Garlic Butter Shrimp

Who loves garlic butter shrimp? I do! It’s also a super easy dish to make with few ingredients. I always have frozen shrimp in my freezer so this was an easy go-to meal to make, especially after not having been to the grocery store in almost a week!

GARLIC BUTTER SHRIMP (serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

·       20 shrimps, deveined with tail on

·       4 tbsp butter, melted

·       ¼ cup olive oil

·       8 cloves of garlic, minced

·       ½ tsp salt

·       ½ tsp black pepper

·       1 tsp red pepper flakes

·       ½ lime or lemon, juiced + additional slices for serving

·       1 tomato diced (optional)

·       ¼ cup chopped cilantro (for garnishing)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Make a shallow cut on the back of the shrimp. Line an 8 or 10-inch cast iron skillet with shrimp. In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients together (except for the tomatoes and cilantro). Pour marinade over the shrimp. Add diced tomatoes on top.

Bake for roughly 15 minutes. Oven times vary so make sure you check the shrimp around 10-12 minutes in.

Serve over rice or pasta. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and garnish with slices of lime or lemon.

Cajun Blackened Shrimp

After dating someone of Cajun descent, I became much more interested in Cajun cuisine even though the relationship did not last. I started frequenting (aka ordering delivery because we’re in a pandemic) Stevie’s on Pico and their Cajun food is DELISH! I really love their gumbo. While I do want to try making gumbo myself, I find it to be a little intimidating with all of the ingredients and fresh seafood. Someday though, I will try! Whenever I order delivery, I try to make it worth it by ordering enough food to last a couple meals at least. In addition to their gumbo, I’d order fried chicken and blackened shrimp. I love shellfish so the blackened shrimp really left an impression on me.

After researching recipes for blackened shrimp and experimenting a few times, I think I have a recipe that works! This dish is definitely going to make it into my weekly rotations. Super easy to make and so good!

CAJUN BLACKENED SHRIMP (serves 1 as a main)

Ingredients
• about 10 raw shrimp—peeled, deveined, tail off. Make a shallow cut along side the back.
• ¼-½ tsp chili powder
• ½ tsp paprika
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp oregano
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 1½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• cilantro, chopped for garnish

Directions:

In a bowl, combine all of the dried spices together (except for the fresh garlic) w ½ tbsp of olive oil. Add shrimp into the bowl and thoroughly coat with spice rub. Marinate for 30 minutes. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add shrimp and cook one side for about 3 minutes. Flip over and cook for another minute. You may need to add more olive oil and lower heat. Then add sliced garlic to the skillet and continue to cook with the shrimp for about 1 more minute. Serve over rice with a wedge of lime. Sprinkle cilantro on top.

Alternative last step: After shrimp and garlic are cooked, remove from skillet and set aside. Keep pan on stove on medium low heat. Add a little olive oil or a ½-1 tbsp of water to deglaze all of the good bits left in the pan (that is if those bits aren’t too burnt). Cook for a couple minutes while scraping the bottom of the pan. Then add rice into the pan to scoop up all that goodness. Plate the rice. Add the shrimp and garlic on top. Sprinkle cilantro over the dish and serve with a wedge of lime.

Spicy Shrimp Linguine-Fini

One of my favorite pasta dishes to make is Shrimp Linguine in a light tomato sauce made w frozen @traderjoes shrimp. It’s so simple to make and only requires a few ingredients. This has been a popular dish on my Love in My Belly Instagram but I hadn’t thought to post it on the blog until now after I had gotten multiple requests for the recipe. So here it is below. Happy Eating!

SHRIMP LINGUINI (serves about 3 depending on how saucy you like your pasta)

Ingredients:

• EVOO

• 1 sweet yellow onion, diced

• 5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

• 1 tbsp butter

• lemon juice from 1/2-1 lemon

• 1/2 cup of white wine

• 1 can of diced tomatoes

• 1-1.5 tsp salt

• 1 tsp ground black pepper

• 2 tsp red chili flakes

• 5-6 sprigs of fresh thyme

• linguine fini (or regular linguine or spaghetti is fine too)

• parsley, chopped

• 12-15 raw, deveined, w tail on shrimp (I always have @traderjoes shrimp in my freezer. Make a shallow cut along the back so that it butterlies beautifully when cooked)

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and slightly undercook the linguine and set aside. Add EVOO to a large, deep pan. Sauté onions till brown. Throw in garlic and lightly toast. Mix in butter and cook for a minute. Pour in wine. Let it reduce for a couple minutes. Add canned tomatoes. Sprinkle w salt + pepper + red chili flakes. Throw in fresh sprigs of thyme. Let the sauce simmer for a couple minutes. Lower heat. Add shrimp and squeeze in half of the lemon juice, tossing and turning the shrimp in the sauce until it’s cooked which doesn’t take long. Toss in the linguini and cook briefly. You can also remove shrimp and add back in after you toss the linguine so that you don’t overcook the shrimp. Squeeze in the rest of the lemon juice if you like. Drizzle some more EVOO. Toss again. Sprinkle w chopped parsley & enjoy!