I really wish I had kept the original New York Times article that this recipe is based on. It went something along these lines: the writer had a summer house somewhere in New England, probably Maine, and had lots of summertime houseguests, many of whom had their hearts set on a lobster dinner. So they had many a suppertime filled with lobsters being boiled and cracked, with all the stuff that goes with that (pieces of errant shell flying all over the place, lobster juice drenching everything, etc, etc.). And the point of the article was, wouldn’t life be wonderful if you could make a meal that included all of the lazy, delicious, summertime taste of lobster without all the shell-cracking, juice-flying, sticky drama?
At least I think that is how it went. It’s been a while, and my brain isn’t what it used to be.
In any event, I did keep the recipe, which is wonderfully and perfectly entitled “The Way Life Should Be.” And when it comes to eating lobster, the way life should be is that the lobster is out of the shell, cut or torn into delectable bite-sized pieces, and marinated in a glorious bath of olive oil, fresh lemon juice, chopped garlic and a heaping amount of chopped up fresh mint, parsley and basil. (Very Important Note: the original recipe says these herbs are optional. They are NOT. They are MANDATORY. Otherwise the recipe is automatically retitled, “The Way Life Kinda Should Be.”)
Anyway. You leave the lobster in this lovely marinade for 60 minutes, then you cook up some spaghetti, drain it, put in in a bowl and pour the whole lemony, lobstery, herby, garlicky concoction over the pasta. Toss it around a little and there you have it — a summery lobster dinner that smells incredible and tastes even better.
We had this for dinner a few days ago, and it was a work day for me. When I got home, my hearthrob of a Southern husband had already put the lobster into the marinade and it was waiting on the kitchen counter. The kitchen smelled incredible — all mint and basil and lemon and garlic and lobster — and all I had to do was make the pasta, mix it up and not mess up the picture.
Now THAT is the way life should be.
THE WAY LIFE SHOULD BE, adapted from The New York Times
Ingredients Directions
Oh. My. Gosh. Can't wait to try this . . .
YUM! What a gourmet pasta dish!
This looks amazing–just one question, do you bake the lobster or boil it?
Actually, I usually have the supermarket steam it for me, so it is all cooked when I take it home. Most good seafood sections at the major markets will do that if you ask. (I am big coward when it comes to cooking lobster.) But if I was going to do it at home, I would either boil or steam it, I think the meat comes out a bit more tender that way.
This is a nice and refreshing post! The recipe is definitely a keeper! I can already tell with such simple ingredients, they can only enhance the sweet flavor of lobster!
Thanks for posting and for sharing the recipe!
Wow. This looks delicious and I will try this recipe whenever I get lobsters in hand! Can't go wrong with lobsters!
Love your blog. thank you for the wonderful writing and food. searched for "the way life should be" recipe to find the story on new york times website.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/02/magazine/02food.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=%22The%20Way%20Life%20Should%20Be%22%20recipe&st=cse
Sorry, but I don't know how to make the address look pretty in this comment box. Just highlight, copy and paste the gibberish looking address into your browser.
thanks again for your blog!, a fan from the south
Thanks for the link! I'm so happy to have the story back.
I tried this with claws (because they were $2.99/lb at the market) & some shrimp and it came out great! But I ended up doubling all the sauce ingredients except the lemon, & 2 lemons was still too sour. I wonder if the ones I used are too large.
Hi Kate, as someone who spends a chunk of the summer in Maine doing all that messy business with lobsters for a fairly steady stream of house guests – Thank You for this fabulous-sounding recipe! We did have a "tradition" a couple of years ago, when Ted would drive up for the weekends – he'd call me when he was at a certain point and I would put the lobsters on … we had marvelous late-evening feasts a deux! And, when Ted spent the day last summer photographing lobstermen in Friendship, Maine, he came home with 14 of the critters – now THAT was a feast (we were thankful for the houseguests)!
Hi Kate, as someone who spends a chunk of the summer in Maine doing all that messy business with lobsters for a fairly steady stream of house guests – Thank You for this fabulous-sounding recipe! We did have a "tradition" a couple of years ago, when Ted would drive up for the weekends – he'd call me when he was at a certain point and I would put the lobsters on … we had marvelous late-evening feasts a deux! And, when Ted spent the day last summer photographing lobstermen in Friendship, Maine, he came home with 14 of the critters – now THAT was a feast (we were thankful for the houseguests)!
Sounds AMAZING — next time you have an overabundance of lobsters, feel free to call me!
Oh. My. Gosh. (Again!)
I had a delicious seafood risotto last night with a poached lobster tail and I agree – this is the way life should be!
I love your blog too, specially if we're talking about atypical food. All this looks delicious and most of the readers can support me. I hope you keep up with this work. Frankly, I think this blog is one of the best in this category. j23j