Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Spicy Shrimp & Veggie Pasta

 So I couldn't decide what was for dinner and I opened my fridge and realized I had quite a few veggies about to go bad.  Honestly the old me (as in yesterday) would've just said "Oh well, bye bye veggies, go bad for all I care." but the 'trying to be healthy' me (as of today) was like "whoa veggies, you're not dying on my watch!!" did I mention that I hadn't defrosted anything prior to dinner. Sometimes I can be forgetful...oops.  So I had to think of something that I could defrost quickly and instantly I thought of shrimp. I mean c'mon. Who doesn't love them some scrimpies right? The only thing I could think of was to mix all the veggies and shrimp together and toss it with a light sauce and mix it with some pasta. You can use any pasta but I already had a box of wheat spaghetti already opened.  This is a very light sauce made with white wine, chicken broth and some cream. It's not thick at all and I made it just enough to coat the pasta and add some flavor.  I'm trying to eat light people. It took everything in me not to add tons of butter and flour to thicken it up. :( The main flavor was pretty much in the veggies and shrimp. I topped it with some grated Parmesan cheese, oregano and a squeeze of lemon. I would suggest you do the same to get the full effect. :)  You don't have to use all of these veggies, and can omit or add any veggies you think would go best. I just REALLY had to use them asap.

Ingredients
6 oz. pasta of your choice, I obviously used spaghetti. (half of a box) but if I had others on hand such as
bow tie, corkscrew or penne I probably would've used those.
1 lb shrimp shelled and deviened, I used frozen.
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper1 zucchini cubed
1 yellow squash cubed
1 jalapeno seeded and minced
1 shallot diced
3 garlic cloves minced
3 cups mushrooms sliced
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tomatoes
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup fat free chicken broth
2 Tbsp heavy cream
top with grated Parmesan, oregano and a squeeze of lemon juice. 
cook pasta according to package directions.

Season shrimp with salt and pepper and add a pinch of red pepper flakes.  Heat a large skillet on medium heat until hot and add 1 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp olive oil.  Add shrimp and saute about 2-3 minutes until pink.  Remove from pan and set aside on a big enough plate or bowl to fit other veggies.


In same pan, add 1 Tbsp olive oil & 1 Tbsp butter. Add zucchini, yellow squash and jalapeno. Saute 3 minutes making sure to stir so they cook evenly.  Add in shallot, minced garlic and saute about 30 sec.  Remove from pan and set aside with shrimp.
I did not want to keep dirtying pans & in order for all of my veggies to cook evenly I just cooked them in 'batches' in the same pan.  But I literally just used 1 pan and a big plate on the side to transfer the finished veggies and shrimp. You can throw everything in a big mixing bowl too.  So in the SAME pan add 1 Tbsp butter & 1 Tbsp olive oil.  Add in the mushrooms, season them with 1/2 tsp garlic powder. I swear it's not too garlicky. :)  Saute for about 3-5 minutes until done.
After the mushrooms are done go ahead and move those onto that big plate you have nearby which should already have all of the other veggies and shrimp on it.

In the same pan, deglaze the pan with 1/2 c white wine. Let simmer for about a minute and add 1/2 c fat free chicken broth along with 2 Tbsp heavy cream.  Let simmer another minute. It's a really thin light sauce enough to coat the pasta so don't get freaked out when the sauce doesn't thicken. If you want a thicker sauce you can adjust it to your liking. 
Remember that big plate or bowl that we've been tossing everything aside to? You can finally add them back to the pan along with 2 diced tomatoes. Let simmer about 2 minutes. 
Drain your pasta and mix together. I just tossed my shrimp veggies and pasta in the pot it was boiling in.

Top with fresh or dried oregano, grated parmesan cheese and a squeeze of lemon juice.
You can also make this more tomato based if you prefer. Don't say I didn't warn you it's spicy.

1 comment:

David said...

I used to be terrible when it came to wasting veggies. I would use half of what I bought then forget about the rest then they'd go bad and I had to throw them out. I refuse to do that anymore.

Good stuff!