What's cookin'? - Simple Shrimp

Tonight's meal had sort-of Italian flair.

It started out being based on a recipe I had found on the Internet for "Clean Eating Italian Shrimp". Clean eating means eating more plant-based foods or not eating any processed foods in your diet. I don't fully subscribe to the "clean eating" diet, however, I am always looking for recipes that use fresh ingredients as opposed to processed foods. But every now and then, I will used a canned ingredient. It's simply faster.

This simple shrimp dish was the cornerstone of our dinner. It seemed fast, easy and tasty - the "triple threat".

Because it uses some spices and ingredients common in Italian cooking, I decided that the other foods accompanying the shrimp would also follow that pattern. 

I do that a lot - it's like choosing coordinating clothes. You simply do not wear a polkadot blouse with striped pants, nor do you serve mac-n-cheese with chicken Parmesan (at least not in my home!) 

But I am anal like that....

 Therefore my perfectly coordinated meal consisted of: Italian Shrimp, pastina (with egg)  and Herbed Zucchini "Boats".

Yum! (Of course the boys balked at the zucchini, but my husband and I loved it!)

To make the shrimp, I thawed out 3lbs. frozen, cooked shrimp (that were already peeled and deveined). You throw them in a large frying pan along with: 

•2T olive oil

• one small can tomato paste

• 1 1/2T dried basil 

• 1 1/2t garlic powder

Cook until thoroughly heated.

That's it! Done! It can't get any easier than that!

For the pastina with egg, you can check out my blog post from 4/26 entitled "Italian lunch". This made for a perfect "starchy" side. I grew up with a "meat,  potatoes, veggies" mentality. It is apparent in almost all of my meals that you see on this blog. I can't help it! It's ingrained in my very fiber of being!

So, feel free to eliminate that if you are cutting down on your carb intake!

For the Zucchini "Boats", I used 4 small zucchini, cut in half lengthwise.

Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and brush both sides with olive oil.

Sprinkle the tops with a mixture of:

•Grated Parmesan cheese

•Minced fresh rosemary

•Minced fresh thyme

•Salt and pepper

(I used approximately 2T of each herb.)

Bake in a 350° oven for 15 minutes.

Then, broil 3 to 5 minutes, or until cheese on tops are brown and crispy.

The whole meal came together in less than one half hour! This was great because we had come home late from my youngest son's baseball game and we were all pretty hungry. (Not to mention that this finale week on American Idol, and I had to watch that since it's the only TV I watch these days!) 

The zucchini takes about 20 minutes total, the shrimp and pastina - about 5 to 7 minutes each.

Perfect for a busy week night!

Easypeasy and yummy for your tummy!

Mangia!