Shrimp and Macaroni Salad

I must confess something. I have lied to you all. My sidebar may say I'm from DC, but it lies to you. I'm from Maryland. Pretty soon I will actually live in DC, but I think I will always consider myself a Marylander. Why? Is it because of my Terps? Yes, but not just that. The fact that I know that Jada Pinket Smith, David Hasselhoff and Edward Norton were from the Old Line State? Again, yes, but not exactly. Is it cuz I LOVE me some Old Bay...ya, that's gotta be it.

I LOVE Old Bay. I love it in crab soup and crabcakes, on spicy shrimp and even on chicken. Now I found that I like it in my shrimp and macaroni salad. I tried making this without the old bay and the lemon juice but something was just missing, it was flat. A sprinkle of old bay and some lemon juice later and the seafood really stands out, along with all the well-meshing flavors.

I am submitting this recipe to Eat Healthy:Protein Rich because of its 10grams of protein per serving.

Shrimp and Macaroni Salad
about 5 servings
2 cups macaroni
1/2 pound shrimp (cooked and peeled, then cut into large, bite sized pieces)
3 TBSP chopped onion
1/3 of a cucumber, chopped
1/3 to 1/2 cup mayo, to taste
1/4 cup chopped carrots
squirt of lemon juice
Old Bay seasoning to taste

Cook pasta according to package. Drain pasta and run under cool water until room temp. Combine all ingredients. Serve immediately or refrigerate before serving.

Shrimp Saganaki

Wow. So considering that I have MANY notes on this recipe about what I had to change and how i potentially butchered it, this dish came out spectacularly. It is shrimp baked with tomatoes and cheese in a Greek style. Yum-O! So good! I served with orzo and grilled, greek spiced squash. All around phenomenal. I am submitting this healthy dish to Eat Healthy: Protein Rich for its 31g of protein.Here's the fun part, the many things I changed. I recommend trying it the original way if you can, but my way (noted in parenthesis) is easier and still great. I used cooked frozen shrimp instead of fresh, uncooked shrimp. I used goat cheese instead of feta. I used canned diced tomatoes instead of chopped tomatoes. Still, this saganaki somehow survived in great shape.
Shrimp Saganaki
serves 6
1/4 cup olive oil plus oil for drizzling
1/2 cup diced onion
salt and pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1tsp oregano plus extra for sprinkling
1 cup diced, peeled, seeded tomatoes (instructions below)
1/4 cup white wine
1 28oz can chopped (used diced) tomatoes with juice
parsley
1 1/2 lbs shrimp, peeled, deveined (recipe says to keep tail on, but this makes it messier, just take the tail off too) (I used cooked, still frozen shrimp. Just rinse with enough water to seperate, but use still frozen.)
3/4 cup diced feta (used goat cheese)

To Peel Tomatoes
Bring pot of water to boil. Core and lightly score tomato skin in quarters. Place scored tomato in boiling water for 30 sec. Remove and place in ice water. Using a paring knife, carefully pull off skin.

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Heat 1/4 cup oil in large pan over med heat. Add onion and pinch of salt. Cover and cook, stirring occaisoonally for 8 min. Add garlic and saute for another min. Stir in oregano and pinch of salt. Add diced tomatoes and wine and simmer for 3 min.
2. Stir in canned otmatoes and juice, raise heat to medium high and again bring to simmer. Simmer 6 min and then fold in parsley. Season with salt and pepper, noting that cheese will add saltiness.
3. Spoon just enough tomato sauce into an oven safe, round pan or 9x13 baking dish to cover the bottom. Working from outside in, make concentric circles of shrimp (place tail to head, just touching). Spoon remaining sauce over top. Sprinkle cheese on top, drizzle with olive oil and oregano.
4. Bake for 20 min or until hot and bubbling with golden brown cheese.

Greek Squash
1 squash
olive oil
greek seasoning
Combine greek seasoning and oil. Slice squash into rounds. Brush oil onto the squash. Grill squash until tender.

Prawn and New Potato Stew

Well...it was easy...and it was different. It was just, well...way too spicy to even taste. I dunno what to do with this recipe. Half of me wants to never try it again and the other half of me wants to try to tweak it to make it a good recipe. I just am not sure if it is beyond saving.
If I were to make it again I would not use the tomato and chilli sauce, but just tomato, onion, garlic and cilantro sauce instead. The chilli sauce completely overpowered any other flavor in the dish, even with bland potatoes and bread to calm it down slightly.So, try it at your own risk. The tesxture was good, just try to work with the taste. If I try it again I will post an update.Prawn and New Potato Stew
1 1/2 lbs potatoes, either small new potatoes, or regular potatoes quartered
12 oz jar tomato and chilli sauce (I used 1 6 oz can of tomato chilli sauce and 1 6 oz can of tomato sauce with cilantro, onion and garlic, but owuld omit the chilli one next time)
11 oz cooked, peeled prawns (shrimp), thawed and drained if frozen

1. Cook potatoes in boiling water for 15 min, until tender. Drain and return to pan.
2. Add 6 TBSP water. Bring to boil. reduce heat, cover and simmer gently for 5 min.
3. Stir in the prawns and heat briefly until they are warmed through. Spoon into shallow bowls and serve, sprinkled with cilantro.

Shrimp Scampi

The boy and I have had very disfunctional dinner schedules recently. It has been hard to work out a home-cooked dinner together at a normal time, so we have had take out, leftovers, very late dinners and dinners seperately. A few nights ago was a very late dinner done seperately. At about 9:30 I finally decided I was hungry, and I wanted to make a meal that I wouldn't make for the 2 of us. Knowing his lack of affection for shrimp (or scrimps as my friends sometimes say) I decided on shrimp scampi. Ah, there are definately benefits to cooking for 1 as this was delish.

I started with frozen shrimp that still had their tails on and defrosted them in cold water while pasta water started to boil. I peeled off the tails and heated up about a tablespoon of butter in a pamed saute pan. After putting the pasta in to cook, I added pre chopped garlic to the butter. My roommate declairs her undying love to the people who invented aluminum foil and air conditioning. I would like to nominate the person who decided to jar prechopped garlic for the undying love list. I am such a wierdo. I love garlic, but if my hands smell like it, I can't eat it. So I adore the prechopped stuff. Anyway, I added about 3/4 of a teaspoon (=3/4 clove) to the hot butter, then added the shrimp as well as a touch of salt and fresh pepper.

I sauteed until the shrimp was mostly pink (meanwhile stirring the pasta), then I added some wine. I have read that shrimp scampi has white wine, but I had an open rose, so I used that instead. I decided I needed a vegetable, so I cut some brocolli florets and steamed them in the microwave. Next went in a bit of fresh basil and parsley.

As I continued to cook, I realized there wasn't enough liquid so I added some more wine. One can never have too much wine. When the pasta was done, I added it to the shrimp, then I added the brocolli.
From start to finish in just under 30 minutes, this was a great, complete dinner. Next time I will add a little more garlic and, for a touch of heat, a smidgen of crushed red pepper. Despite the hectic schedule, I am still dining well, even if alone. I may preffer cooking for a group, but I sometimes enjoy just cooking for myself as I can try new things or dishes others wouldn't fancy. Well I fancied this quite a bit. Perhaps I will have a table for 1 more often.