Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Marginal Shrimp but Great Recipe

This week's veggie box is great but not unlike the boxes of previous weeks. The only new items are a small watermelon from Spain and a cute little box of sprouts from Holland. At least I think that's what they are. I looked up the Dutch word Mosterdkers on Google Translate and it said "cherry mustard," in English. How mysterious. I'm guessing they'll make a terrific salad addition.

Dinner tonight was a shrimp dish I made many times last year. The recipe is extremely easy and comes from Real Simple magazine. It has a mere eight ingredients, four of which are garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper. The others are shrimp, scallions, feta, and roasted red peppers. I visited five different markets to find roasted red peppers, but no luck. The peppers I bought were pickled but not roasted, and they just don't impart the same flavor as the charred peppers do. Another stumbling block: no freezer means either buying fresh shrimp in the market (impossible in my town) or buying frozen and using it the same day. Which is what I did. But I wasn't that impressed with the quality of the shrimp and overall, the dish was not nearly as good as I recall from the past. I still enjoyed it--especially dipping slices of fresh baguette into the juices generated during cooking--but it didn't wow me. By the way, I'm not happy with my photos for today's post. The sprouts and baked shrimp in particular are too dark. And the pre-cooked shrimp mix looks too red and bright. More practice with the camera: Check!


Shrimp with Roasted Peppers and Feta (adapted from Real Simple)

1 12-oz jar roasted red peppers
1 bunch scallions
2 cloves garlic
1.5 lbs large shrimp, peeled and deveined
8-oz feta
2T olive oil
1/2t salt
1/2t pepper

Heat oven to 400F or 200C, hollow square setting!

1. Drain the peppers and cut into 1" pieces. Slice the scallions and garlic cloves. Combine all three ingredients into a bowl with the shrimp, oil, salt, and pepper.

2. Place mix in individual baking dishes or large casserole. Crumble feta on top and bake until the shrimp are cooked through and the feta begins to brown, about 20 minutes.

Serves 4

The dish is great served with a green salad and crusty bread. A glass of white wine would be good, too.

2 comments:

  1. I am silent laughing so hard at work ("hallow square setting!") that my eyes are tearing. Thanks for that. I'll have to try this recipe, as I'm always on the hunt for easy shrimp options.

    Here's a question: Does the kiddo eat all these great things you cook? We are still a "two dinner" family most evenings and I've been resorting to a lot of fish sticks, bland pasta, and cheese on toast...
    -Alissa

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  2. Hi Alissa,
    Yes, it should work well for you since you have easy access to roasted red pepper and fresh shrimp...and a freezer in any case.

    Anatole is given a small portion of everything I make so he can try it. Some of the time it's a go and he'll eat more but much of the time he takes one bite and that's it. I don't make two dinners, but I will give him yogurt and/or fruit if he won't eat what we're having. Anatole is big on breakfast and lunch but so not into dinner.

    Great to hear from you...

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