Spicy California Shrimp Stack

 

This is a great little recipe from Skinny Taste, who always serves up delicious recipes. This is company worthy. It comes out looking like something you'd be served at a restaurant. A few tips from the cook:

Apparently, Trader Joe’s carries frozen brown rice, which is a great short-cut for busy weeknights and the texture is perfect. Using their rice, this came together in less than 15 minutes. If you make the rice yourself, use short grain sushi rice, the sticky texture is perfect for this.

• This would also be great with crab meat to make a more traditional California roll, or even raw sushi grade salmon or tuna.
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• If your shrimp is raw, you can poach them quickly in a pot of salted, boiling water, for 2-3 minutes, until they are just pink. Then, rinse them under cold water to stop them from cooking.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/3 cups cooked short-grain brown rice, from 1/2 cup uncooked
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 8 ounces cooked shrimp, peeled and tails removed
• 1 cup diced cucumber, about 1 small
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives
• 1/2 cup mashed avocado, about 1 medium
• 4 teaspoons Furikake, such as Eden Shake or use sesame seeds
• 4 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce, or gluten-free
• 4 teaspoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

Cook rice according to package directions, omitting salt and oil. When rice is done, add rice vinegar and stir. Evenly spread rice on a sheet to cool.

Cut shrimp into one-inch cubes. In a small bowl combine cucumber and chives. In another small bowl combine mayonnaise and sriracha.

Using a one cup dry measure cup, layer 1/4 cup cucumber, 2 tablespoons avocado, then 1/4 of the shrimp and 1/3 cup of rice.

Carefully flip over measuring cup onto a plate, tapping the bottom if necessary. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, 1 tsp. soy sauce and 1 tsp. sriracha mayonnaise. Be prepared to dazzle.

Spicy Shrimp

This recipe from confessionsofacleanfoodie.com places this shrimp in a broccoli slaw salad. And it's very good. And I might bother to post that on a separate post. But this shrimp is so delicious that this is the way I prefer to cook shrimp, if I have it. I serve it with lemon rice and a green vegetable.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. wild-caught shrimp (peeled and deveined)
• 1 tsp. old bay seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tbsp. grass-fed ghee

Pat dry the shrimp. Combine the spices and toss with the shrimp. Cook the shrimp over the melted butter, 3 minutes per side. Done.

Kerala Prawn (Shrimp) Curry

For Valentine's Day dinner, we fancied a prawn curry.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1326/kerala-prawn-curry

• 2 red chillies split, cut into quarters lengthways and seeded
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 2½ cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and chopped
• 1 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil
• 1 tsp black mustard seed
• ½ tsp fenugreek seeds
• 14 curry leaves, fresh or dried
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp cracked black peppercorns
• 250g jumbo prawns, leave some with their tails on if you like
• 150ml reduced-fat coconut milk

To serve

• a squeeze of lime
• chopped fresh coriander, plus a sprig or two
• freshly boiled basmati rice

We were very excited to find an Indian grocery store in the area that carried curry leaves. This was one of the ingredients and apparently there's no subbing on this so we went for fun to include them. Not to worry, though, it would be fine without it because it's not the flavor of curry that it brings but just a smokiness. We added a tomato to the food processor, just because there was an over-ripe one lying around.

We really enjoyed it. You'll have to ask Amy or Alistair what they thought since we brought them leftovers when we visited the next day.

Roasted Shrimp and Potatoes with Prosciutto

I recently purchased 6 months of weekly meal planning (for $15!) from a company called "No More To-Go" and this was one from the first week. I thought it was very tasty... if you don't like shrimp you could easily swap any other protein in its place (so long as you adjust the cooking time, of course. I added in some asparagus as well, about halfway through the 20 minutes of cooking. The kids weren't crazy about it (well, Stella abstained completely, so she may have loved it but was completely unwilling to try, whereas Max claimed to like it but only ate half of what he was given... don't tell Dan). But kids are assholes ;-)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 pounds new potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• kosher salt and pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/4 pound prosciutto, cut into thin strips
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 475.
2. Place potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet and toss with olive oil.
3. Sprinkle with salt and cayenne and transfer the sheet to the oven.
4. Roast for 10 minutes, flip, and roast for another 20 minutes.
5. Toss the shrimp with 1 T olive oil and lemon zest, and season with salt and pepper.
6. Toss the potatoes with the prosciutto and garlic and push them to one side of the pan. Add shrimp to the other side.
7. Transfer back to the oven and roast for about 5 minutes or until shrimp begin to curl and are bright pink.
8. Toss all and plate, garnishing with parsley.

Shrimp and Asparagus Salad

Wait for it . . . tonight I totally made something up. I am digging this cooking shiz. Tonight I opened my refrigerator and had asparagus that had been just cooked last night. Not cooked a lot. It was still crisp. And there was a tomato from the market. So I thawed about 9 cooked shrimp (always keep this in your freezer) and put the three ingredients together with a dressing inspired from earlier this week - 1/3 cup of mayonnaise, 1 Tbsp. lemon juice, and a splash of vegetable broth. To that I added about a quarter teaspoon of dried basil leaves. I would have preferred it to be dill, but I didn't have that. Turned out to be scrumptious. It will be tomorrow's lunch. Beautiful and virtuous. Kind of like my own good self.

Szechuan Shrimp

Szechuan Shrimp

Shrimp was on sale and I couldn't pass that up.  This recipe serves two so for $5.50 for the half pound of shrimp, I had two meals from this.  And everything looks or tastes more delicious when you've gotten it at a bargain, I think.  This was pretty damn hot, so don't make this for children or wussies.  But it was quite good and a bit different for me.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 1/2 tablespoons ketchup
1 1/2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon Sriracha chili sauce (shelf-stable Asian hot sauce)
     (I just used some Mexican hot sauce)
1 teaspoon sugar or sugar substitute
1/4 teaspoon red papper flakes
1 cup chopped green beans
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
Half pound of raw large shrimp, peeled, tails removed, deveined
1/2 cup sliced water chestnuts, drained

Directions

In a medium bowl, mix cornstarch with 1/3 cup water until dissolved.  Thoroughly ix in ketchup, soy sauce, chili sauce, sugar, and red pepper flakes.

Bring a wok or large skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to a medium-high heat.  Add green beans, bell pepper, onion, garlic, and ginger.  Cook and stir until slightly softened, about 5 minutes.

Add shrimp and water chestnuts.  Stir sauce and add as well.  Cook and stir until sauce has thickene and shrimp are cooked through, about 3 minutes.

Baked Coconut Shrimp with Pineapple Dipping Sauce

Amanda and I first tried this on one of our cooking nights last summer... before we had babies. The boys really enjoyed it, as did we; they were delicious!

I couldn't find straight up pineapple preserves so I just used an apricot-pineapple preserve and I skipped the jalapeno because those scare me.

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon lime juice
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh jalapeno pepper
• 1/2 cup pineapple preserves
• 1 pound uncooked large shrimp peeled and deveined
• 2 egg whites
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

Directions

1. Combine lime juice, jalapeno pepper, and pineapple preserves in a small bowl and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a small bowl beat egg whites with a hand mixer until soft peaks form.
4. Place cornstarch and coconut on two separate plates. Hold shrimp by the tail and dip and coat the shrimp with cornstarch. Next, dip the shrimp in the egg whites and finally in the coconut coating well.
5. Place shrimp on the cookie sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes or until coconut is a golden brown. Make sure to turn it once halfway through (around 8 minutes into cooking time) to make sure both sides brown.
6. Serve with pineapple dipping sauce.

Photo and recipe from www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com

Shrimp in Tomato and Chili Sauce

This is a lovely dish Mike and I did off the cuff this week.  It was so good that we wanted to share it.  It was one of those delightful experiences where you open the refrigerator door and ask yourself, "What's in here that needs to be used?" and it turns out beautifully. Fortunately, we were starting with a base of shrimp which was fresh and you almost can't go wrong when you start there.  Here is what we did:

2 dozen uncooked shrimp, peeled and tails off
1 cup finely chopped tomato (you could use canned, of course, but I believe that this would detract somewhat from the final outcome)
1 cup packed fresh spinach
3 or 4 cloves of minced garlic (through the garlic presser)
1 dried chili sliced in half lengthwise to permit some of the heat to get out
salt and pepper
grated Parmesan cheese (each according to their own taste)

 Simmer the tomatoes in just a tiny bit of oil for about 5 minutes.  Then add garlic and chili and simmer for 20 more minutes.

Toss in your prepared shrimp and cook for 3-5 minutes.  Remove dried chili parts. 

Remove from heat and toss spinach throughout the dish until it is wilted. 

Serve over pasta and top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. 

Ooompah! as we say in Scotland.  Ask Max about that.

Grilled Pesto Shrimp

Photo Courtesy of Skinnytaste.com

Amanda and I made these a few months ago (maybe a year now... doesn't matter). Last week I actually had frozen uncooked shrimp and some frozen pesto from the last time I made some so I defrosted both  for a revisit of this recipe. I decided not to do pesto on Max's, to increase the odds that he'd eat them. I was reminded as I was cooking of the downside of pesto slathered shrimp... one can no longer tell when they've turned pink (i.e. when they are done cooking). Happily, this time around I had Max's plain skewer to tell me when the shrimp were cooked. So my advice is thread one shrimp on your skewer that doesn't have pesto as a doneness gauge. I also didn't follow the recipe for the pesto, I probably threw in some spinach and pine nuts but, because the pesto isn't the focus of this dish, even store bought pesto would work great!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 lbs jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (weight after peeled)
• kosher salt and fresh pepper to taste
• 7 wooden skewers

Directions:

In a food processor pulse basil, garlic, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper until smooth. Slowly add the olive oil while pulsing.

Combine raw shrimp with pesto and marinate a few hours in a bowl. Soak wooden skewers in water at least 20 minutes (or use metal ones to avoid this step). Threadshrimp onto 7 skewers.  

Heat an outdoor grill or indoor grill pan over medium-low heat until hot. Be sure the grates are clean and spray lightly with oil. Place the shrimp on the hot grill and cookuntil shrimp turns pink on the bottom, about 3-4 minutes; turn and continue cooking until shrimp is opaque and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes. 

Recipe from skinnytaste.com

Slow Cooker Shrimp and Artichoke Barley Risotto

Ingredients:

3 cups of water*
3 teaspoons Better than Bouillon Lobster Base*
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 9oz package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and quartered
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup (200gm) pearl barley
1lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
2oz parmesan or pecorino romano cheese, grated
2 tsp grated lemon zest
4 oz baby spinach

Directions:

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Whisk in the lobster base and set aside.

In a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat, saute the onions until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute, stirring. Transfer to the slow cooker and add the artichoke hearts, black pepper, and barley. Stir in the lobster broth. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours, or until barley is tender and the liquid is just about all absorbed.

About 15 minutes before serving, stir in the shrimp and grated cheese. Cover and continue to cook on high for another 10 minutes, or until shrimp are opaque. Add the lemon zest and fold in the baby spinach, stirring until it's wilted. Divide among serving bowls and serve immediately.

*In place of the lobster base and water, you can use 3 cups of seafood or chicken broth.

Nutrition Facts:

Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories 406.6
Total Fat 7.0 g
Saturated Fat 3.5 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.3 g
Cholesterol 184.8 mg
Sodium 917.9 mg
Potassium 677.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate 52.3 g
Dietary Fiber 11.3 g
Sugars 0.2 g
Protein 35.6 g

Recipe from  www.carascravings.com