Lemon and Garlic Shrimp "Pasta"

Recently I realized that entirely too many of my calories were coming from carbs, so I've been trying to cut back! I love pasta dishes and I've been eating a lot of spaghetti squash recently, but I wanted to try something new! I had some zucchini in the fridge so I figured I'd give zucchini pasta a try. I always keep a bag of shrimp in the freezer for quick dinners, so I ended up with Lemon and Garlic Shrimp Pasta!

What you need...

• 1/2lb peeled and deveined shrimp, thawed if frozen
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 medium zucchini, sliced into thin strips for zucchini pasta

How to make it...

If your shrimp are frozen, put them in a bowl of cold water to thaw. While they are thawing you can make your zucchini pasta. By the time you get the pasta made and the sauce ingredients into the skillet, the shrimp should be thawed.

To make the zucchini pasta, use a vegetable peeler and make long thin strips of zucchini. Continue around the zucchini until you get to the seeds. If you have a spiral vegetable slicer, you can use that instead!

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and combine all ingredients except zucchini pasta. Sauté until the shrimp turns pink. If you want the "pasta" al dente, just add the zucchini into the pan, toss and serve. If you want the pasta a little softer, remove the shrimp from the pan and set them on a plate covered with foil to keep warm. Add the zucchini pasta and toss for a few mins until softened.



I've made this dish three times since I first created it, its definitely a keeper! K, byeeeee.

Fake Fried Shrimp.

I love fried food and I would eat it everyday if I could - there are two problems with this statement. The first being that I don't have a deep fryer (definitely for the best...I would end up frying candy bars and other really unnecessary things). The second (and definitely more important) being that fried food is terrible for you. Lucky for us, there are alternative ways to feel like you're eating fried food, without actually increasing your risk of high cholesterol, heart disease, and muffin tops...yay! The obvious solution is baking - or what I like to call fake frying.  I made fake fried shrimp for Superbowl Sunday....and the recipe was so good that I've made these shrimp twice since then.

What you will need...

• 1-1/2 cups panko bread crumbs


• 2 egg whites


• 1 tablespoon fat-free milk


• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour


• 3 teaspoons of a seasoning of your choice (I used a mixture of Cajun and Mediterranean - gave it great flavor and a little kick)


• 1/4 teaspoon salt


• 1/4 teaspoon pepper


• 30 uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined (tail on or off, your choice)


• Olive oil-flavored cooking spray

How to make them...

• Preheat the oven to 400°


• Place bread crumbs in one container; combine egg whites and milk in another; and combine flour, seafood seasoning, salt and pepper in a third container.


• Spray the baking sheet with cooking spray.


• Dip shrimp in the flour mixture, egg mixture, and bread crumbs. (I put 5 or so shrimp in one container, closed the lid, and shook. This is much less time-consuming than dipping them individually...obviously.)


• Place the shrimp on the baking sheet; spritz with cooking spray.


• Bake for 8-12 minutes (turning shrimp halfway through) or until shrimp turn pink and coating is golden brown.

One Fake Fried Shrimp is only 28 calories and 1g of fat...compare that to a real fired shrimp with 75 calories and 4g of fat, and I'd say we're doing pretty well!



Like Bubba said....shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it [he meant to say fake fry], saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That-that's about it. K, byeeeeee.

Shrimp & Grits.

My boyfriend, Elliotte, loves shrimp and grits more than most people I know. If its on a menu at a restaurant, without question, he will order it. Ergo it came as no surprise when he suggested we look for a healthy version of his favorite dish.

After some searching, we found an awesome recipe in Southern Living. And because he is such an expert when it comes to this dish, we adapted it a bit to make it our own....and it was a huge success. Elliotte made a few quote worthy comments after we devoured the dish: "Never been much for magazines, but some of the stuff that comes out of southern living is legit." and "Hurry up and start blogging, the world needs to know about this."

Parmesan Grits Ingredients:

• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1 cup uncooked quick-cooking grits


• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese


• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Creamy Shrimp Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 pound peeled, deveined medium-size raw shrimp


• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper


• 1/8 teaspoon salt


• Cooking spray


• 1 tablespoon olive oil


• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour


• 1 1/4 cups low-sodium fat-free chicken broth


• 1/2 cup chopped green onions


• 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes


• 2 garlic cloves, minced


• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice


• 1/4 teaspoon salt


• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce


• 2 cups firmly packed fresh baby spinach


• 5 slices of turkey bacon or turkey sausage

To prepare the parmesan girts, start with 4 cups of water and add 1/2 tsp salt. Bring the  salt water to a boil. Gradually add grits. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Add in cheese and pepper. Keep warm.

Next you need to cook the shrimp. Sprinkle shrimp with pepper and 1/8 tsp salt. Cook in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat until shrimp turns pink. Remove from skillet.



Reduce heat to medium. Add oil and flour; cook 30 seconds to 1 minute. Whisk in broth and add green onions, tomatoes, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and hot sauce.; cook 2 to 3 minutes.



Stir in shrimp and spinach.



Cook 1 minute or until spinach is slightly wilted.



Serve about 1/3 cup sauce over 1/2 cup grits. Finally, add a few slices of the turkey beacon or crumbled turkey sausage. (I guess at some point I should have told you to cook the turkey bacon or sausage...but if you're like me that wouldn't be necessary, because I bought it fully cooked :))

 This savory dish is only 250 calories!!! And when I asked Elliotte where this dish fell in his rankings of all the shrimp and girts he's ever tired, he said "Its in my top 10, and that's all I'm willing to say."