It's amazing what a relatively new ingredient can do to my motivation to cook.

Yesterday, as part of various errands, I hit up Namaste Plaza, a nice big Indian grocery in St. Louis Park. Being an Indian grocery, they of course carry vast swaths of frozen products from the fine people at Swad, including weird vegetables.

And there, with a big NEW banner across the corner, was a flat package containing twelve ounces of frozen chopped green garlic.

I love garlic, and thanks to the CSA, I discovered I really love garlic in forms other than the standard supermarket bulb. Green garlic is to garlic what scallions are to onions, basically. Nobody sells it, for the most part. I don't know why, but they don't  Except now, apparently, Swad does. So I got some, and I wanted to use it.

So I went with shrimp, because shrimp and garlic is good, but shrimp and green garlic is better. The milder garlic bite and the extra vegetal flavor really brightens up the shrimp. If you can get some green garlic, here's how you make it.

• One pound raw shrimp, no shells or tails
• 4 tablespoons chopped green garlic
• About 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 large red bell pepper, minced
• 3 roma tomatoes, diced
• .5 teaspoon dried basil
• 3/4 pound penne pasta

PREP: Not much, actually. If you have fresh green garlic, chop it finely. If you can get the frozen stuff, just thaw some out. Mince the pepper and dice the tomato. Remove the tails/shells (depending on how you buy your shrimp) and dry the shrimp with a paper towel. 

COOKING: Start by putting the shrimp, the garlic, the salt, and two tablespoons of the olive oil into a bowl. Stir to combine thoroughly and marinate for 45 minutes to an hour.

About half an hour before you want to eat, start a pot of salted water boiling for the pasta. When the pasta's about halfway done, start a large skillet on high heat, and add a tablespoon of olive oil to it. Add the shrimp/garlic mixture and the basil, and cook on one side for about two minutes on high heat, until pink just starts to creep up over the tops of the shrimp.

Add the peppers, tomato, and lemon juice, and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes until the shrimp are done and the tomatoes have given up some liquid. Turn off the heat, and add another 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to give the sauce some extra body. Spoon over the penne, Makes 3-4 servings.