Indian Curried Shrimp

My co-worker Katie introduced me to this recipe and I have made it a few times since I got it. I must admit that I’m a bit addicted! This recipe is super easy to make and takes very little time and ingredients, while yielding amazing flavor. The only call out is that you must use Indian chili powder, which is much like cayenne pepper.

Indian Curried Shrimp

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 large yellow or red onion diced small (or 2 small onions if needed)

1 tablespoon ginger, finely minced

1 tablespoon garlic, minced (about 3 cloves)

1 teaspoon red Indian chili powder (you have to use Indian red chili or the taste will be altered and you can add more or less to taste)

1 tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon salt (or too taste)

1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes with juice

1 pound shrimp (shelled and deveined)

chopped cilantro, for garnish

Steamed Rice

Heat oil in large skilled over medium heat, add onions and cook until just starting to brown, about 15 minutes. Next add ginger and garlic, continue to sauté over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes or until garlic is cooked and fragrant.

Add Chili powder, cumin and salt, cook another 5 minutes, while stirring often to keep the onions from burning.

Add tomatoes, and continue to cook for 15 minutes until sauce is a rich dark red color. Add shrimp and cook until bright pink and cooked through.

Serve immediately over rice with a generous amount of parsley as garnish.

Beach Shrimp

I braved my first blizzard here in Chicago! It was actually a ton of fun, and absolutely amazing. I got over two feet of snow where I live and it drifted to the top of cars in front of my house. I was up until about 3am watching the weather, we even had thunder and lightening during the storm, so strange! There were gusts up to 50 mph as well, so it was definitely a doozy of a storm ;)

No onto the food...this is another easy and delicious recipe from my friend Doug. We made this one night and then sat in the living room and watched a few movies and literally pigged out until we couldn't eat any more shrimp! This would also be great for parties as an appetizer, or even served over rice for a light dinner. We decided to make it easy and used bread as our side dish, which we dipped into the yummy sauce.

Beach Shrimp

4 lbs large raw shrimp (frozen actually works best but fresh is fine)
1 16 oz bottle zesty Italian dressing
1/2-1 t freshly ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 lemons, halved
1/4 C chopped parsley
1/2 C butter, cut into small cubes

Place shrimp, dressing, pepper and garlic in 9x13 baking dish.
Juice 4 lemon halves over ingredients and stir.
Add lemon halves, sprinkle with parsley and dot with butter.

Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes (for frozen shrimp) or 20-25 minutes (for fresh shrimp, stirring halfway through.

Serve with crusty bread for dipping.

Thai Green Curry Shrimp

I was planning on making curried lamb shanks, but when I saw these amazing shrimp at the Asian market, I just had to change my menu! I just recently posted a recipe for home made Thai Green Curry Paste, but you can easily substitute any Thai Green Curry Paste, which you can pretty much pick up at any grocery store these days. I wanted a clean, fresh, healthy flavorful curry so I used Thai & Indian eggplant, sweet potato (which was everyone's favorite!), sweet pea pods, and your basic Thai basil, lime wedges, and cilantro as an accompaniment to the dish. This is a very saucy recipe so make sure to serve with rice so you get to enjoy all the yummy curry sauce!

Thai Green Curry Shrimp

2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 Large Sweet Onion, chopped
1 Green Bell Pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 Tablespoon Fresh Ginger, minced
3-5 Tablespoons Green Curry Paste (depending on how spicy you like your curry)
1 Lime, zest and juice
2 13-Ounce Cans Coconut Milk
1 13-Ounce Can Chicken Stock
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Teaspoon Salt
6 Thai Eggplant, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
6 Indian Eggplant, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
2 Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1/2 Pound Fresh Snap Peas
2 Pounds Large Shrimp, peeled and devained
Thai Basil, Cilantro, and Lime Wedges, for garnish

In a dutch oven or very large skilled, heat oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and pepper and cook until tender. Next add the ginger and curry paste, cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Next add lime zest and juice, coconut milk, chicken stock, sugar, and salt, cook until all solids from coconut are disolved and bring to a simmer. Add the eggplant, and sweet potatoes, loosely cover and cook at a simmer until potatoes are tender, about 40 minutes. Next add the pea pods and shrimp cook until shrimp are just cooked through and pink, only a few minutes. Garnish with basil, cilantro and lime wedges. Serve over jasmine or white rice.

Pasta Primavera

I worked a really long day last week and was starving after work. Normally I would just grab something on my way home, but I wanted to be in the kitchen and have a yummy homemade meal and came up with this light pasta dish. I just grabbed all my favorite veggies, some shrimp and fresh pasta and threw it all together. This dish is very quick to make and you can literally use any type of veggies you like. Pasta Primavera simply means Spring Veggies in Italian, so do your own thing and enjoy!

Pasta Primavera

1 Pound Large Shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 Shallots
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
8 Ounces Mushrooms, sliced
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Pound Asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
Handful Fresh Basil, chopped
Handful Fresh Parsley, chopped
1 Pound Fresh Linguini (I used half regular and half spinach linguini)
1 Cup Chicken Stock
Parmesan Cheese, for garnish

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta per the package directions until almost al dente. While pasta is cooking, drizzle a little bit of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, add shallots and garlic and cook until just tender. Next add the mushrooms, bell pepper, and asparagus, and continue cooking until almost tender. Add the basil, parsley, shrimp, pasta and chicken stock. Cook until pasta is al dente and shrimp is cooked through, just a few minutes more. Serve with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

Indian Grilled Shrimp

I had some friends over for dinner last week and was cooking Indian food but couldn’t think of an appetizer. Luckily I had just received my new Food and Wine magazine and found this recipe. I thought I would give it a try and am glad I did, it was really yummy! I was going to grill the shrimp, but there was sideways rain outside, so I opted to use the broiler instead, which worked out perfectly. I just put the shrimp on a wire cooling rack and cooked them about 4 minutes per side, just until they were a little charred and cooked through.

Indian Grilled Shrimp

1 Cup Sour Cream
6 Garlic Cloves, Minced
1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
1 Teaspoon Garam Masala
1 Teaspoon Cracked White and Black Peppercorns
1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
½ Teaspoon Turmeric
16 Jumbo Shrimp, shelled and deveined

Salt
3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Melted
½ Teaspoon Chat Masala
Lime Wedges, for serving

In large shallow dish, whisk the sour cream with the garlic, cumin seeds, garam masala, peppercorns, ground cumin, ginger and turmeric. Add the shrimp and coat thoroughly with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours.
Light a grill. Remove the shrimp from the marinade and thread onto skewers; season with salt. Oil the grates and grill over high heat until almost cooked through, 2 minutes per side. Brush the shrimp with the butter and grill until glazed and just cooked through. Sprinkle the shrimp with the Chat Masala and serve with lime wedges.

Thai Noodles with Shrimp

I love how easy this dish is to make. You can really add any vegetables you like to make it your own recipe. I must say that the first time I heard of oyster sauce it freaked me out a little bit, what the heck is in oyster sauce, and what does it taste like? Then I got over my apprehension and was pleasantly surprised by a rich, non-fishy, almost teriyaki type of flavor. It’s now a staple ingredient in all my stir fry recipes.

Thai Noodles with Shrimp

8 Ounces Rice Noodles
1 Pound Shrimp, cleaned, shelled, and deveined
1 Carrot, julienned
1 Small Green Zucchini, julienned
6 Scallions, chopped (divided)
Sesame Oil
1 Tablespoon Sugar
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
1/2 -3/4 Cups Oyster Sauce

Bring 6-8 cups water to boil in large pot, remove from heat add rice noodles and let sit for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
In a large non-stick frying pan over medium high heat, add one teaspoon sesame oil and sauté shrimp until cooked through, 3-5 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
Add another teaspoon sesame oil to pan along with carrot, zucchini and 4 of the scallions, sauté for about 2-3 minutes until slightly softened.
Add sugar, soy sauce, ½ cup oyster sauce, rice noodles, and shrimp. Sauté for 2 minutes stirring to coat the noodles completely with sauce. Add more oyster sauce if necessary. Sprinkle with remaining scallions and serve.