You can do this several nights a week. It doesn't take a lot of time, and you feel great afterwards. Warm, Full. Loved. Satisfied. Appreciated. Willing to repeat the whole process.

Deeply connected to our daily lives, the ones we love are fulfilled with the time we spend in the kitchen. Who knows what could come next?

MM. Hmm.

If this hot, spicy, sweet, tasty, full of healthy flavor doesn't put hair on your chest, zip in your step, and power in your engine, you better check your pulse.

I begin with raw shrimp, not pre-cooked and then frozen. It's just not the same. NO shortcuts to love in a dish.

Let's begin with:

• 1 lb medium shrimp, raw, peeled and deveined.
• 8 cups baby spinach leaves, loosely packed and torn into bite-sized pieces, washed and dried
• 2 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp sugar (dash)
• 1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp ground white pepper, plus more to taste
• 2 tsp Dijon-style mustard
• 2 tbsp shallot, finely chopped
• 2/3 c extra-virgin olive oil
• generous dash red pepper flakes
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded, deribbed, roasted, peeled. and cut into narrow strips
• 1/4 c pine nuts, toasted

Licked by Fire, Kissed by Smoke Procedure

1. Toast the pine nuts until golden brown in a hot skillet, about 3 - 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, and set aside. (Don't over-toast your nuts.)
2. Soak the raw peeled and deveined shrimp in a bowl of lightly salted cold water for abut 12 minutes. Rinse well with cool running water, then drain thoroughly and pat dry.
3. Arrange the spinach leaves in beds on individual plates or in shallow bowls. Crumbled the chopped eggs evenly on top of the spinach. Set aside.
4. Stir together lemon juice, vinegar, sugar, and 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp white pepper until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Stir in the mustard and shallots. While beating, pour in all but 1 tbsp of the olive oil, slowly until emulsified. Transfer the dressing to a small saucepan and warm it over low heat. Keep warm.
5. In large frying pan over medium heat, heat the remaining olive oil with the red pepper flakes. Add the shrimp to the pan and season lightly with salt and white pepper and saute, stirring and remove immediately when they first turn pink, about 2 minutes.
6. Arrange the shrimp attractively atop the beds of spinach. Drizzle the hot dressing evenly over the shrimp and spinach leaves. Garnish each salad with the bell pepper strips and pine nuts.

Turn down the lights, turn up the easy listening music, light the candles and eat to your heart's content.

Dessert is up to you. Now, Baby! That's as Hot as you make it.