THE CHATTANOOGA NATURE Center and Greenlife Grocery will team up to offer a different sort of dining experience on Thursday, March 27, in the new Greenlife store on Manufacturers Road. A catered dinner will be followed by a guided tour of the facility to learn more about the benefits of natural and organic foods.
If you haven’t been to the new Greenlife, you’re in for a treat. I can’t imagine a more complete selection of produce, meats, seafood and prepared foods, including sushi and pizza. Sounds like any normal grocery store, but seeing it you’ll realize how different it is. What an addition Greenlife is to the Chattanooga market.
The event, scheduled to be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., will highlight the store’s design certification from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The dinner is a continuation of the Nature Center’s Sustainability Series, which covers problems facing the environment and offers lessons on lessening the impact humans make on nature. Registration is $15 per person. Call 821-1160 or log onto www.chatta
nooganaturecenter.org to sign up.
LOOKING FOR GOOD spring recipes? Amanda Varnell, host of Cooking Live at the BX, will demonstrate some of the best. The classes are held at Crossroads, Brainerd Baptist Church’s multipurpose facility, commonly known as the BX. Students gather in the cafe. When the class wraps up, they get samples of the dishes to savor, as well as a collection of recipes to take home.
Cost for the class, scheduled for Tuesday, March 18, is $10 per person. Registration is necessary by Sunday, March 16. To do so, call 894-2100 or e-mail Cookinglive@comcast.net.
MRS. VARNELL’S CLASS has me thinking about spring dishes. This recipe from Paula Deen’s Cooking With Paula magazine is perfect for an early spring luncheon or dinner. I love the idea of adding Worcestershire sauce to the shrimp mixture. Serve it with a salad drizzled with balsamic dressing and add crusty French bread for an impressive meal simple enough for the family or nice enough for company. I plan to try this dish using whole-wheat spaghetti and light cheese. We’ll see ...
Shrimp Spaghetti
Make your last-minute kitchen work easier by cooking the pasta the day before, then tossing it with a little olive oil. Store it in a resealable bag, then reheat for a minute or two before using in your favorite recipe.
11⁄2 cups butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1⁄2 teaspoon dried basil
1⁄2 teaspoon dried thyme
1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder
3 pounds medium fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 (12-ounce) package thin spaghetti, cooked and drained
1 (8-ounce) package processed cheese, cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces
Heat oven to 350 F. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook for 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in parsley, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, basil, thyme and garlic powder. Pour mixture into a 13- by 9-inch baking dish; add shrimp, tossing gently to coat. Bake for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from oven; stir in spaghetti and cheese. Return to oven and bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted, stirring to combine. Makes 8-10 servings.
