Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp in a Cream Sauce

I have been in the mood for some shrimp. And angel hair pasta.  So when I perused Pinterest, this recipe caught my attention.  As a bonus, it has a cream sauce.  Seriously, how can you go wrong with cream, shrimp, and pasta?  (Well, unless you don't like shrimp...then you may want to skip this one :)

One thing I love about shrimp is that it cooks quickly. That and I love the taste.  The one thing I don't like about shrimp is the peeling and cleaning.  I mean, mine does come "easy peel" and has basically been de-veined but I still have to clean them up.  In the end, the anticipation wins me over and I just suck it up and clean away.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup chicken stock (I didn't have stock; I just used chicken broth)
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 package angel hair pasta
1or 2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined
 1/2 cup chopped parsley (I didn't use quite that much...I just chopped a handful)
1/4 cup chopped chives (honestly, I didn't use any :)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
zest of a lemon (totally forgot that...I even had a lemon for it!)
salt and pepper to taste

I also added a couple of minced cloves of garlic, mainly because I love garlic.


Directions:
Heat the cream, chicken stock/broth, and lemon juice to a low simmer.  Simmer for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil the angel hair pasta in salted water according to package directions.

Add the shrimp to the simmering cream sauce.  Salt and pepper (lightly).  Cook the shrimp about 5 minutes (until it is a cooked pink).

Add the herbs and garlic to the sauce.  Add in the Parmesan cheese. 

Let simmer about 1 minute.

Remove from heat.

I did not mix the angel hair pasta (drained at this point :) with the sauce because not all of my kids are shrimp eaters.  Some prefer just the plain pasta.

Those who desired topped the pasta with the shrimp/sauce and added additional Parmesan...mainly because you can NEVER have too much Parmesan. :)

We ate this with a garlic and cheese breadstick and a salad.

And I loved every bite.

Reba

Roasted Lemon Garlic Shrimp

I have been trying to incorporate fish or shrimp at least once a week. I just wish shrimp were a bit cheaper.  Most of us eat it and it is just good food (to me :).  And it is fairly healthy (low cal, low fat).  It is just that darn sodium level that keeps it from getting a gold star.

Anyway, I had a recipe pinned that looked promising so I decided to give it a try.  I was a little hesitant with all of the lemon in it but after one taste, I was hooked.  Oh, yum.

And it was easy. And quick. 

Definitely yummy for my tummy.

I know not everybody is a shrimp eater, but if you are, I highly recommend this recipe!

Ingredients:
1/3 cup olive oil

1 lemon

3-4 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves removed (okay, I don't know if it is unhealthy but I just used the whole sprig...)

sea salt and freshly ground peppercorn

2 tbsp butter (I used light margarine)

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (the original recipe calls for fresh; that is hard to get around here...I did use about 2 pounds)

5 cloves of garlic, minced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Zest the lemon (I had never done this. I used a vegetable peeler and just carefully peeled off bits of the peel, trying to not dig in too much).  Then halve it.  Cut one half into thin slices. Save the other half for later use, though I didn't ever use the second half.

Pour olive oil in a baking dish. The original recipe called for an 8 x 8 dish. Since I had so much shrimp, I used a 13 x 9.  There was still plenty of olive oil to cover the bottom of the dish. 

Add the lemon zest and thyme to the oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake in oven for 10 minutes or so, checking to not burn the zest (which I did because I was peeling shrimp).

Remove pan from oven.  Add butter and stir to melt in oil.  Toss in the shrimp and garlic.  Stir to coat.

Bake for 8-10 minutes (watch carefully) until shrimp is pink.

We ate ours over angel hair pasta with garlic bread and a salad. Oh, and I added a little freshly shredded Parmesan because Parmesan goes with everything. :)

And I enjoyed every single bite.

Reba

Seasoned Swai

I have been craving Swai again recently (not to mention I love how cheap it is for our family of 6), but I was afraid I would burn my crew out on it if I keep cooking it the same way.  (I, myself, could eat the panko-encrusted version any day of the week...)

So I did a quick search via Pinterest and found a recipe for tilapia.  I thought, "Why couldn't I try this with Swai?"

And that is exactly what I did.

I was a little worried just because some of the ingredients indicated "spicy" to me which doesn't always go over well with my crew.

But thankfully it really wasn't.

It was just nicely seasoned.

And even better, it was baked.

Good flavor, low calorie. My favorite combination.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil (I actually used more like 1/3 mainly because that is where my measuring cup started...)

3 cloves garlic minced

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp ginger

fresh ground pepper (I just ground it on the spot and guesstimate...the original recipe calls for 1 tsp)

1 tsp dried mustard

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp chili powder

a pinch cayenne pepper

swai fillets (I used 6 and had plenty of seasoning)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix all of the seasonings in with the olive oil. 

Brush the seasoning on both sides of the swai on the parchment paper.

Pour the remaining seasoning mix over the fillets on the baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily.

I served ours over a bed of angel hair pasta. We were going to have the Oriental salad with it but there was a cole slaw incident.  So we had carrots and Ranch instead.  We also tried the new Crescent rolls with garlic/herb flavor...

I guess it was pretty good.

There were no leftovers.

Again.

:( 

Boo for me.

Reba

Spicy Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

A sign of warmer weather: We move from having soup in the crockpot to food on the grill.

One of my favorite grilled food (other than flank steak) is bacon wrapped shrimp. One summer Mark's aunt and uncle had a shrimp feast (they live on the coast) for us. One of the dishes was bacon wrapped shrimp. For some reason, this combination had never occurred to me. After that night, it was all I could think of. That was before Internet was a big deal, so getting the recipe after the fact took a while. Finally one day I was coasting the Web and came upon a recipe for something similar. It is a favorite now.

I realize this meal will only appeal to a small percentage of the population which is even smaller when you consider number of readers. :) But it is a regular here during the summer. Most of the kids won't touch them, though one has recently come around. We just throw a few chicken breasts on the grill for them.

Oh, and don't let the "spicy" part fool you. It does have a little bite to it but it isn't spicy enough to bring tears to my eyes.

Spicy Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

Ingredients

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tbsp olive or vegetable oil (I always go with olive when given a choice :)
4 tsp paprika
1 tsp each: salt, pepper, curry powder, ground cumin and ground coriander
1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 or 2 packages of large shrimp, easy peel, raw
1 package bacon

Peel/clean shrimp. This is the longest part of the process to me and probably keeps us from eating this more often. That and the whole cost thing...

In a bowl, combine the sugar, lemon juice, oil, and seasonings. Mix well.

Now, the real recipe says to pour 1/4 cup marinade into a large resealable (ziplock type) bag, then to save the rest for basting.

Honestly, I pour ALL of the marinade into the bag over the shrimp. In fact, I don't even mix it in the bowl first. I just pour the ingredients into the ziplock bag as I go.

Seal the bag.

Refrigerate for 30-60 minutes, though I typically do this a few hours before.

The original recipe also calls for cooking bacon over medium heat in a skillet until cooked.

Confession: I never pre-cook the bacon.

When ready to cook, remove the shrimp from the marinate and discard the marinade. Wrap the shrimp with bacon and secure with a toothpick. I typically cut each slice of bacon into thirds which is just the right size. I have also done this with skewers.

If I run out of bacon, we just throw the rest of the shrimp into the basket on the grill.

Grill shrimp, uncovered, over medium heat for 7-10 minutes or until shrimp turns pink.


I usually serve with potatoes in white sauce which seems to balance well with the spicy shrimp. (Recipe for the potatoes/sauce soon) and bread. I also put some carrots and Ranch on the table and had a lot more eaten than I expected.

If you are not a shrimp lover, you are probably gagging. However, if you ARE, this is a recipe you should try!

Happy cooking!
Reba

Broiled Scallops

The other day when Mark was at a local meat market buying some fresh halibut for our dinner (another entry for another day), I asked him to pick up some scallops. I had just found a recipe in the Dec/Jan 2011 taste of home magazine for scallops, and I couldn't get it off my mind.

Tonight was an "On Your Own" night. We have those on occasion when we have kids going in all different directions. Mark and Lauren were at basketball practice, and Hunter was out with some church friends. That left me with the younger two. "On Your Own" night really just means I am not cooking any set meal. For my younger two, they went the chicken nugget route. (We did have some grapes and cheese too...does that make it any healthier?) For me, I decided the broiled scallops was a way to go.

I personally really liked them. Nobody else in the house even tried them (I didn't have many scallops to begin with). In fact, Lauren came in from practice wrinkling her nose at the smell. So this won't make it on my family menu. But I want to remember it for ME. Just in case some night I need a little treat for ME. :)

Broiled Scallops
Saute 2 green onions and one clove of garlic in 2 tsp of olive oil in a skillet until the onions/garlic are tender.

Add in the scallops. It was supposed to be 12 oz. I think I had less than that. Also add 2 tsp parsley and 1 tsp basil. You are supposed to use fresh ingredients here. The scallops were fresh, but the parsley/basil were not so much. They were dried. But it is what I had, so I went with it. :)

Cook (stirring constantly) over medium heat until the scallops are firm and opaque.

Add 1/4 cup chicken broth, 1/8 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp white pepper. Okay, honest opinion here, I wouldn't add in the white pepper. I am pretty sure that was what kept burning my mouth and didn't settle well with me (heartburn). I think this would be fine without it...

Cook over medium low heat, uncovered, for one minute.

Put the scallops into an oven proof dish. Sprinkle with 1/5 cup soft bread crumbs (I just chopped up a piece of bread). Dot with 2 tsp butter. (Honestly, I forgot this part and it was just fine without it)

Broil 4-6 inches from the heat until the bread crumbs are golden brown.

I made a single serving for me, and added in a cup of rice.

Yum.