Happy Saturday everyone! The week really flew by. Between class, lab, internship, meetings, baking up a storm, and my car breaking down, I finally feel like I can breathe again! The car issue was pretty embarrassing. It has been making screeching noises for months now, but I haven’t quite had the time to take it in (mhmm). Finally, late on Wednesday night I drove to a friend’s house (whom I don’t know all that well) to return a jacket he lent me on a blustery night downtown when my car started going nuts. The screen and dashboard went black, the lights went out, and the radio went out while I was driving. I pulled into his driveway as it puttered – puttered – died. Dead. Kaput. I awkwardly knocked on his door with his jacket, a “thank you” crystallized ginger & wasabi brownie, and a dead car behind me. We tried to jump start the car, but it couldn’t even hold a charge so we pushed it out onto the street to be dealt with later. I had it towed the next day and as it turns out, one of the necessary belts was completely missing. I am pretty sure I ran it into the ground until the belt snapped and fell off… Woops. At least I learned my lesson! Don’t put car repairs off.
Anywho, these crystallized ginger and wasabi brownies are the best brownies I have ever tasted and one of my favorite recipes. Joanne is a genius. I would never have thought to combine spicy wasabi with chocolate! MAKE THEM.
Do you see the chunks of crystallized ginger?!
Since making these, I have had the ginger wasabi combination on the brain. I have been eating it on everything! For example, I brought lunch to school yesterday and the main course was grilled chicken and asaparagus tossed in a teriyaki-wasabi-ginger sauce.
plus wasabi peanuts, roasted peanuts, an apple, and a homemade protein bar
And for dinner last night?
Wasabi Sweet Potato & Ginger Pasta with Shrimp
Incredible.
Recipe: Serves 1
For the sauce:
1 cup light coconut milk
1/4 cup baked sweet potato
1 tsp ginger
1-2 tsp wasabi (to your taste)
1 tsp crystallized ginger, chopped + extra for garnish
pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
Directions – Heat the coconut milk in a pan on the stove on medium low heat. Whisk in the rest of the ingredients and let simmer until it is a thick consistency. Once the desired consistency and flavor has been reached, remove from heat.
For the pasta:
1/3 cup whole wheat pasta, cooked
1/2 cup spaghetti squash, cooked
~12 shrimp, raw
~1 tbsp wasabi peanuts
Directions – Cook the pasta and spaghetti squash according to directions, I recommend making extra. Place the shrimp in a pan on the stove with 2 tbsp water. Cook on medium low heat until opaque, flipping after ~2 minutes. Once cooked, remove from heat, drain if necessary, and toss with some of the pasta sauce. In a bowl, combine the cooked pasta and squash and toss with the rest of the pasta sauce. Transfer to a plate. Garnish with shrimp, crystallized ginger, and wasabi peanuts. Enjoy!
Benefits:
Shrimp * extremely high in protein and low in fat! Contains selenium, tryptophan, vitamin D (key for bone health), B12, iron (needed for a healthy thyroid), phosphorous, B3, and zinc. The fat that shrimp does contain is the healthy monounsaturated kind.
Ginger * contains gingerol which relaxes blood vessels and thus improves circulation. It also aids in digestion and can soothe the stomach. Contains TONS of compounds that fight cancer!
Spaghetti squash * contains vitamin C, thiamin, niacin, B6, and lots of fiber!
Whole wheat pasta * unlike refined white flour, whole wheat flour has more B vitamins, fiber, folic acid, calcium, zinc, phosphorous, copper, and iron. Whole grains reduce your risk for diabetes and have also been linked to weight loss and maintaining a lower BMI.
girl you are genius with those wasabi peanuts!!
Yikes- so scary about the car! Your pasta dish looks beeeautiful though 🙂
I’ve been craving seafood like no other these days. Unfortunately with my lack of cooking skills and measly budget I’ve just been getting take out options (ie: fish fillets and fish tacos). But that shrimp looks divine! Too bad you don’t live closer 😛
Sorry to hear about your car troubles!!! But that brownie doesn’t even sound like a combination I’d ever dream up in a million years! That’s pretty awesome 🙂
My goodness…I want to have a brownie and this pasta right now! Thank you for sharing with me tonight, Lauren…I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long! Your blog continues to bring a smile to my face. I hope you have a blessed Sunday!
i LOVE JOANNE’S RECIPES!!! omgoodness they are the best. and i have yet to try the ginger + wasabi brownies but i LOVE those flavors so i know i would love them!!! i love japanese food and JUST had ginger + wasabi today but ive never thought about putting them in pasta! that sounds really good, esp with the sweet potatoes =)
No wasabi health benefits? 😀
i like how you always have unique things on your blog!!! and how you post the benefits at the end. 🙂
Thank you so much!! That is exactly what I try to do so your words mean a lot to me! I want the blog to be different – yaknow?! ❤
Oooh the pasta looks great and so do the brownies! Yum! The brownies sound so exotic.
Your recipes are fantastic, especially excited about shrimps!
Thank you so much!! Made my day 🙂
Sent from my iPhone
I LOVE ginger, but I don’t seem to eat it enough. Your recipes look amazing. I so want to try those brownies!
Oh you must eat it more! It’s so good for you and tasty! And helps digestion.. Thanks :))
Sent from my iPhone
Looks delish!!
Wow! What beautiful looking food! Those brownies sound amazing and that pasta looks incredible! It’s pretty easy to win me over with anything that contains both coconut and sweet potato! I think I’m hooked on your blog now! 🙂