Shrimp Scampi with mussels

This is such a good, simple dish. Shrimp, mussels, garlic, wine, and parsley. A few sweet peppers for a flavor boost, and some peas because that's how I like it. Served with some GF pasta. 

Ingredients:

12 frozen mussels

1/4 lb raw shrimp

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 T. olive oil

3 small sweet peppers, chopped

1 tsp red pepper flakes

white wine (I don't drink a lot of white wine so I used those little single serving bottles of pinot grigio)

1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley

1 lemon, juiced

salt and pepper

1/4 c. frozen peas

Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. In the meantime, heat a pan to medium-high heat. Sautee the peppers and oil until they are soft and have a little char. Add in the garlic and heat that for a minute. 

At this point the pasta water should be boiling. Add your favorite GF spaghetti noodles. 

Pour the bottle of wine in the pan with the peppers and add in the mussels. Cover the pan. Set a timer for 10 minutes. When 3-4 minutes are left, add the shrimp and leave the lid off. Stir in the red pepper flakes, parsley, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. When the timer goes off, it's done. At this point I like to add frozen peas. Drain the noodles and toss them into the pan with everything else. 

Discard any mussels that did not open. 

Serves 2.

Garlic Parmesan Roasted Shrimp and Asparagus Salad

I don't really know what to call this. On a basic level, it's shrimp with some vegetables. Any mixture of vegetables is called a salad by default around here. Clearly I need to up my creativity game when it comes to names.

Fresh flavors mixed with fresh vegetables earned several compliments from hubs during the meal. Even though hubs is not a picky eater, I consider it a win any time I can get compliments on a veggie-heavy meal. (Adding shrimp usually does the trick)

Surprisingly, we really love the veggie spiralizer. I didn't think we'd use it so much. The humble zucchini gets fancy with the flick of a wrist.

I used fresh sage in this dish, and the plant I have right now leans toward the lemon side of things. I've had sage plants that lean toward the pungent, sagier side of things, which is nice, but I'm really enjoying this one's milder, more versatile flavor. When paired with lemon juice, it gives this (or any) dish a depth of flavor that really makes it special.

Garlic Parmesan Roasted Shrimp and Asparagus Salad

2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 c. cooked shrimp, thawed & drained. I like the mini shrimp because you get some in every bite, effortlessly
1/4 cup fresh shredded parmesan cheese (I store mine in the freezer and use it as needed)
1/2 lemon's worth of juice
4 sprigs of fresh sage (get that spring garden growing!)
sea salt, to taste
fresh asparagus, cut into reasonable pieces

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Transfer to a baking sheet (lined with foil, easy cleanup-style), and place in the oven on the broil setting. Broil until things start to get slightly browned and yummy-looking. Like so:

Serve over 1 raw spiralized zucchini with 2 diced tomatoes.

The AFTER shot: Yes, we dined alfresco and covered the pollen-encrusted table with an old towel. Classy.

Serves 2 with leftovers for lunch

shrimp & brussels sprouts

Doing very well on my new non-dairy healthful kick, I made this quick, delicious dinner. The amounts shown here serve 1, but it's not hard to multiply it.

Cook brown rice or quinoa in chicken broth according to package directions.

Heat up 1/2 T. of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. While that's heating, chop 2 brussels sprouts and saute those for a minute until they get a tinge of brown goodness.

Add 1/4 c. shrimp and toss those around to get them warm.

Sprinkle 1/8 t. garlic powder, a pinch of salt, 1/2 t. pepper, and a pinch of cayenne pepper over the pan. Let the flavors fall in love while everything heats up.

Stir in the rice/quinoa, and spoon some in your bowl.

Eat happy and healthy, and have some frozen watermelon and blackberries for dessert.

Etouffee!

Oh yum. This hit the spot. Like Mardi Gras in my mouth.

I found this recipe in a Cajun cookbook that was lying around my house, only I have no idea where it went to tell you which one it was.

*DISCLAIMER: I know I told some of you that I'd have you over for etouffee this week, but I wanted to try this recipe first to make sure it didn't suck before I served it to a bunch of people. It has been approved.

The etouffee in my picture is not as thick as it should be. I must have messed up somewhere when I was trying to quarter the recipe. What it lacks in thickness, it sure makes up for in taste. Holy cow, this was good. So good it even made me slow down and savor every bite.

Get some ingredients and make this.

Etouffee

1 stick butter
1/2 c. chopped celery
1 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped green bell pepper
1/2 c. chopped green onion
1/4 c. parsley
2 c. water
1 t. salt (My shrimp was pre-cooked and was packaged with salt, which I realized when I tasted it and it was a smidge salty- check and see. I remedied it by sticking a some small chunks of potato in there for a while.)
1/2 t. cayenne pepper (I added more for a kick)
1/4 t. black pepper
1 1/2 - 2 lb seafood (fresh or pre-cooked and frozen. Crawfish is best- Shrimp is good too.)
2 t. corn starch

If you're using frozen seafood, take it out to thaw- and toss one down to your frantic-looking cat who has come over to investigate what's going on in the kitchen and smelled seafood.

Melt the butter in a pot. Saute the veggies for a while until they're soft and the butter starts to brown.

Add 1 3/4 c. water and all of the other ingredients EXCEPT cornstarch into the pot. Boil that for 20 minutes, stirring often.

Mix the corn starch with the 1/4 c. water left over and mix that into the pot. Cook for 10-15 more minutes. Let it stand for 5 minutes. Makes ~ 6 servings, depending on your appetite.

Serve it hot over rice and think of New Orleans and zydeco music.