor, pulse the basil, rosemary, thyme leaves, garlic and cheese. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil; puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

3. In a saucepan, combine the quinoa, water and the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Season lightly with salt and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until the quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; keep warm.

4.  On a baking sheet, roast the shrimp for about 8 minutes, until curled and pink. Cut the shrimp into thirds and add to the quinoa with the pistou. Toss well, season with salt and pepper and serve.