Pan-Roasted Shrimp with Jalapeno-Cream Sauce

My husband started searching for a good, authentic Cajun food restaurant almost the minute he moved to Kansas City. It took awhile, but he finally found one that feels exactly like my great Uncle Dave's back porch (which probably sounds weird, but I promise that's a compliment). Basically, it's the epitome of good food, friends and family and that whole "Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler" vibe. (Let the good times roll.) 

And because I'm me, I am now on a mission to recreate all of our favorite dishes from there at home. ;-) This is the first attempt. I wouldn't say it was exactly the same, but my whole family agreed that it was delicious and worth sharing. So here you go! See if you agree!

Ingredients:

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 large jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped

2 tablespoons leek, finely chopped

1 teaspoon minced garlic

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup seafood stock

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

zest of one lime

3/4 cup heavy cream

salt to taste

Tony Chachere's seasoning to taste

Instructions:

1. Add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil to nonstick or cast iron pan. When melted together (over medium heat), add shrimp and saute until just pink. Remove from pan. (Don't overcook. You will add the shrimp back to the sauce later to finish the cooking process.)

2. Add another tablespoon of butter to the pan and throw in jalapeno, leek and garlic. Saute until wilted and fragrant.

3. Add seafood stock and increase heat to bring to a boil. Add lime juice and zest and stir together. Add cream and return to boil. Reduce until cream thickens to desired consistency.

4. Reduce heat and add butter. Stir until melted, then season with salt and Tony Chachere's seasoning.

5. Add shrimp, toss to coat and allow to simmer until cooked through. (This should only take a minute or two.)

I served this over seasoned red quinoa, but it would be great over rice or pasta or even a steak or a piece of fish.

Ginger Shrimp Soup

It is my firm belief that if everyone would spend a little more time grating fresh ginger, the world would be a much happier place. It somehow simultaneously smells like relaxation and invigoration. I'm not sure how that works, but I like it.

This recipe calls for grated ginger. So. You're welcome!

Ingredients:

1 large onion, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2-3 tablespoons freshly grated ginger

coconut oil for coating pot

12 cups chicken broth

2-3 cups kale, washed and torn into bite-size pieces (or baby spinach if you prefer)

1 lb. shrimp, peeled and de-veined

1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half

salt, pepper and Tony Chachere's seasoning to taste

Shredded Parmesan for serving

Instructions:

1. Coat a large soup pot or Dutch oven with coconut oil. Add onion, garlic, celery and ginger and cook over medium heat until vegetables begin to wilt and garlic and ginger become nice and fragrant.

2. Add broth and kale and allow to simmer until kale begins to wilt a bit, 15-20 minutes or so. (Kale typically holds its texture pretty well and will not wilt down completely. I like that added bite to this simple soup, but you can replace it with baby spinach if you prefer something that cooks down a bit better.)

3. Add shrimp and cook just until pink and opaque.

4. Add cream or half and half and season to taste with salt, pepper and Tony Chachere's seasoning. 

5. Serve hot with a bit of Parmesan sprinkled over the top.

Shrimp and Sausage with Cheesy Cauliflower "Grits"

True story. Grace came into the kitchen while I was cooking this the other night and asked if she could taste the cauliflower.

I said, "Sure." She raved. (All I had done at this point is saute it with the onion and garlic paste.)

I said, "I haven't even added the cheese yet." 

She said, "There's gonna be cheese?"

I said, "Three different kinds."

She said, "My mind is blown." :-D

It really is that good. And THEN I put shrimp and sausage and all kinds of other deliciousness on top. So yeah. You're gonna wanna try this.

Ingredients:

For "grits":

1 head cauliflower, riced

1 small sweet onion, diced

1 teaspoon garlic paste

olive oil to coat pan

2 tablespoons butter

salt to taste

Tony Chachere's seasoning to taste

3/4 cup mozzarella, freshly shredded

3/4 cup sharp cheddar, freshly shredded

1/2 cup Parmesan, freshly shredded

For shrimp and sausage sauce:

1 medium sweet onion

1 green bell pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup leeks, cleaned and minced

olive oil for coating pan

1 (16-oz.) can tomato sauce (no salt added)

1 (6-oz.) can tomato paste

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon coconut sugar

1/2 teaspoon Tony Chachere's seasoning

1 package of your favorite link sausage, sliced (Andouille is my favorite)

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

black pepper to taste

Sriracha to taste

Instructions:

1. Coat a large nonstick or cast iron pan with olive oil. Add onion and saute until soft and translucent. Add butter and garlic paste and saute until garlic paste is fully melted and evenly distributed. Add cauliflower and saute until it begins to soften and brown slightly. Season to taste with salt and Tony Chachere's seasoning.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Spray a small casserole dish with nonstick spray. Add half of the cauliflower to the bottom of the dish. Layer 1/2 cup mozzarella and 1/2 cup cheddar over the cauliflower. Add remainder of cauliflower and all remaining cheese (mozzarella, cheddar and Parmesan). Bake for 30 minutes.

4. While cauliflower mixture is baking, wipe out same pan you used to saute the cauliflower and coat with olive oil again. Saute onion, bell pepper, garlic and leeks until they begin to soften and become fragrant.

5. Add sausage and saute until it begins to brown just a bit.

6. Deglaze pan with white wine or chicken broth.

7. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt, sugar, Tony Chachere's seasoning, pepper and Sriracha. Simmer until well combined and heated through. 

8. When cauliflower has about 5 minutes to go in the oven, add shrimp to sauce mixture. Simmer just until shrimp is nice and pink and cooked through (about 5 minutes).

9. Serve by plating cauliflower and spooning plenty of sauce, including shrimp and sausage, over the top.

Sushi Bowls

Alright, listen. I love me some sushi. And I typically love re-creating all of my favorite foods at home. But mad respect for the experts, yo. There is an art to perfectly rolled sushi that I simply haven't mastered. (Probably never will, but I'll keep trying.)

Meanwhile, though, I do still want to enjoy some of those flavor combinations at home. So--sushi bowls. Not quite the same, but still fun to mix and match in the same way you might build a roll (if you're so inclined.) 

This also allows me to use quinoa (my food crush) in place of rice without worrying about the roll falling apart since it's almost impossible to get quinoa to be as sticky and sturdy as rice within a roll. So yeah. Not all bad to just eat it out of a bowl I guess. Try it, and let me know what you think.

Oh, and don't skip the sauces on this! They are super simple to make, and they change the flavors from "good" to "magical". I promise.

Sriracha Mayo (Sauce #1):

Ingredients:

1/2 cup light mayo

1 tablespoon Sriracha (you can adjust to your heat tolerance)

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

Instructions: 

Mix well and set aside. (Store leftovers in refrigerator.)

Eel Sauce (Sauce #2):

Ingredients:

1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce

1/2 cup Mirin (sweet Japanese wine) If you can't find this, you can use dry sherry or marsala or really any cooking wine, but you will probably want to sweeten a bit.

1/2 cup coconut sugar

Instructions:

Combine all 3 ingredients in small sauce pan over medium high heat. Simmer at a gentle boil, stirring often, until reduced by about half. Set aside to cool and thicken. (Store leftovers in refrigerator.)

Sushi Bowls:

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked quinoa

1/2 leek, finely diced (Or really any onion. I just had a leek, and I really like them, so I threw it in there.)

1 teaspoon garlic paste

1/2 cup carrots, cut into matchsticks

1/2 cup cucumber, cut into matchsticks

1 cup frozen shelled edamame 

1 avocado, diced

1 pound shrimp, peeled and de-veined

6-8 oz. fresh tuna

coconut oil (for coating pan 3 times)

Instructions:

1. Prepare edamame according to package directions and set aside.

2. Coat a non-stick pan with coconut oil and saute leeks over medium heat just until fragrant and slightly wilted. Add cooked quinoa and garlic paste and heat just until well-combined and warmed through. Set aside. (It's totally fine to serve this at room temperature. No need to keep it piping hot.)

3. Coat pan again with coconut oil and toss shrimp over medium heat just until firm, pink and opaque. Set aside and cover to keep warm.

4. Coat pan one more time with coconut oil and increase heat to medium-high. Sear tuna ever so briefly on each side--no more than about 30 seconds. Just enough to get a nice brown layer of flavor on the outside but stay pretty rare on the inside. Remove from pan and slice.

5. Build bowls by beginning with quinoa/leek mixture. Then add veggies and avocado. Layer protein over top and drizzle with sauces. 

6. Go back for seconds, 'cause you're gonna want 'em. :-D

And just because I think it's so pretty, one more picture...

Shrimp and Grits

I asked each of my girls to choose a recipe for me to make during the first week of school. Something that would give them something to look forward to at the end of the day. This was Grace's choice. :-)

I don't cook with grits very often just because they're a little higher in carbs and a little lower in nutrients than I prefer for every day meals. But sometimes a southern girl just needs some grits, and a little bit of a splurge was in order anyway after a successful first week of school in a whole new state. So: Shrimp and Grits! And what better way to enjoy them than with plenty of cheese and a little bit of bacon? I mean, really... If you're gonna do it, you might as well do it right!

Ingredients:

3-1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth, divided

1 cup half and half

1 cup grits

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic paste

1/2 cup freshly shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan

splash of Sriracha (optional)

4-6 slices bacon, cut into lardons

1/2 lb. portabella mushrooms

2-3 green onions, sliced (save a small handful for garnish if desired)

1 can chopped green chiles

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. shrimp, peeled and de-veined

generous pinch (or two) coconut flour

generous pinch (or two) corn starch

freshly ground black pepper

Tony Chachere's seasoning to taste

salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Begin browning bacon pieces over medium heat.

2. Combine 3 cups chicken broth with half and half and 1/2 teaspoon salt in sauce pan over high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add grits and reduce heat to simmer. Stir often until they begin to thicken.

3. Sprinkle shrimp with coconut flour and corn starch, and season with salt, Tony Chachere's seasoning and freshly ground black pepper. Toss to coat evenly. (You don't need much flour or corn starch. This is not intended to be a batter, just a small bit of added texture for the shrimp and a thickening agent for the sauce which will be built from the pan drippings.)

4. Once bacon is fully browned and crisp, remove to paper towels to drain. Discard all but a thin pan coating of grease. 

5. Add shrimp to bacon pan and cook over medium heat until mostly pink and almost done. Remove from pan.

6. Add mushrooms to bacon pan and cook until liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add minced garlic, green chiles and green onions and saute until fragrant. Pour in 1/2 cup chicken broth and use to deglaze pan. Increase heat slightly until mixture barely begins to boil. Reduce heat and allow to thicken, stirring occasionally.

7. Add cheeses, garlic paste and Sriracha (if desired) to grits.

8. Add shrimp back into pan with sauce and toss to coat and warm through.

9. Serve shrimp mixture over grits and top with bacon pieces and chopped green onions (if desired.)

***For the record, I'm planning to try this using finely processed cauliflower in place of the grits. My kids are skeptical, but I think I can make it work, which would mean we could eat this a little more often. ;-) I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Dirty "Rice" with Spicy Shrimp

Yeah, we're not making rice. Too many carbs. ;-) But at least it isn't quinoa this time for those of you who are sick of hearing about that. It's my other favorite food crush: cauliflower! (To be clear, quinoa and cauliflower are some of my food crushes mainly because they are just so helpful in keeping me happy without so many carbs in my life. If you wanna talk true love, we'll have to discuss chocolate and bacon and things like that, but that will be a discussion for a different day. :-D)

Anyway--riced cauliflower. Have you ever tried this? You should. I submit that not only is it a much healthier option than white (or even brown) rice, it honestly tastes better than rice to me if prepared correctly. And I would never lie to you about something like this. Ever.

Ok. Dirty Riced Cauliflower with Spicy Shrimp. Y'all hungry? Let's do this.

Ingredients:

1 medium head cauliflower, riced (just do a rough chop and process in a food processor)

coconut oil for coating pan

1 chicken bouillon cube

dash cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon garlic paste

splash of Sriracha (optional)

1 onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 pound lean ground beef

Tony Chachere's seasoning to taste

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

chopped green onions for garnish

Instructions:

1. Warm just enough coconut oil to coat the bottom of a pan over medium heat. Add bouillon cube and stir until melted. Add riced cauliflower, cayenne pepper, paprika and thyme, and stir until cauliflower begins to soften.

2. Meanwhile in separate (larger) pan over medium heat, saute onion, garlic, green pepper and celery in just enough coconut oil to coat bottom of pan.  Once vegetables have softened, stir in ground beef and cook until fully browned. Drain and return to pan.

3. Stir garlic paste, Tony Chachere's and Sriracha (if desired) into cauliflower mixture and stir until garlic paste has completely melted into the mixture.

4. Dump cauliflower mixture into ground beef mixture and toss together until well-combined. Turn heat to low and keep warm.

5. In the same pan that you used to cook the cauliflower mixture (you might just want to give it a quick wipe with a paper towel if needed), warm just enough coconut oil to coat bottom of pan and add shrimp. Cook until pink and firm, tossing a few times to make sure all sides are cooked. Season to taste with Tony Chachere's seasoning and a Sriracha (if desired).

6. To serve, pour entire cauliflower/beef mixture onto a platter and layer shrimp over the top. Garnish with chopped green onions

Bacon-Wrapped Sriracha Shrimp

I submit that if the words bacon, Sriracha and shrimp are in the title of a recipe, it needs no further explanation. I mean, honestly...

So. Without further ado...

Ingredients:

1 pound large shrimp

salt and pepper

1 pound bacon

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

2 Tablespoons lime juice

2 Tablespoons Sriracha

handful of coconut sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In medium bowl, whisk together coconut oil, lime juice and Sriracha. Peel and de-vein shrimp, season with salt and pepper and place in bowl with marinade. Toss to coat well and put in the refrigerator for about an hour. (They're already so pretty, it's hard to be patient. I understand. Really I do. But if you let them soak up all the flavors of that gorgeous marinade, it will be worth the wait. I promise.)

3. Cut bacon slices into 3 equal pieces. Wrap each shrimp in one piece of bacon. (You can secure with toothpicks if you like, but if you place them seam-side down on your pan, it's really not necessary.) For best results, use a broiler pan or an oven-proof cooling rack inside a sheet pan.

4. Sprinkle generously with coconut sugar and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, increase heat to broil in order to crisp bacon and finish caramelizing coconut sugar. Watch very closely at this point so as not to burn them. I typically broil for 1 minute, then rotate pan and broil for 1 more minute, but results may vary. Please don't burn these!!! Wasted shrimp and bacon just hurts my heart. I can't handle it.

For something so incredibly delicious, these are really deceitfully easy to make. Super impressive as a finger (or toothpick) food for dinner parties or a rock star main dish for your family any time!