Lemon Bacon Shrimp Pasta with Chard

What to make for dinner? We've all found ourselves asking ourselves this question while only having the kitchen only be filled with leftover ingredients of meals past. That's exactly what happened with this dish. It was born out of hunger and the impatience of waiting for a pie to finish baking. Why, yes the pie is indeed going to be the next post. 

Everyone has that one food they can not stand, for me it's brussels sprouts, I know it's a bit cliché, but I don't even like them enough to find a recipe that makes them taste good enough to choke them down. A certain photographer's least favorite food, as weird as it sounds, is bacon, since we basically only had bacon, shrimp, and chard in the fridge, I tried concocting a dish that would hopefully appeal to the both of us.  Not to spoil the end result, but a dual appealing dish was not the result. 

I've thought about it and I'm not going to post the actual recipe on here, because it was sort of a throw a bunch of stuff in a pan and see how it turns out kind of dish. I will tell you what's actually in it, because I'm that nice. Even with just the listed ingredients you should be able to recreate it or creative something simliar of your own.

Lemon Bacon Shrimp Pasta with Chard

• Shrimp (16/20 size)
• Jowl bacon cut into tiny strips
• Lemon juice and zest
• Onion chopped
• Garlic minced
• White wine
• Angel hair pasta
• Chard chopped
• Basil out of jar (I know I'm ashamed of me too, but it was the only basil we had in the kitchen)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Goat cheese

Serves 4 small portions

Sometimes not using a recipe can be liberating, being able to free yourself from the shackles of Betty Crocker. Take this post as a challenge for the inner culinary explorer within you. See if you can take the inspiration and make it your own with what you have and hopefully make a dish that everyone will enjoy!

Photos by a non-bacon loving Katy Weaver

Blood Orange Rainbow Chard

This is probably my most colorfully titled blog post yet! Chard and citrus complement each other very well and blood oranges are probably my favorite fruit within the citrus genus. For those who have never had chard, it's nothing to be scared of, chard is just a leafy green that's high in vitamin A, C, and K.

Blood Orange Rainbow Chard

• About 12 large leafs of chopped rainbow chard
• 1 blood orange juiced and zested into strips
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of minced garlic

1. Heat the oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Throw in the garlic. Put the chopped chard in the pan, I like to include the steams, but you don't have to add, if you find them too crunchy.
2. Peel parts of the orange skin into strips and add the zest to the pan. Cut the orange in half and add the juice as well. 
3. Cook over medium heat while stirring occasionally until the chard is wilted, about 8 minutes or so.
4. Plate and serve as a side! And make sure to remove the orange peels! Enjoy!

Above is a little preview of the Open Steak Sandwich post, which I'll be posting later this week!

These are all colorful Katy Weaver photos!