garlic shrimp with toasted almonds almonds over quinoa.

This is a stretched variation of a Bahraini dish I learned in college.  Cook some plain quinoa and set aside (2 parts water 1 part quinoa bring to a boil and let simmer for 15-20 minutes) in a serving platter.  Then in a large pan gently brown some garlic in olive oil then toss in some chili pepper and defrosted, peeled and deveined shrimp (figure at least a couple per person depending how large they are).  Let them cook 5-10 minutes on medium-to-high until they're pink and starting to go golden brown.  Remove and layer the shrimp over the rice then quickly, on low-to-medium heat toss in a handful of sliced almonds, let them brown (it only takes seconds, if you walk away they'll burn), if you like quickly deglaze with a few teaspoons of vermouth  then pour the almonds and seasoned oil over the shrimp and quinoa, crack some black pepper, garnish with chopped parsley and be ready to wow your guests.

fastest risotto on earth - and it's totally cheating

Every once in a blue moon I end up just having way too many peppers, or pumpkins or something I have to use up.  The easiest thing to do is cook whatever the heck down, maybe throw it in the food processor and make a soup. Freeze it in portion-sized containers and there's dinner when you're in a rush.  Well, having a semi-constant supply of soup in the freezer can make a guy a little creative... just use that instead of water when boiling rice.  If you don't have any frozen (and you probably don't because you're not a crazy person or your mom in the 70's) choose your favorite boxed quart of soup from Trader Joes or Whole Foods, bring 2.5 parts of the soup and 1 part rice it to a near boil then cover and shift off the heat or let simmer for 20 minutes.  If it's too "dry," raise the heat again and add a little more soup, a little too "wet" raise the heat to medium and stir till it's the right consistency (don't let it stick to the bottom!).  Use anything from butternut squash to creamy tomato, this is TOTALLY CHEATING but I love it.  This can be as vegetarian as you want - you decide how much cheese or pepper you want to add at the end.

sausage and raw olives

This is an extremely old and traditional meal from southern Italy but quite uncommon in the States.  As you may or may not be aware, lots of traditional southern Italian food is really quite bitter (think espresso, broccoli rabe, et cetera).  Well, so are uncured olives.   Raw uncured olives (pits and all) have a very specific [and bitter] taste.  Throw them in a pan with some sweet Italian sausage, brown it all, then deglaze with a little white wine or vermouth and POW.  Like nothing you've ever tried.

REPOST: Bacon Pancakes

This looks effing delicious.  Read more here: http://bacontoday.com/bacon-pancakes/