Shrimp & Noodle Casserole

Yes.... Shrimp and NOODLES! Before anyone freaks out, please remember that this dish features a mere 8 ounces of noodles in a recipe with six servings. Also, pasta is in the low glycemic range at 50-54. Be sure to serve with a complimenting green vegetable like asparagus and your pasta load will be minimal.

With that out of the way, make this dish... Seriously, it is absolutely packed with comfort food flavor. Carb counters... take a small serving and have more vegetables. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp - tail off
• 8 oz medium or large no-yolk egg noodles
• 2 cans (10 3/4 oz) unsalted condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup sliced scallions
• 1/4 cup chopped orange pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried dill weed
• 1/4tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 medium sized tomato – sliced
•  flat leaf parsley sprigs/leaves for garnish

Preparation:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Drop the shrimp into boiling salt water and simmer for 4 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Cook noodles al dente and drain well.

Combine noodles with soup, sour cream, scallions, orange pepper, dried dill weed, pepper and salt. Cut 25% of the shrimp into thirds and fold cut shrimp and cheese into noodle mixture.

Spoon into shallow baking dish. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove foil and arrange remaining shrimp and tomato slices on top of casserole.

Return to oven uncovered for 15 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Garnish with parsley sprigs/leaves and serve.

Blessed be… and happy cooking!

Lemon Shrimp & Spinach Pasta - Signature Collection

Shrimp and spinach are an amazing combination I have used in quite a few different recipes. This one features a very light white wine cream sauce with hints of lemon. There is also some pasta, but before anyone shouts OMGs please remember that pasta actually has a low glycemic index. It's usually the portion control where most people fall short of optimal, causing the glycemic load to go high. This recipe mitigates the pasta carbohydrates both in quantity (~2 oz per serving) as well as the pairings of protein and vegetables in the dish. 

My original version of this dish, Creamy Shrimp & Spinach with Pasta, turned out to be more of an Alfredo sauce and quite heavy. Really good, mind you, but my goal was something lighter. This revised version turned out exactly as envisioned and now holds a place in my Signature Collection. ENJOY!

This dish is designed to serve FOUR, NOT TWO! :-) Exercise portion control!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb medium or large shrimp raw - peeled and deveined - tail off
• 16oz fresh baby spinach (a little olive oil & salt for prep)
• 1-2 medium leeks sliced cross ways finely sliced - stem & leaves
• 8 oz spaghetti
• olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic crushed - leave out 15 min after mince for best flavor
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup vegetable stock
• 1/3 cup good Pinot Grigio
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese - grated
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 cup freshly chopped parsley
• 2 tbsp butter
• salt to taste

Preparation:

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the linguine until al dente by tasting. Drain, transfer to a bowl and toss with a bit of oil to prevent sticking, and set aside. 

Using same pot with fresh water cook down the spinach with an inch of water. Drain and blend in a little olive oil and salt to taste. Set aside.

In a large skillet set over medium heat, add the olive oil and garlic. Give a good stir for about 30 seconds and add the leeks. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for ~5 minutes stirring occasionally.

Increase heat to medium high, add the shrimp to the skillet with the leeks and cook for about 3 - 4 minutes until the shrimp are cooked and turn a pink white color. Do not overcook!

Add the cooked spaghetti and the spinach to the skillet and toss well to combine. Reduce heat to medium and add butter to melt.

Pour in the cream, vegetable broth & wine. Add the lemon juice and salt to taste. Stir well to combine. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring/tossing gently to heat everything through. 

Finally add parmesan cheese and fresh parsley and stir until well blended. Serve immediately in your favorite pasta bowl.

Please remember the dish has FOUR servings. :-)

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Sweet & Spicy Shrimp

This dish is adapted from a recipe found on Tasty.com. There is quite a bit of prep work involved, so be sure to allow yourself enough time to get food on the table. ;-) The flavor pallet originally was and still can be all about the heat, but in my version the heat is turned down some so that the many ingredients can more easily shine equally. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb lge shrimp, defrosted, peeled, deveined, tail off

• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

• 1 tsp crushed Aleppo pepper

• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

• 3 tbsp soy sauce, divided

• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

• 2 tablespoons honey

• 2 tbsp lime juice – one lime

• 1/4 cup orange juice

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided

• 1/4 cup minced red bell pepper

• 1 pc fresh ginger, peeled & sliced into 12 matchsticks

• 1 cup scallion tops - cut into 1” pieces on the diagonal

• 1.5 cups asparagus - cut into 1” pieces on the diagonal

• 1 cup snow peas

• 2 tablespoons water

• 1 cup fresh Thai or regular basil

• 1 cup pearl barley

• 1/2 cup roasted cashews - chopped

Preparation:

Start the pearl barley first as it takes 40-45 minutes to cook.

In a large bowl, toss the shrimp with the cornstarch, Aleppo pepper, salt, and 1 tbsp soy sauce until evenly coated.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 tablespoons soy sauce, the rice vinegar, honey, lime juice, and orange juice until well combined.

Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large wok or nonstick skillet over high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the bell pepper, ginger and scallions, and cook, stirring frequently, until the scallions are starting to brown, about 2 minutes.

Add the asparagus, snow peas, and water, and cook, stirring frequently, until the water has evaporated and vegetables are bright green and tender-crisp, about 4 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl and set aside.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the pan. Add the shrimp in a single layer and cook without disturbing for about 1 minute, or until golden brown on the underside, then toss and cook for another 2 minutes until cooked through and opaque.

Add the soy-orange sauce and cook for 1 minute, until the sauce is starting to bubble and thicken. Add the cooked vegetables and basil, and toss in the pan for another 30 seconds, until the sauce thickens slightly and the vegetables are coated.

Serve the shrimp & vegetable mix over barley and top with chopped cashews and a drizzle of sriracha, if desired. For more heat add some thinly sliced or minced peppers of your choosing on top.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Spicy Shrimp & Veggie Stir Fry - Signature Collection

I have found culinary love in Shirataki noodles. LOL This is only my second dish using them and I am incredibly eager to explore them further. They are quite easy to use, but they do require a process to make them shine. Visit my post Shirataki (Konjac) Noodles - Diabetic Gold :-) for background info as well as a detailed cooking process.

Today's stir fry was originally inspired by my friend Angela who introduced me to Shirataki noodles. In the end I played with ingredients, flavors and process to make this dish my own. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb jumbo shrimp - peeled, deveined, tail off & cut in half
• 3 scallions - cut at an angle into 1 - 1.5" pieces
• 6 oz asparagus - cut to 1.5" sections
• 6 oz broccoli - cut the florets to bite size
• 5 oz carrots - peeled and julienned in 2" lengths
• 1 lge yellow onion - diced or minced - your choice
• 3 lge gloves garlic - smash minced
• olive oil as needed
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp Aleppo pepper
• soy sauce as needed - just a few splashes
• kosher salt to taste
• 16 oz Shirataki noodles

Preparation:

Rinse the Shirataki noodles for 2 minutes. Dry them in a  nonstick pan, tossing frequently. When most liquid is gone, remove from heat and keep in pan, covered, to stay warm. While dry frying them add a touch of salt and a splash of soy sauce for flavor & color.

Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Heat 2+ tbsp of olive oil in a saute pan on medium-high heat, and saute the shrimp for ~1 minute on each side, or until they just turn pink. Remove them from the pan place them on top of the noodles - covered.

Add the garlic & onion to the skillet with another splash of olive oil and saute for 5-6 minutes. Add ginger, toasted sesame oil and Aleppo pepper and blend.

Add all veggies and another bit of oil if needed. Toss gently so everything is well blended. Cover and steam for 3 min on medium heat, toss and repeat. 

Finally add the shrimp and noodles and fold into the mix. Maybe add a splash of soy sauce or salt if needed.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Garlic Shrimp & Tomato over Cauliflower Mash - Signature Collection

Every now and then even favorite dishes will evolve... either by choice, necessity or sometimes sheer luck. In this case I was upstate and wanted to make my Garlic Shrimp & Shirataki Noodles for my father-in-law. I could not find any Shirataki noodles at the local grocer so I improvised and served the dish on a bed of cauliflower mash. Turns out this version outshines the original! LOL 

Although now heavily adapted, I will still give Craving Something Healthy credit for the original idea. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 medium head cauliflower
• 1 medium yellow onion - minced
• 2-3 tbsp salted butter - as needed
• flavored bread crumbs - as needed
• salt & pepper to taste
• 
  
• 12-16 oz large shrimp - peeled, deveined & tail off
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil as needed
• 4 cloves garlic - minced
• 1 small - medium yellow onion - minced
• 12 oz grape or cherry tomatoes - pierced
• 1 tbsp+ fresh parsley - minced
• 1 tbsp+ fresh basil - minced

Preparation:

Cauliflower Mash:

Cut up the cauliflower and use your preferred cooking method until the florets are moderately soft. I simmer/steam in my Guardian Service - lid on.

While the cauliflower is cooking, mince the onion and saute in a bit of olive oil until translucent and slightly browned. Set aside for later, including saute oil for flavor.

Once the cauliflower is cooked, use a potato masher to break up the florets.

Add butter and puree the cauliflower using a stick blender. Add salt, pepper, butter and maybe flavored bread crumbs until you achieve a consistency and flavor to your liking.

Finally add the sauteed onion to the mix and blend well. Set the mash aside and keep warm.

The Shrimp Topping:

Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Heat 2+ tbsp of olive oil in a saute pan on medium-high heat, and saute the shrimp for ~1 minute on each side, or until they just turn pink. Remove them from the pan and set them aside - covered.

Add the garlic & onion to the skillet with another splash of olive oil and saute for 5-6 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and let them cook for 6-8 minutes with occasional tossing, or until they start to break down. I usually pierce them with a sharp knife so they give off their juice and don't pop.

Chef's note: If you don't have cherry tomatoes, you can substitute with regular ones cut up, adjusting cook time so they retain some of their integrity/shape.

When the tomatoes are just about finished, add the basil, parsley and a bit more oil if dry. Saute for 1 more minute.

Add the shrimp to the pan with the tomatoes and garlic. Toss everything well to combine.

Place a bed of cauli-mash in each plate and top with shrimp mixture. Enjoy!

Blessed be... and happy cooking!