Shrimp Burrito Bow

Try my Chicken Burrito Bowl with shrimp! It's great! Just take about half a pound of raw, deveined and peeled shrimp, and cut them into bite size pieces (or keep them whole if you prefer). Use the marinade that was meant for the chicken and put it on the shrimp instead.

Cook the shrimp by stir-frying it in a hot pan with about one tablespoon of olive oil. It only takes about 1-2 minutes to cook the shrimp; as soon as the all the shrimp becomes opaque (from grey, to white/pink) it's cooked!

Heat up the black beans in the pan you cooked the shrimp in; the beans will soak up all the flavor that is left in the pan from the shrimp.

Enjoy with pico de gallo, cheese, etc. Basically, anything you like!

Fettucine With Shrimp and Grape Tomato

I was really hungry so I wanted to make something really quick. After searching around the kitchen for a minute, I found some grape tomatoes, frozen shrimp, a package of fettucine, garlic, and a lime. I could easily make a fast meal out of these ingredients; the longest part of the meal would be cooking the pasta.

So, I put the water on to boil. Here's the recipe I came up with.



Fettucine with Shrimp and Grape Tomatoes
Makes 3 servings

Ingredients
3/4 package fettucine (I used Barilla)
Approximately 100 ounces of grape tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes), halved
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 lb of raw, deveined shrimp
Juice of one lime (or lemon)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp chili flakes
salt to taste
Parmesan cheese to garnish

Heat the olive oil in a large bottomed pan or wok. Saute garlic until very lightly golden brown, approximately 2 minutes.



Add the grape tomatoes. Saute for about two minutes, until it starts to look like the tomatoes are softening and breaking down a little.



Next, add the shrimp. Cook the shrimp until it turns pink. If the pan is nice and hot, this will only take a couple of minutes.



Add the chili flakes, salt, pepper, and lime juice.



Finally, add the pasta. Leave a little bit of pasta water to add to the mixture. The starch in the water will help the pasta to bind to the sauce. Stir well.





Serve hot, and sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top.

CAPELLINI WITH SHRIMP AND CREAMY TOMATO SAUCE

SERVES4

• ACTIVE TIME:10 MIN
• START TO FINISH:15 MIN

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 lb peeled large shrimp
• 3 large garlic cloves, forced through a garlic press
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 cup sweet (red) vermouth
• 1 (14- to 15-oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 lb capellini (angel-hair pasta)

• Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then cook shrimp and garlic with oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, turning once, until golden, about 2 minutes total. Stir in vermouth and tomatoes, scraping up any brown bits from bottom of skillet. Add cream and briskly simmer until sauce has thickened slightly, about 1 minute. Stir in lemon juice.
• Meanwhile, cook capellini in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (3 tablespoons salt for 6 quarts water) until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta.
• Serve immediately, topped with shrimp and sauce. Thin with some of reserved water if necessary

BANGIN’ SOME CAJUNS SHRIMP

Unleash the banging beast from your Cajun soul!

There’s a ragin’ Cajun in each of us eager to get out and start bangin’. Even those who’ve never been down south around Louisiana parts have one. It’s in the fine print of your body’s owners’ manual. He or she comes out every once in a while after you’ve fed yourself enough spicy food. It tingles at first, and before you know it, your body has been possessed like in some voodoo incantation ceremony. Your body dances, shakes, drinks and bangs to some mysterious West Indian drum beat. Those who know you best won’t recognize the crazy person speaking in barely coherent tongues. The words you say will fall somewhere between English, French, and marbles in your mouth. But don’t you worry. As soon as your ragin’ Cajun is done bangin’, they’ll become dormant and leave you to clean up the aftermath. Should you wake up next to some sexy, you’re welcome. If you wake up in jail, I ain’t paying your bail.

Total time: approximately 10 minutes
Projected cost: $11
Drinking Buddy: Beer or abangarita

Ingredients:
1. 1 lb of shrimp
2. ½ tsp of Cajun seasoning
3. 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
4. 1 small handful of chopped celery
5. 1 tbsp of fresh chopped ginger
6. 2 cloves of chopped garlic

Step 1
Sauté the garlic, ginger and celery with vegetable oil on medium-high heat (approx 2 min).

Step 2
Peel the tails and shells from the shrimp. Sauté the shrimp in the oil until they pinken (approx 2 min per side). Sprinkle Cajun seasoning other the shrimp and cook in the flavor (approx 1 min).

Serve it up on a plate solo or with some.

Vietnamese-Style Spring Rolls with Shrimp

These are a staple for us. Granted, they are a bit time consuming and the spring-roll sheets are tricky to work with (Taylor handles them like a master!), but it’s a healthy, refreshing dish perfect as an appetizer or as a stand alone meal. We like to serve them with rice noodles or other asian noodles.

Delicious, refreshing, and satisfying only begin to describe these. They are well worth the effort and will definitely impress! You can easily substitute tofu for the shrimp to make them vegetarian and just as yummy!

Vietnamese-Style Spring Rolls with Shrimp

INGREDIENTS
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
16 uncooked medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, halved lengthwise
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 cups hot water
8 6-inch-diameter Vietnamese spring-roll sheets (you can find these at Asian food markets)
4 small Bibb lettuce leaves, halved
1/2 cup thin strips green onions
1/2 cup thin strips seeded peeled cucumber
1/2 cup thin strips carrots
4 teaspoons minced fresh mint leaves

DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger; sauté until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add shrimp and cilantro; sauté until shrimp are just cooked through, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour hot water into large bowl. Using tongs, dip 1 spring-roll sheet in water 5 seconds. Remove from water; place on wet towel. Let stand 30 seconds (spring-roll sheet should be soft and pliable; if still stiff, sprinkle with more water).

Place half of lettuce leaf across top third of spring-roll sheet. Arrange 4 shrimp halves on lettuce. Top with 1 tablespoon each of green onions, carrots, and cucumber. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon mint over filling. Fold sides of spring-roll sheet over ends of filling. Starting at filled side, roll into cylinder. Place on plate. Repeat with remaining spring-roll sheets, lettuce, shrimp, green onions, cucumber, carrots and mint. Serve with sauce.

Mango Spiced Shrimp

While everyone else goes out and party-hardies on Saturday night, we stay home, rent some movies, and cook something special. I mean, we could go out for a nice seafood dinner, drop $40 for the two of us, or buy a nice $8 bag of frozen shrimp and a mango and make our own… and probably be more satisfied with the outcome too. Well, that’s exactly what we did. And might I say the results were simply splendid?

(And look ma! New plates! While the lime green and blue ones are lovely, food just looks fancier when it’s on a nice clean white plate.)

Mango Spiced Shrimp

You wouldn’t believe the flavor in this dish. The combination of spices in the sauce is truly delicious, and would be fantastic over chicken or tofu even. And did I mention it’s quick? Serve over jasmine rice or with edamame.
Makes 4 servings.

INGREDIENTS
4 tsp canola oil
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 mango, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/3 cup cider vinegar
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 lb large shrimp, peeled, tails on
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp garlic powder

DIRECTIONS
Heat 2 tsp oil in a 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook onion, garlic, ginger, 1/4 tsp salt, allspice, cumin and cinnamon about 3 minutes. Add mango, vinegar, lime juice and sugar and gently boil, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thick; refrigerate in a bowl.

Toss shrimp with red pepper, garlic powder and remaining 1/2 tsp salt. Heat remaining 2 tsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook shrimp until no longer translucent, about 2 minutes on each side. Let cool; serve with sauce.

Soy Sake Shrimp with Ginger Aioli

The flavor in this dish was incredible. The marinade really does wonders for the shrimp. The aioli is good, but the shrimp would still be fabulous without it.

Soy Sake Shrimp with Ginger Aioli

Recipe from Epicurious. Makes 4 servings.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 green onions, chopped
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sake or dry Sherry
1 tablespoon golden brown sugar
3 garlic cloves, chopped
24 deveined peeled uncooked large shrimp (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chopped peeled fresh ginger
Cooked white rice

DIRECTIONS
Combine soy sauce, green onions, 4 tablespoons oil, vinegar, sake, brown sugar, and garlic in 13×9x2-inch glass baking dish; whisk marinade to blend. Add shrimp and toss to coat. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour, turning shrimp occasionally.

Blend mayonnaise and ginger in food processor until smooth. Transfer ginger aioli to small bowl and refrigerate.

Drain marinade from shrimp into small saucepan; bring to boil. Whisk 2 tablespoons boiled marinade into ginger aioli; reserve remaining boiled marinade.

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp; sauté until just opaque in center, about 4 minutes. Mound rice in center of plates. Arrange shrimp around rice; drizzle with ginger aioli. Serve, passing reserved boiled marinade.

Linguine with Shrimp, Asparagus, and Basil

Ok, so here’s the thing. Sometimes we do good. We find fantastic recipes and we enjoy them. Other weeks, we don’t do so good. This might be one of those weeks.

While I wouldn’t call this bad, it wasn’t jaw-dropping good. Taylor liked it more than I did. I love basil, asparagus, garlic, shrimp, and lemon… but this didn’t quite do such fantastic ingredients justice. Maybe I’m just not a huge fan of white wine sauces, and in that case I’m biased. It’s still worth a try. Maybe we just had some bad shrimp.

On a better note: at Farmer’s market this week, they had something we had never seen before. Fresh garlic. I was quite confused at first, because they were sitting in between green onions and leeks (fresh garlic looks like bulbous leeks or giant green onions, hence my confusion). We bought some anyway, as we’re always up for trying new things! It’s actually quite good! Milder and sweeter than dried garlic, I like it a lot! We used it last night in the garlic yogurt sauce, and tonight in this pasta. Next week we’ll have to look into some recipes that feature fresh garlic, could make for some good eats. :)

Linguine with Shrimp, Asparagus, and Basil

Recipe from Bon Appetit. Makes 2 servings (two BIG servings!)

INGREDIENTS
8 ounces linguine
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped red jalapeño chili
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon butter
12 uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails intact
12 slender asparagus, trimmed, cut diagonally into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 cups packed fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
2 lemon wedges

DIRECTIONS
Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, sirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and jalapeño; sauté 1 minute. Add wine and butter; boil 2 minutes. Add shrimp, asparagus, and lemon juice. Toss until asparagus is just tender and shrimp are just opaque in center, about 3 minutes.

Drain pasta and add to skillet. Add 2 cups sliced basil leaves and toss until basil wilts and sauce coats pasta, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Divide pasta between 2 plates. Garnish with fresh basil leaves and lemon wedges and serve.

Spicy Vietnamese Shrimp Lettuce Rolls

These were so so. Edible, definitely, but we don’t know if we’d make them again. Taylor says too much lime, I say too hard to eat. Taylor suggests using a traditional Vietnamese fish sauce instead of the lime sauce, which could be good. Also be sure to get real butter lettuce – we used some other kind, and the leaves were not big enough to roll or strong enough to scoop. In other words, it was messy.

Spicy Vietnamese Shrimp Lettuce Rolls

Splenda? Seriously? I’ve never seen a recipe actually call for it before. We omitted it completely, a whole cup of any type of sugar/sweetener is way too much in my opinion. I used less sugar as well, maybe 1/3 cup total. Maybe that was why the lime was too strong.
Recipe from Epicurious. Makes 4 servings.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tbsp minced ginger
1/3 cup rice wine or sake
1 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
Juice from 6 limes (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Splenda Granulated
1/3 cup light soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp minced fresh garlic
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 heads Boston, or butterhead, lettuce
2 cups fresh basil leaves
3 medium carrots, peeled and finely grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/3 lb rice stick noodles, softened in boiling water and drained thoroughly
preparation
In a bowl, toss shrimp with ginger, wine, and oil. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 20 minutes.

DIRECTIONS
For dressing:
Mix lime juice, sugar, Splenda, soy sauce, garlic, and pepper flakes in a bowl; set aside. Core lettuce and separate leaves; rinse and dry them. Cook shrimp with its marinade in a medium pan or wok over medium-high heat, turning shrimp until opaque, 2 or 3 minutes.

To make wraps:
Place 3 shrimp inside each lettuce leaf along with 2 or 3 basil leaves, 1 tbsp carrots and a small handful of noodles and roll up. Divide dressing among 4 small dishes for dipping.

Garlic Roasted Shrimp with Red Chile Oil

This is a recipe for true garlic lovers. We bought so much garlic this week it was ridiculous… the woman checking us out at the store thought we were going on a vampire hunt. We didn’t use nearly as much as the recipe called for (silly me… I misread ‘cloves’ as ‘heads’. Whoops).

These are meant to be tapas (yes, we have a tendency to eat appetizers as main courses). We served these with our Strawberry Spinach Salad and leftover Red Wine Sangria. The shrimp were delicious and the oil has a fabulous flavor. We tried some of the giant elephant garlic for the chips. While they looked impressive, they were actually quite bitter. More for decoration than flavor I guess. Next time we might try blanching the garlic before frying it, which might make it less bitter. Get ready to use a ton of olive oil, though it’s well worth it.

Garlic Roasted Shrimp with Red Chile Oil

Recipe from Bobby Flay. Makes 8 appetizer servings.

INGREDIENTS
24 large shrimp, shelled and deveined
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

Red Chile Oil:
1 cup olive oil
6 dried chiles de arbol, lightly toasted and crushed
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Pinch salt
3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed

Toasted Garlic Chips:
1 cup olive oil
8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
Salt

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.

To make red chili oil, blend all ingredients including the thyme leaves in a blender until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl.

For garlic chips, heat the oil in a small skillet until it begins to shimmer. Add the garlic and cook until the slices begin to brown and curl. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels and season with salt.

Place the shrimp in a cazuela or an ovenproof casserole and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Drizzle olive oil over shrimp, add crushed garlic, and toss to coat. Roast in the oven until pink and cooked through, about 4 to 5 minutes. Drizzle generously with Red Chile Oil and sprinkle with thyme and Toasted Garlic Chips. Serve with crusty bread.

Fried Cornmeal Shrimp With Butternut Squash Risotto

One of the best things we’ve cooked lately (and we’ve cooked some delicious things!). The risotto was to die for. Buttery and rich without any butter? It doesn’t get much better than that. The cornmeal shrimp were a nice contrast to the creamy risotto – try using the same cornmeal crust on other things, such as chicken or fish even. We will definitely be making this risotto again (and as you can see, that’s not something we do often!)

Just remember that the squash needs to cook for quite a while. We have a tendency to find a recipe, and not really read through it until 5:30 or 6:00 when we start cooking. Which is a fault on our part, because usually by that time, our stomachs are rumbling and we get a bit impatient. Seeing ‘1 hour’ in any recipe can easily turn what was supposed to be tonight’s dinner into tomorrow’s dinner. This one, however, was easy enough to speed up. Just (carefully!) chop up the uncooked squash into chunks (halve the squash, then quarter each half). Smaller pieces=shorter cooking time. I think we cooked the pieces for 20-30 minutes. And since you don’t need the squash puree until the very end, you can have it cooking while you begin coating the shrimp and cooking the risotto.

Fried Cornmeal Shrimp With Butternut Squash Risotto

Makes 4 servings. Recipe from Bon Appetit.

INGREDIENTS
1 1 3/4- to 2-pound butternut squash
24 uncooked large shrimp (about 1 1/4 pounds), peeled, deveined
3 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3 large garlic cloves, peeled, smashed, plus 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
5 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
4 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme, divided
1 1/2 cups arborio rice or medium-grain white rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
Vegetable oil (for frying)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400°F. Pierce squash several times. Place on baking sheet; roast until tender, about 1 hour. Cool. Cut squash in half; discard seeds. Scoop flesh into processor. Puree until smooth. Measure 1 1/2 cups puree (reserve remaining puree for another use). DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.

Place shrimp, 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, and 3 smashed garlic cloves in large resealable plastic bag; turn to coat. Chill 2 to 3 hours, turning bag occasionally.

Stir cornmeal, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in medium bowl. Add shrimp; toss. Arrange in single layer on large plate.

Preheat oven to 200°F. Bring broth to simmer in heavy small saucepan; reduce heat to low and keep hot. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until beginning to brown, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add chopped garlic and 2 teaspoons thyme; stir 1 minute. Add rice and stir 1 minute. Add wine; stir until almost absorbed, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Add 1 cup hot broth and cook until almost all liquid is absorbed, stirring often. Continue adding hot broth 1 cup at a time and stirring frequently until rice is almost tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, add enough vegetable oil to heavy large skillet to reach depth of 1/4 inch. Heat oil over high heat. Working in 2 batches, fry shrimp until golden brown and cooked through, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Transfer to paper-towel-lined baking sheet and place in oven to keep warm.

Rewarm reserved 1 1/2 cups squash puree in microwave. Add warm puree to risotto and stir until rice is tender but still firm, about 2 minutes. Stir in Parmesan cheese and remaining 2 teaspoons thyme. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide risotto among bowls. Top with shrimp and serve.

Peanut Curry Noodles with Seared Shrimp & Scallops

In my obsession with all things pumpkin, I found this recipe. When we went to make it, however, we made an executive decision to leave the pumpkin out. We felt there were TOO many things going on in this recipe, and decided that simplifying it would be in our best interests.

The results were delicious. A yummy peanut sauce and perfectly spiced seafood were a delicious combination. The pumpkin was not missed at all. We also added some coconut milk to the sauce to thin it out a bit, and a bit of sesame oil for some toasted flavor. If you’re not a big seafood fan this same noodle/sauce combination would be great with chicken or beef, or plain by itself. Delicious.

Peanut Curry Noodles with Seared Shrimp & Scallops

Makes 4 servings. Recipe from Rachel Ray, with modifications.

INGREDIENTS
1 package noodles (we used the refrigerated kind found by the wonton wrappers)

5 tablespoons vegetable oil or peanut oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 inches ginger root, minced or grated
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 to 1/3 cup tamari dark soy sauce
2 rounded tablespoonfuls red curry paste
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/2 cup light coconut milk
2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoons five-spice powder
12 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
12 diver scallops, trimmed and patted dry
4 scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces, then thinly sliced lengthwise into matchsticks
1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro

DIRECTIONS
Heat a large pot of water for noodles. When water boils, add noodles and cook according to package directions.

While noodles cook, heat a large, deep skillet over medium heat with 2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil. Add garlic, ginger, red bell pepper, and pepper flakes to the pan and cook together a couple of minutes, then add peanut butter and melt it. Whisk soy into peanut butter, then stir in curry paste. Turn down the heat to low. Add sesame oil, coconut milk, and brown sugar and stir until combined. Adjust seasoning as necessary (you probably won’t need salt, but taste just in case).

Heat a small to medium skillet over high heat. Rub seafood with spice powder. Add 3 tablespoons of remaining oil to hot skillet. Place the shrimp in the pan and cook 1 minute, flip and sear the other side until just opaque. Remove shrimp to a plate and set aside. Add another 3 tablespoons of oil to the skillet and heat back up to smoking. Add the scallops and sear on both sides until opaque. Remove scallops and add to the plate of shrimp.

Drain noodles and return to pot. Add the sauce and toss thoroughly. Serve noodles on plates and top with scallions, cilantro, and seafood.

Coconut Shrimp & Asian Orange and Avocado Spinach Salad

This was a good one. Crispy coconut shrimp with a creamy peanut dipping sauce, perched next to a fresh and flavorful salad with baby spinach, avocado, and orange.

Yup. We’ll be making this meal again.

Except… we’d use Taylor’s peanut sauce recipe. Alton’s had far too much peanut butter and almost tasted more like my pie filling than a spicy dipping sauce. But even that didn’t stop these shrimp from shining. Delicious, and for such a “pseudo-gourmet” meal, was actually quite easy.

Coconut Shrimp

Makes 4-6 servings. Recipe from Alton Brown.

INGREDIENTS
24 large (15 to 20 count) shrimp, peeled, deviened, and butterflied
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 egg whites
2 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, or 2 1/2 cups shredded fresh coconut
Canola or peanut oil, for frying
Taylor’s Kick Butt Peanut Sauce

DIRECTIONS
Pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel. In a small bowl combine cornstarch, salt, pepper, and cayenne. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy. In another bowl, place the coconut. Coat the shrimp with the cornstarch and shake off any excess. Dip into the egg white and then press into the coconut to get full coverage. Try to keep 1 hand dry, this will keep things a little cleaner.

In a large pan, heat the oil to 350 degrees F and gently submerge the shrimp, 6 at a time. Fry for about 3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove them to a rack to drain. Serve with Peanut Sauce.

Asian Spinach Salad with Orange and Avocado

Makes 4 servings. Recipe from Bon Appetit.

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon (generous) Asian sesame oil
1 navel orange
1 6-ounce bag baby spinach leaves
1 Pinkerton or Fuerte avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch wedges

DIRECTIONS
Whisk first 5 ingredients in large bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set dressing aside.

Cut off peel and white pith from orange. Cut orange into 1/3-inch rounds; cut rounds crosswise in half. Add spinach to dressing; toss to coat. Add avocado and orange; toss gently.

Green Curry Shrimp with Noodles

We’re huge fans of red curry, but decided it was time to mix things up a bit. The flavors of red and green curry are subtly different, the green being much more mild and almost sweet. This recipe pairs the green curry with shrimp and delicate rice noodles, and with a tang of cilantro is a simple recipe with a complex taste. This recipe is also much lighter than the red curry we make (though that probably has to do with the lower-fat coconut milk and the addition of chicken broth). Sometimes our red curry is too rich to enjoy it fully, but not this curry. If one could describe curry as “light,” this would be the recipe to do it.

Also, we’ve never been able to find fresh lemongrass at any “normal” grocery store. We did, however, manage to sag a bottle of dried (albeit expensive) lemongrass stalks. Just soak them in water for half and hour or so and it’s almost as good as the fresh stuff. Almost. I wonder how many people would have to petition Kroger before they’d start carrying fresh lemongrass? Hmmm…

Green Curry Shrimp with Noodles

Makes 4 servings.
Recipe from Epicurious.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup chopped shallots (about 4)
2 fresh lemongrass stalks (optional), 1 or 2 outer leaves discarded and lower 6 inches of stalks thinly sliced
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro stems
1 to 2 tablespoons bottled Asian green curry paste
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 (13- to 14-oz) can unsweetened coconut milk (not low-fat)
1 3/4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (14 fl oz)
3/4 lb dried flat 3/8-inch-wide rice noodles or 1/2 lb dried flat 1/8-inch-wide stir-fry rice noodles
1 1/2 lb peeled and deveined large shrimp (21 to 25 per lb)
2 to 3 teaspoons Asian fish sauce, or to taste

DIRECTIONS
Purée shallots, lemongrass, garlic, ginger, and cilantro stems in a blender with curry paste, sugar, salt, turmeric, and water until as smooth as possible, about 1 minute.

Heat oil in a 4-quart wide heavy pot over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then cook curry paste mixture, stirring frequently, until it just begins to stick to bottom of pot, 8 to 10 minutes. Add coconut milk and broth and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until reduced to about 3 2/3 cups, 8 to 10 minutes.

While sauce simmers, cook noodles in a 6-quart pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water. Drain noodles well and divide among 4 large bowls.

Add shrimp to sauce and simmer, stirring, until just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in fish sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Ladle shrimp and sauce over noodles.

Roasted Shrimp, Asparagus, and Mushrooms with Ginger and Green Onion

This one was good. Quick and easy, and downright delicious. We tend to cook a lot of things sautéed on the stovetop, so roasting was a nice change of pace. Plus, Taylor loves it because he can get all of the dishes done before we even start eating. What a concept!

The recipe called for Oyster mushrooms. Which we couldn’t find. And would probably have been expensive if we had. So we used crimini instead. Portobello or even shiitake mushrooms would be delicious as well!

For the shrimp, if your shells don’t stay intact easily or you can’t get under the shells, it works just fine if you simply smother the naked shrimp with the onion mixture. Make it easy on yourself. :)

Roasted Shrimp and Mushrooms with Ginger and Green Onion

Makes 2 servings. Recipe from Bon Appetit.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar
2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
10 uncooked deveined large shrimp, shells left intact
4 ounces oyster or crimini mushrooms
1/2 lb asparagus

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 500°F. Mix canola oil, onions, cilantro, garlic, vinegar, ginger, and sesame oil in medium bowl. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Pull off legs from shrimp. Rub most of onion mixture under shells of shrimp. Arrange shrimp in single layer on large baking sheet. Add mushrooms to remaining onion mixture in bowl; toss to coat. Arrange on same baking sheet.

Spread out asparagus on another baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put in the oven at the same time as shrimp and mushrooms, or 3-4 minutes before if your asparagus is thick.

Roast shrimp until opaque in center and mushrooms until tender, about 7 minutes. Divide between 2 plates.

Chipotle Lime Glazed Shrimp

Sometimes, the most simple things are the best things. Sure, we could have spent a few hours in the kitchen making some complex dish, searing this part and sauteing that part, baking something else in the meantime. But chances are, the flavors we would have created would not have even come close to those in this dish.

Not to mention the beautiful color of these shrimp. They just look enticing. Spicy and tangy and enticing. Which they are.

What you decide to do with these shrimp is up to you – toss them with rice (as we did), turn them into a saucy filling for a taco or enchilada, or just eat them one by one, enjoying every bite.

(As a side note – you should know that Taylor’s birthday is still officially going on… we have yet to polish off that unbelievable cake. And by our rules, your birthday lasts as long as the cake. So, for the 6th day in a row, happy birthday Taylor! Now cut me a slice of that cake…)

Chipotle Lime Glazed Shrimp

Makes 4 servings. Recipe from Cooks Illustrated, via Ezra Pound Cake.

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 pounds 21/25 shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/8 teaspoon sugar

For Glaze:
1 chipotle chile in adobo, minced
2 teaspoons adobo sauce
4 teaspoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

INGREDIENTS
To make the glaze: Stir together chipotle chile, adobo sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, and cilantro in small bowl.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch skillet over high heat until smoking, Meanwhile, toss shrimp, salt, pepper, and sugar in medium bowl. Add half of shrimp to the pan in single layer and cook until spotty brown and edges turn pink, about 1 minute. Remove pan from heat; using tongs, flip each shrimp and let stand until all but very center is opaque, about 30 seconds. Transfer shrimp to large plate. Repeat with remaining tablespoon oil and shrimp; after second batch has stood off heat, return first batch to skillet, add chipotle mixture, and toss to combine. Cover skillet and let stand until shrimp are cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

Baked Shrimp with Feta

I think we sometimes get too caught up on the stove. Sauteing I mean. Just about everything we eat is cooked in a pan on the stove. Which is why this baked shrimp dish was so refreshing. Yes, there are some parts of it done on the stove, but the magic happens in the oven.

Taylor especially loves this method of cooking because while dinner is finishing up “hands-free” in the oven, he can scrub like a pro and have the entire kitchen spotless before it comes out. Yes, he’s that good. I always joke that my presence in the kitchen messes him up, literally. When he cooks by himself? The kitchen is always sparkling clean by the time (or before) dinner is served. When we cook together? Well, there’s always a few more dishes to be done and they don’t quite get done as efficiently. Oops. I don’t know how he does it – he can have two pots on the stove, something in the oven, and be doing the prep dishes while he manages not to burn anything. I’ve got selective focus. Make me do dishes while I cook and you’ll end up with something overdone and chewy or burnt to a crisp. Mmmm.

We served this dish on a bed of our new favorite starchy side dish – israeli cous cous. My favorite is to cook it with a bit of olive oil, cumin, and cinnamon. Practically candy. Little round balls of pasta-like candy. Orzo would work just fine too.

Baked Shrimp with Feta

Makes 4 servings. Recipe from Cooking Light.

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons bottled clam juice
1 tablespoon white wine
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 450°. Combine lemon juice and shrimp in a large bowl; toss well.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. dd oil to pan, swirling to coat. Add onion to pan; sauté 1 minute. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add clam juice, wine, oregano, pepper, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in shrimp mixture.

Place mixture in an 11 x 7–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle cheese evenly over mixture. Bake for 12 minutes or until shrimp are done and cheese melts. Sprinkle with parsley; serve immediately.

Meat-Free Friday: Kung Pao Shrimp

This shrimp may have changed the way I feel about Chinese food. Seriously. I’ve talked before about how I’m not a huge fan of Chinese, but this is actually a dish that I can get excited about. I can tell I’ll be making it often.

I’ve always liked the flavors of kung pao when we get it out, but I hate the celery in it. I feel like more often than not it takes over the entire dish. This recipe has no celery. And it doesn’t seem like it’s missing anything at all. The sauce is very “authentic” tasting – sweet but not too sweet, a little bit spicy without being a “spicy” dish, glaze-like but not sticky or heavy. And the whole recipe contains very little oil. It was also filling, and I wasn’t hungry again later. Its pretty much everything that Chinese food should be.

I served the shrimp on top of brown rice and blanched snow peas, which was perfect. My only complaint is that there wasn’t’ enough sauce. That was my fault. I would have made more, but I didn’t’ realize that I was so low on soy sauce, so I made just enough sauce to use up the rest of it. Next time I’ll double or triple it so that there’s plenty of sauce to soak into the rice.

Kung Pao Shrimp

• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp rice vinegar
• 6 tsp water
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
• pinch Hungarian paprika
• 1 tsp agave
• 1 egg white
• 3 tsp cornstarch
• 1 Tbs water
• 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 tsp white wine
• pinch salt
• 1 Tbs grapeseed oil
• 2 garlic scapes, chopped
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 chili pepper, minced
• 3 Tbs peanuts, chopped
• brown rice and blanched snow peas, for serving

Combine first 7 ingredients (through agave) in a small bowl. Mix well. Pour into a small pan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and let reduce by about 1/4. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine egg white, cornstarch, and 1 Tbs water. Sprinkle shrimp with salt and wine, then add to the cornstarch mixture. Toss to coat.

Heat oil in a large frying pan or wok over high heat. Add scapes, green onion, and chilis. Cook 1 minute. Add shrimp (shake gently to remove excess batter) and peanuts. Cook about 4 minutes, or until shrimp is cooked through. Stir in sauce.