cilantro pesto shrimp/ weekend update!

this weekend was a big success, cooking-wise!

friday i made the stuffed flank steak (see entry below).
it was DELICIOUS. because it is grilled for a full 2 hours in indirect heat, the meat is so tender and flavorful. i would recommend only using 1 anchovy filet, because its basically pure salt. i also didn't include pine nuts (since i was feeling cheap and didn't want to pay $10 for them)which could only improve it. butterflying the steak was difficult, so vic did it fantastically. and awesomely. we grilled up some cheese hot dogs and veggie burgers, and i made my crock pot cheese dip (that gets better everytime! i think the key is to melt the velveeta chunks on "high" until they reach a nice consistency, THEN turn it down to "low" and let it go for a couple hours.)

saturday, i made tortilla soup and cilantro pesto shrimp with pasta. the shrimp was fucking BOMB. i didn't want to devein the shrimp (eww) so i bought shrimp that was already deveined (about a pound of deveined, uncooked, e-z peel shrimp. you peel off the outer layer (except the ends) of the shrimp, wash them, and add a marinade of olive oil and . . . (i'll update this later lol). then you make the cilantro pesto- i thought this was so cool. i never knew what the hell was in pesto. . .just that i love it!! pesto basically consists of any leafy herb like cilantro, parsley, basil, mint, etc. + olive oil, garlic and parmesan cheese. for my pesto, i put a medium bunch of cilantro, around 1/2 (little less) cup of olive oil, and 4 cloves of garlic in the food processor. blend it till it makes a paste, then pour it in a bowl and add 1/4 cup of parmesan. mix it up, add some salt and pepper to taste, and you're done! now its time to grill the shrimp- throw the shrimp on the grill on a medium-high heat (and this could be done on a george foreman grill, of course) for about 3 minutes on each side. put the shrimp on a plate and brush them with the cilantro pesto. you could add the leftover pesto to the pasta of your choice, or serve the shrimp with a salad. this is such an easy dish to make, and very classy. i like. xo