Shrimp Scampi

This is such an easy recipe and would be perfect for a quick weeknight dinner!  B really likes rigatoni so we served the scampi over that.  I made some garlic bread (the frozen kind...not homemade) and it was a great meal.  I found the recipe here and didn't change a thing.

Ingredients: 
1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
Salt
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 - 1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 c white wine
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Pasta

Directions:Cook pasta according to package instructions

Heat a sauté pan on high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the olive oil and butter. Once the butter melts, foams up and subsides, add the garlic and red pepper flakes. If using unsalted butter, sprinkle with salt. Sauté for a minute, or until you see the edges of some of the garlic just beginning to brown.

As soon as the garlic begins to brown, add the shrimp to the pan. Then add the white wine and stir to combine and coat the shrimp with the butter, oil, and wine. Spread the shrimp out in an even layer in the pan. Increase the heat to the highest setting and let the wine boil vigorously for 2-3 minutes.

Turn the shrimp over, or toss them so the cooked sides are mostly facing up, and boil the wine for another minute. Remove from the heat, add the parsley and toss to combine. Add the lemon juice and black pepper.

Toss with pasta and serve.  

Crab & Shrimp Stuffed Mushrooms

We hadn't done one of our "appetizer for dinner" get together's in a while so the neighbors decided it was time to have another.  I found this recipe and made some tweaks to it.  I have always loved M's crab and shrimp recipes so I added shrimp to mine.  I don't like green onions so I left them out and put a little onion powder in the mix.  I eye-balled the measurements because I had more crab and shrimp than the original recipe called for.  I also added Old Bay (any good Marylander would do so!).  These were delish and the mixture would be good on bruschetta too!

Ready for the oven

The finished product

Ingredients:
1 lb fresh mushrooms, washed & stems removed (I saved the stems for use in omelettes the next day)
7 oz crab meat
1 lb shrimp, peeled & de-veined (I bought mine already steamed however if yours isn't, make sure to steam them first)
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp onion powder
Few dashes of Old Bay Seasoning
1/4 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 c mayo (I used low fat)
3 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese (for topping)
1/4 tsp paprika

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Pick crabmeat thoroughly and chop shrimp into small pieces
In a medium bowl, combine crab, shrimp, spices (not paprika), mayo & cheese.  You can refrigerate until needed.
Fill mushroom caps with mixture and place on cookie tray.  Sprinkle tops with a little extra cheese & paprika
Place in oven and bake 15 minutes.  Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Baked Shrimp in a Lemony Garlic Sauce

I needed a quick weeknight dinner that was an "all in one" type meal.  I found this recipe on the WW community site.  I liked it and thought it was light in taste.  I would probably use fresh, chopped spinach next time only because I don't love frozen spinach.  But other than that, this is a keeper!

Ingredients:
1-1/4 lb uncooked shrimp, peeled & deveined
1/4 c fresh lemon juice (I used less but eye-balled it)
2 tbsp light butter, melted
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 tsp lemon pepper
1/4 tsp ground red pepper (I used red pepper flakes)
2 tbsp fresh parsley (I used dried flakes and just eye-balled it)
2 c chopped, frozen spinach, thawed & drained
Pasta

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Combine lemon juice and next 6 ingredients in a large bowl.  Add shrimp & toss to coat.  Place in a 9x13" baking dish, coated lightly with cooking spray
Cook pasta according to box directions
Bake for 8-10 minutes & serve with pasta

5 points plus for shrimp & spinach.  Pasta is extra

Shrimp & Scallops over Herbed Basmati Rice

I really love carbs and have been finding ways to incorporate them, in moderation, on WW.  I found this recipe and thought it sounded good.  I've never had basmati rice before but it turned out very tasty!  We put some sauteed shrimp and scallops over top it and made a meal.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp shallots, minced
3/4 c basmati rice, uncooked
1-1/2 c water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
3 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp olive oil
Dry scallops
Shrimp, peeled and deveined
Old Bay Seasoning

Directions for the Rice:
Melt 1 tbsp margarine in a sauce pan over medium high heat
Add garlic & shallots and saute for about a minute
Add in rice & stir well
Add in water and bring to a boil
Cover & lower heat to simmer for about 15 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed
Top with grated cheese

Directions for Scallops and Shrimp:
Melt 1 tbsp margarine in a pan.  Add olive oil.  Place shrimp in pan & cook for a couple minutes per side.  Dust each side, while cooking, with a little Old Bay.
Remove shrimp from pan and set aside.
Place pan over heat and get very hot.  While pan is getting hot, salt & pepper each side of the scallops.  Add scallops to pan and cook each side approx 2-3 minutes per side.

Combine shrimp, scallops and rice and serve.

Rice = 5 Points Plus points
Scallops = 2 Points Plus points for 3 oz
Shrimp =  3 Points Plus points per 3 oz

Creamy Chicken Pasta with Broccoli Sauce

I wanted a pasta dish but didn't want a heavy sauce.  I found a recipe here after Googling "pasta and chicken" and followed the sauce recipe (mostly).  I probably made the meal more complicated and time consuming than it needed to be because I added shrimp; mushrooms and broccoli to the pasta dish too.  It turned out delicious!  The sauce is very light and tasty!   (I think it'd be fine with just chicken though!)  

Ingredients 
1 boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 package of Baby Bella mushrooms
12 shrimp, peeled & deveined
1 small head of broccoli
2 tbsp white wine
1 tbsp flour
1 shallot, diced
1-2 tsp chopped garlic
Olive oil
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup milk (I used low fat)
Old Bay Seasoning
Margarine 

Directions
Cut chicken into bite size pieces
Heat olive oil in a pan and place chicken in pan, season with Salt & Pepper
Cook chicken, turning a few times.  Set aside
In a clean pan, melt 1 tbsp margarine and place shrimp in pan.  Season with Old Bay.  When shrimp start to turn pink, turn them over and season the other side.  Remove from heat after about 3 minutes or when shrimp are pink on both sides.  Set aside.
In a clean pan, melt 1 tbsp margarine and saute mushrooms until they are soft.  Set aside
Boil pot of water for pasta and cook according to package instructions & drain
Cut florets off of broccoli and reserve the stems.  Saute broccoli about 3 minutes before the rest of the meal is complete.

For the sauce:
Chop the broccoli stems into smaller pieces
Over medium heat, drizzle olive oil in pan and add shallot & garlic.  Stir frequently.
Add thyme to the mixture
Add broccoli stems to the pan and saute for about 5 minutes
Stir in white wine and simmer until it's about gone.
Add in the flour & stir
Stir in the chicken broth and milk and bring to a simmer
Simmer until the broccoli is soft
Transfer to a small blender (I used a small food processer) and puree that mixture
Return to pan to keep warm

Combine all of the ingredients and stir to mix everything all together.  

Grilled Shrimp, Sausage, Mushroom, Pepper Kabobs

This meal was completely made up by me (yay)!    The kabobs were so flavorful and light.  They will definitely become a rotation as we come into summer!!
I did shrimp; mushroom; red pepper and chicken sausage (going for less calories) over brown rice.  (I added sauteed broccoli because I wasn't sure how it would turn out grilled)   It was amazing and everyone came back for seconds!
This is a recipe that can be changed easily to add ingredients for anyone's tastes!  I pre-cooked the sausage last night (about 3/4 cooked) and marinated the other items -
shrimp in olive oil; lemon pepper and a 1/2 teaspoon of garlic;
mushrooms and pepper in lite Italian dressing
I refrigerated everything overnight and pulled them out about 20 minutes before grilling to get to room temperature.

Here's a pic of the kabobs before the grill:

They look so good on the grill!

MMMM - here they are done:

My plate with the shrimp; mushrooms; peppers; sausage and broccoli:

Ingredients:

3/4 lb raw shrimp; peeled and deveined

1 pkg of raw mushrooms - cleaned and de-stemmed

1 red pepper, cut into lengths and small pieces

1 pkg chicken sausage (mine was flavored with pesto...but there are spicier versions)

Italian dressing

Lemon pepper

Olive oil

Garlic

Directions:

Night before 

Sautee sausage about 3/4 through cooking; set aside on paper towels to drain and cool.  

Peel and devein shrimp; cut pepper and clean/ de-stem mushrooms (keep only the tops of mushrooms)

In separate plastic bags, put Italian dressing for any component you want to marinade in it (I did mushrooms and peppers); put lemon pepper seasoning; garlic and olive oil for others ( I did the shrimp in that) and the cooked items (i.e.: sausage - goes in a separate bag)

Refrigerate / Marinate overnite

Night Of:

Soak wooden skewers for 30 minutes in cold water

Preheat oven to about 350 degrees

Load your skewers with your items (I separated half cooked items from raw)

Veggies cook a little longer - so put them on first for about 10 minutes total (rotating throughout)

Shrimp and pre-cooked items take 3-5 minutes (rotating throughout)

I served over brown rice.  It made an amazing meal!