Shrimp and Sausage with Polenta

Recipe from http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/shrimp-with-polenta-00100000076771/index.html

Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 20m| Total Time: 20m

Ingredients

• 3  tablespoons  olive oil
• 1/2  pound  andouille sausage, sliced
• 1  pound  peeled and deveined medium shrimp
• 1  bell pepper, sliced
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 4  tablespoons  unsalted butter
• 1  cup  instant polenta (just use cornmeal)
• 1/2  teaspoon  chopped fresh oregano

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the sausage until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the shrimp, bell pepper, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook until the shrimp are opaque, 3 to 4 minutes more. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter and cook until melted.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Whisk in the polenta and cook, whisking, until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, ½ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon pepper. Serve with the shrimp mixture and sprinkle with the oregano.

By Sue Li , March, 2012

bacon-wrapped shrimp kabobs

1/2 lb raw shrimp

1 lb bacon

vegetables good for grilling

(We used zucchini, red bell peppers, yellow bell peppers, and green bell peppers. Also good would be red onion, summer squash, small red new potatoes, corn on the cob)

1. Soak some wooden skewers in water for 20 min while you cut up all the veggies
2.Cut the bacon strips in half and wrap it around the shrimp
3. Slide 2-3 wrapped shrimp and some vegetables on the soaked skewers
4. Place skewers on broiler pan and brush with olive oil and sprinkle with cracked pepper and some salt. Or brush with BBQ sauce. Or teriyaki sauce. Or balsamic vinegar and pepper. You get the idea.
5. Broil until done, checking and turning every 4 min. They'll be done in about 8-16 min, depending on how hot your broiler is. Cover them with foil if they're charring, but not cooked through.

Enjoy the amazingly rich flavor combo of bacon and shrimp.

Southwest Pasta Salad

Sam's mom gave me this recipe and I love it. It's really easy to make and is great for potlucks. But be aware, the whole recipe makes a ton of salad. If I'm just feeding our family, I half the recipe and we still have leftovers. Anna likes it warmed.

I put *asterisks* around ingredients I usually leave out and {brackets} around ingredients I like to add

SOUTHWEST PASTA SALAD

Cook 1 pound tricolor pasta until al dente; do not overcook

In a large bowl, combine the pasta with

½ cup finely chopped red onions

*½ green pepper, finely chopped*

1 cup frozen or canned corn(I just use a whole can of corn)

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 small can chopped green chili peppers (sometimes I leave these out and it's still good)

1 15 oz. can kidney beans, or black beans rinsed and drained (I still use the whole can, even when I half the recipe)

4 ounces cubed or shredded cheese (cheddar, taco mix, or colby jack works well)

{half to a whole avocado}

{one or two tomatoes, or some salsa}

{one or two whole green onions}

{chopped black olives}

{some chicken that I stir fried in garlic powder, chili powder, and oregano)

Whisk together these sauce ingredients in small bowl and then pour over those in the large bowl

3 Tbsp olive oil

3 Tbsp chicken or vegetable broth

5 Tbsp white-wine vinegar

3 Tbsp tomato sauce (or spaghetti sauce)

2 cloves minced garlic

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried oregano

Orange Shrimp with Fettuccine

We got this from the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. I imagine it might taste good cold, too, but we had it hot.
-Steve

12 oz fresh or frozen peeled and deveined shrimp
6 oz dried fettuccine or linguine (this was far too little for the amount of sauce produced, we thought, so we'd double it to 12 oz. next time)
1 red or green sweet pepper, cut into 3/4 in. squares
1 T cooking oil
1/2 tsp finely shredded orange peel
2/3 c. orange juice
1 T cornstarch
1 tsp chicken bouillon granules
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil (we just used olive oil)
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground red pepper (all we had were red pepper flakes)
6 oz. frozen pea pods, thawed
2 oranges, peeled and sectioned

1. Thaw shrimp and peapods. Cook fettuccine for 8 to 10 min. or till tender but still firm. Drain well; keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet cook sweet pepper in hot oil for 1 to 2 minutes or till crisp-tener. Remove from skillet. Add shrimp to skillet; cook and stir about 2 minutes or till shrimp turn pink. Remove shrimp.

3. Combine orange peel, orange juice, cornstarch, bouillon, sesame oil, salt, and ground red pepper; add to skillet. Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly. Retrun shrimp and sweet pepper to skillet; stir to coat. Gently stir in pea pods and orange sections; heat through. Serve shrimp mixture over fettuccine.

Dinner in a Pumpkin

1 large pumpkin
1/2 lb fusilli (spiral) pasta -- I used the dyed kind for a more festive, fall look
1 yellow onion
1 zucchini
1/2 lb ground beef
1 can Italian seasoned diced tomatoes
mozzarella
cheddar
parmesan
basil
oregano
black pepper
crushed red pepper
garlic powder

1. Preheat oven to 350. Cut the top out of the pumpkin and remove the guts. You can carve something into the skin of the pumpkin or draw a face on it with permanent marker.

2. Put top back on pumpkin, cover with foil. Put pumpkin on cookie sheet and bake for 45 min to 1 hr.

3. Cook the pasta for 1-2 minutes less than the package directions call for. It should be underdone.

4. Saute ground beef, onion, and zucchini in a frying pan. Season to taste with spices. Vegetables should also be undercooked.

5. Mix pasta, drained tomatoes, and beef mix in a large bowl.

6. Grate LOTS of cheese into it. Dump the whole mix in the pumpkin.

7. Bake for another 30-60 min, until dinner inside is hot, and pumpkin is tender.

Enjoy!

Make sure you buy a pumpkin meant for eating. When I made this, the pumpkin I bought was all stringy inside and tasted disgusting.

Curried Shrimp

Ingredients:

1-2 lbs Shrimp, the more the better. Use big ones as the little salad shrimp get lost in the sauce. Precooked and frozen are fine. Thaw them out and dry them off before cooking.

½ cup White Flour (skip the flour or use corn starch for GFCF)

2 C uncooked Rice : 4 cups of water : 1 tsp salt

1 large Onion, diced

1 large Green pepper, coarsely chopped up

2-3 cans Tomato Soup

Curry Powder (Red Hot Chili Powder is optional: add this to the tomato soup if you want the curry to be spicy)

1-2 T Sugar

4-6 T Butter

Start the rice cooking first.
Melt the butter in a large frying pan. I use one with a non-stick coating. Add onions and cook just until golden. Meanwhile, dredge the shrimp in flour and then LIGHTLY fry in the butter with the onions. Sprinkle the shrimp liberally with curry powder and lightly with sugar. Fry a bit more, turn over and sprinkle second side with the curry powder and sugar. Add the green peppers just before you add the cans of tomato soup so they are not overcooked. Add water as needed to keep the sauce saucy. Taste the sauce and add more curry and hot sauce if wanted. Cook only until the sauce is all hot and bubbling. Serve over the rice.
You can make this more of a curry by serving it with small dishes containing finely chopped fresh green pepper, raisins, coconut, chunk pineapple, etc.