The first time your significant other comes over for a dinner you're preparing, you want it to be culinarily sophisticated. Or at least super special. As a co-ed in my educational homestretch, struggling to finish an honor's thesis while working 40 hours a week, I typically survived on hot dogs and blue-box mac & cheese. But I definitely didn't want to serve Mike anything that resembled college food the first time he ate in my kitchen. So I created a menu so fancy, so beyond college food (or bachelor food, in his case), that I was sure to wow him. And I did.
I prepared a veritable feast that night: Strawberry Spinach Salad, Garlic Bread, Classic Alfredo, and Shrimp Scampi. What he didn't know at the time was how deceptively easy it is to pull off this meal. Shrimp Scampi looks and sounds like a restaurant-worthy indulgence, but it's reasonably easy to make on the cheap (buy the frozen shrimp -- it's actually fresher than the "fresh" stuff, unless you've got beachfront property). And it's only labor-intensive for a few minutes, so you can spend more time chatting up your date.
Six years later Mike knows this isn't the most challenging dish,but it's still one of his favorites.
Here's what you need:
1-1&1/2 lbs shelled and deveined shrimp (just buy it that way -- it's totally worth it)
4 large garlic cloves, smashed (don't worry about the garlic -- as long as you both eat it, neither of you has bad breath!)
1/2 cup butter (use the real stuff)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1/8 tsp pepper (or several vigorous cranks of the pepper grinder)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Lemon wedges
Melt the butter in a large skillet, then add the garlic, salt, oregano, and pepper. Add the shrimp and lemon juice. Cook 10-15 minutes, until the shrimp is opaque and the liquid is reduced. Serve on a warm platter (shrimp gets cold like a chihuahua in 70 degree weather, so this really makes a difference). Garnish with parsley and lemon wedges.
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