Shrimp dinner

Shrimp Dinner ~ That was my menu last night!

From any angle, the meal I made last night looked good!

And better yet? It tasted good!

And better even better yet, it was good for me!

Triple Play Winner!

Winner, Winner, Turkey Dinner! lol Except it was a ‘pescetarian‘ meal!

One of my favorite things to eat is shrimp. Now there are several reason to eat anything but shrimp:

It’s expensive
It’s got cholesterol
It’s a ‘bottom feeder’ and not ideal for consumption, because you are consuming all that they consume

But shrimp went on sale. So I bought some.

Here’s the thing: You don’t have to eat the whole bag of shrimp. You can put 2-3 shrimps on a plate, if you’ve got other interesting things there, and it will, in fact, feel satisfying. Worst case scenario? You go back to the stovetop and take another shrimp…. or two. But when you start small, you can most times stay small.

So remember that crazy good quinoa I do?

YES CHEF MARIAN. WE REMEMBER!

Well, for those of you who missed it, go ahead and check out other blogs I have done here to get that recipe. It’s quinoa with caramelized onions, mushrooms and sweet potatoes……. and everyone just loves it!

I stuck that on the plate as a base, piled the shrimp on top, put a side of bok choy steamed with a little sesame oil. And that’s it.

THAT’S IT CHEF MARIAN?

Heehehehee. Well of course that’s not it. Didn’t I say I wanted the ‘yum’ factor? So I started the meal with that same trilogy of browned onions, mushrooms and sweet potato plus shredded carrot and cabbage stuffed into egg rolls. I served them while we continued to cook the rest of the meal. Did I mention I had Chef Marissa and her family over last night? Oh yeah! Not only does she cook, but her ity bity daughter cooks as well. Ever see a young girl ‘prep’ bok choy or chop onions? It was absolutely amazing.

Was I a good mother? I don’t remember giving my kids that knowledge at an early age. lol

Oh wait! My kids weren’t interested in cooking. Yes. Yes I was a good mother after all! lol

Ok. Back to the food, my favorite topic of all!

So shrimp can be ok, it can be good, tender…. but what I go for is flavorful! So I cooked shrimp two ways. The first? As the quinoa was warming, I put a handful of shrimp and some garlic nestled into the pan, close to the bottom. I took it off the flame. And 10-15 minutes later, it was perfectly flavored and cooked.

With the rest of the shrimp, I took coconut flour and coated them, dunked them in egg and rolled them in gluten free bread crumbs. I chopped green peppers and onions and threw them into a sizzling pan with both grapeseed oil and a touch of sesame oil. Then I reached for the sweet and sour sauce.

ARE YOU KIDDING CHEF MARIAN? SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE WITH ALL THE HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP AND CHEMICALS?

Would I do that? No my friends. I have found (at Jimbo’s) a wonderful ‘all natural guilt free’ Sweet and Sour Sauce that labels itself as a Pineapple Ginger Zip! And to that, at the end I added some freshly squeezed lemon, to bump it up another notch in flavor. So that’s what I poured over the quinoa…. sweet and sour shrimp and vegetables. Nice?

NICE CHEF MARIAN!

So there you have it. Another evening with Chef Marian. Lots of satisfied tummies and great memories of a nice night ‘in’! It’s something you could easily do. I dare ya!

Happy Eating,

Chef Marian