Quick Curry Shrimp with Couscous & Green Beans

We originally planned to make a baked fish with curry marinade, but unfortunately Trader Joe's was plum out of frozen fish. So we got frozen shrimp instead!

This was a pretty good meal. Not one of our best, but definitely a recipe to revisit when we're in a pinch and need a quick dinner. The leftovers were also better than the freshly prepared version, surprisingly.

On the side, we served steamed green beans with a touch of olive oil, salt and pepper, along with couscous seasoned with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper (to taste).

Curry Shrimp

1 package frozen shrimp (medium-sized), thawed
1 medium onion, diced
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2ish bottle Trader Joe's red curry marinade
black pepper to taste

In a skillet over medium heat, add oil and onions. Saute for about 5 minutes, or until onion is just translucent. Add the garlic and ginger and saute for an additional 2 minutes to release and mingle the flavors. Add the red curry marinade and cook, stirring, until the marinade comes to a steady simmer. Add the shrimp and cook for 5 - 6 minutes. Add black pepper to taste. This dish definitely did not need any additional salt.

Overall, not too bad.

Shrimp & Grits

Another gem from September's issue of Bon Appetit. Anyone who knows me knows that a) I love shrimp, b) I love grits and c) I'm from the South (I guess you could probably tell that after reading "b)"). What better way to showcase them both than by putting them together? It's magical - and it's one of the most deliciously satisfying meals in the history of food. Seriously.

Shrimp & Grits
(Loosely adapted from September 2011's Bon Appetit)

1 cup yellow grits (not instant)
1 cup grated sharp white cheddar 
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 jalapeno, seeded & diced
1/4 cup fat free half & half (yes, it does exist and it's yummy)

2 links TJ's andouille chicken sausage, cubed
1 tbsp olive oil
4 or 5 garlic cloves ('cause who's counting?), diced
1 tbsp butter
16 large shrimp (about 1 lb), peeled and deveined
1/4 cup(ish) of beer
1/4 cup low-salt chicken stock


Bring 4 cups water to a simmer in a large sauce pan. Gradually whisk in grits. Turn heat to low; gently simmer until grits begin to thicken, whisking occasionally to loosen the grits on the bottom of the pot. Continue cooking until tender, about 25 to 30 minutes. Stir in cheese, butter and jalapeno, then half & half. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Meanwhile, heat a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add oil, then add sausage when oil starts to shimmer. Saute until browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and 1 tbsp butter; stir until butter melts. Saute garlic for 2 minutes, then add shrimp and continue to saute for 30 seconds to a minute. Add beer, then chicken stock. Simmer until shrimp is cooked through, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Heap 2 (or 3 or 4) generous ladles full of grits into each bowl, then top with lots of shrimp and sauce. I can't really call the sauce "gravy" since it is so runny, but the flavor is excellent. Next time we make this recipe, I'm going to turn up the heat and add flour to the butter/garlic/sausage mixture to thicken it into a roux before I add the shrimp, beer and chicken stock. We'll see how that turns out.

Garlic Noodles with Shrimp

We haven't eaten a meal with Brooks in a while and wanted to share with him a dish that we've always enjoyed and knew would turn out really well. We decided to make the Garlic Noodles with Shrimp dish that we love so much.

I tried to remove the tails from the frozen shrimp before they marinaded, but failed miserably. If I can remember in advance, I will thaw the frozen shrimp beginning the night before and remove all of the shrimp tails before the cooking begins. In the meantime, we're left to removing them by hand as we eat the meal.

Garlic Noodles with Shrimp

Tonight we re-made the garlic noodles with shrimp dish from last month that we both really enjoyed and appreciated for how easy it is to make. There were a few minor variations that we added to tonight's recipe that definitely made the dish better and more fun.

Last time I made this dish I counted out 40 pieces of pre-cooked shrimp thinking it was approximately half of the bag. Turns out we still had well over half of the bag remaining and we decided to just use it all. Since there was significantly more shrimp this time, I doubled the volume for most of the marinade components (oyster sauce, sugar, salt, and pepper).

We also had a 1-2 ounces of cooked pasta leftover from the linguine with ground turkey meat sauce that I added to our freshly cooked package of linguine when it came time to stir fry the noodles in butter and garlic.

The increased amount of pasta complemented the increased amount of shrimp very well and the concentration of seafood in this dish was a lot better than the previous time we made it.

Sadly, we forgot to get parmesan cheese for tonight's meal and ate it without the garnish. Everything was still delicious, but I would highly recommend to anyone making this recipe to ensure you have parmesan cheese nearby.

Seafood Mix with Garbanzo Beans

I made one of our favorite dishes tonight that we've blogged about previously: seafood mix with garbanzo beans.

We only had 3 cloves of garlic in the house and didn't have red pepper flakes, so I modified the dish by adding 1-2 tbsp of cayenne pepper. Probably was a bit too strong, but I do love the kick that spice provides.

The dish was served over some curry-spiced brown rice that Brit made and was garnished with the usual parsley, lemon juice, and additionally green beans seasoned with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

As usual the meal was delicious; it's so easy to make and always turns out well. I hope we make this again soon and I'm sure Brit will agree!

Garlic Noodles with Shrimp

Brit sent me this recipe a few weeks back and I immediately agreed that it looked delicious. The original recipe calls for prawns, instead of shrimp, but we had conveniently just purchased a bag of pre-cooked frozen shrimp the night before. Buying frozen (and especially fresh) shrimp from anywhere besides the wholesaler we had gone to would be too far out of our price range, but with the shellfish purchased, we were both excited to give this dish a try.

Garlic Noodles with Shrimp

Serves 3

8 oz linguini (we ended up cooking all of it, but only using 3/4 of the package)
1/2 lb shellfish (we used 40 of the fairly small frozen shrimp we purchased)
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar (original recipe called for 1/2 tsp)
2 tsp pepper (original recipe called for 1 tsp)
4-5 tbsp garlic, minced (original recipe called for 3 tbsp)
3 tbsp butter, divided (original recipe called for French buerre demi sel..... yeah right i'm going to buy that....)
3 green onions, chopped (original reciped called for 1 green onion)
Grated parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta, as the package instructs, until al dente. Drain and set aside. In the meantime, marinade the shrimp with the oyster sauce, salt, sugar, pepper, and 1/3 of the minced garlic for 15 minutes.

In a wok over medium heat, melt 1 tbsp butter with 1/3 of the minced garlic. Add the marinated shrimp and stir fry for 3-4 minutes. We were using pre-cooked shrimp, so this step is purely to cook the flavors together. The original recipe indicates that this step should be used to cook the shellfish until they are half-way done. After a few minutes, remove the shrimp to a bowl and set aside.

Melt the remaining butter with the garlic and add in the pasta. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes, tossing the pasta until it's well coated with the garlic sauce. Add back in the shrimp and cook an additional 3-4 minutes (if using raw shellfish, make sure it is fully cooked at this point). Mix in the chopped green onions and serve. Garnish with the parmesan cheese.

We also garnished our dish with steamed broccoli we bought from our farmer's market that had been quickly tossed with salt, pepper, and white wine vinegar.

Oh wow. You have got to try this dish. No real surprise though; it's shrimp cooked with butter and garlic! We both ate our full plate and went back for another full serving. That was a mistake as we felt stuffed after and we should have just eaten another half serving at the most. Adding the additional amount of pasta, that we didn't incorporate, could help this dish stretch a little further and provide for guests or leftovers, but we'd need to add more shrimp at the beginning. Additionally, I need to peel the shrimp tails off before cooking so that the shrimp can be eaten without having to use your fingers.

Seafood Mix with Garbanzo Beans

This dish comes from the April 2011 issue of Food Network Magazine. It is so simple and delicious. At one point we were making this dish every week and I had to ask that we make it at least every other so we didn't risk getting tired of it.

Garlic Shrimp and Chickpeas
(adapted from Food Network Magazine's Garlic Shrimp and Chickpeas)

Serves 4

2 x 15 oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Olive oil
Kosher salt
1 1/4 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined (we actually buy a mixed bag of frozen seafood from TJs that contains shrimp, scallops, and squid)
6 cloves minced garlic (This is already an increase from the 3 that the recipe recommends)
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp red pepper flakes (This is a doubling from the original recipe. I love the kick that red pepper flakes provide)
1/2 cup chopped parsley
Lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 450 F. Toss chickpeas with 1 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt. Spread out into a singe layer on a baking dish and bake until golden, approximately 20 minutes.

Toss seafood (whether you use just shrimp or a seafood mix) with 4 tbsp olive oil, minced garlic, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, and 1 tsp salt and let marinate 10 minutes.

Spread the marinated seafood over the cooked chickpeas and return to the oven until the seafood is done. We go based on whether the shrimp is cooked and pink. Drizzle the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil over the cooked dish and serve with parsley and lemon wedges.

This is one of our favorite dishes lately. The freshly squeezed lemon juice goes so well with the flavors of the seafood marinade and the chickpeas. I personally love the flavor and texture of chickpeas and need to find new ways to add them to my dinner recipes.