Easy 10 Minute Recipe for Spicy Shrimp Marinara

Spicy Shrimp Marinara Over Spaghetti

Tomorrow will mark the first day of summer for me. My oldest son will have his last day of school and I will no longer have to do the daily running out the door before we are late for school routine (at least for a couple of months). Plus there will be trips to my in-laws house and peace and quiet for me for at least a few days. I might actually be able to catch up on some reading and get ahead on blog posts. However, my oldest claims that I am a mean mommy since I insist on work books throughout the summer months. I have high expectations for my children and I hate the idea of them losing knowledge through the summer. Another sign of summer in my house is the arrival of lots of seafood dishes. My kids are big fans of shrimp and I try to make it at least once every couple of weeks, especially during the warmer months. Last week I tried a new recipe for Spicy Shrimp Marinara from the Everyday Food insert of Martha Stewart Living magazine.

This recipe has three ingredients in the marinara and five in the main recipe. It takes 10 minutes of total time (not including the time to make the marinara), all of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First since I was serving 6 people (my in-laws were in town) I doubled the recipe. I also chose to leave out the red pepper flakes and add them at the table for individual servings. My father-in-law doesn't enjoy spicy foods, so doing the red pepper flakes in this manner allowed everyone to eat the recipe. I served my portion over gluten free ziti and the rest of the servings over spaghetti for the remainder of my family.

Everyone that tried this recipe loved it. The flavors were delicious and the recipe is beyond easy. I allowed my garlic to caramelize, which created a nice undertone to the dish. For anyone trying this recipe I would suggest doing this modification as well. This is a nice simple recipe that would work well year round.

For the recipe go to Spicy Shrimp Marinara.

Recipe for Coconut Shrimp Curry

Coconut Shrimp Curry with Basmati Rice

As many of you already know my oldest son is a shrimp fanatic. He could eat shrimp three times a day and be completely happy. Especially if it also involved bacon in some manner. My mother had a shell fish allergy growing up so we rarely ate shrimp at home and it was always too expensive at restaurants. Luckily I haven't seemed to have inherited the allergy (except I avoid oysters) so my family has shrimp once every week or two. My kids could eat shrimp plain, but my husband and I prefer sauces and curries. Last week I tried a new recipe for Coconut Shrimp Curry from the Oxygen Summer Meals 2012.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 4 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First I served the curry over basmati rice. I used one large red onion and bought pre-sliced shiitake mushrooms. As I always do I bought wild caught US shrimp. The majority of the time spent in this recipe is from peeling and de-veining the shrimp. Since I do it so frequently I can get it done pretty quickly and I buy extra large shrimp which has about 20 shrimp to the pound.

My family loved this recipe. It had a little bit of kick from the sambal oelek, but not enough to be spicy. There were no leftovers since my kids ate their servings and the extra sauce that was left. If you don't want to serve the curry over rice it would also be delicious alone.

This recipe is not currently available online, but can be found in the Oxygen Summer Meals 2012 on page 48.

Slow Cooker Corn Chowder with Shrimp

My family enjoyed the last of our Thanksgiving leftovers tonight. Right now I am eating the remainder of the sweet potato pie with a big helping of whipped cream. I survived all the chaos of the Thanksgiving cooking and was able to get a few great deals shopping this weekend. Now the craziness of December starts with my youngest son's birthday next weekend. I can't believe that my youngest is turning four! Since the holidays always mean crazy schedules and a press for time, I love using my slow-cooker to make dinner just a little bit easier. Eventually I will also learn to use the pressure cooker that I have in my pantry. So far I have used it to can veggies and soups, but I seem to never use it as an actual pressure cooker. Maybe that will be my New Year's resolution this year. Then again I am horrible at keeping resolutions, so maybe not. Either way I fall back on my crock-pot extensively during the holidays. Last week before the massive cooking endeavor of Thanksgiving I tried a new recipe for Slow Cooker Corn Chowder with Shrimp from All You magazine, which looked perfect for the full house of company I had for the week.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes a total time of 6 hours and 15 minutes, 15 minutes of which is active and makes six servings. I always have to go to multiple stores in my area when making seafood recipes. For whatever reason my local superstore insists on only carrying farm raised fish and shrimp. Having grown-up in the Northwest I shudder at the idea of eating farm raised seafood. I had too many friends that worked in the fisheries dept. and instilled in my head never to eat anything farm raised. So in order to find wild caught U.S. shrimp I have to drive to the grocery store in the suburbs. I had no problem finding any of the ingredients. I made my own chicken stock and as I always do I bought Italian flat leaf parsley. I am not a fan of curly parsley, the texture isn't something that either my husband or I enjoy. Make sure to fully salt this dish. I had to add a decent amount of salt after this recipe was done since the potatoes had soaked up any of the salt added to the soup in the slow-cooker. Finally I did add the heavy cream, without this step it is more of a soup than a chowder. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I served this recipe while my in-laws were at my house and everyone enjoyed it. My oldest son thought the shrimp was the best part, but he always eats more shrimp than anyone else in the house. Make sure that your potatoes are diced small or they won't fully cook in the slow-cooker. My potatoes were a little larger than I would prefer so I would change it if I made this recipe again. For an extra flavor I would suggest adding crushed red pepper. It really would make this dish better since the spices weren't noticeable the way that the recipe is written.

For the recipe go to Slow Cooker Corn Chowder with Shrimp.

Apricot Lime Glazed Shrimp

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I decided to paint my house this week and of course, I started out with wanting to just paint the living room. This quickly evolved into more paint and more rooms. I'm almost done though and it looks so much better, so I am happy. There's nothing like a little bit of paint to completely transform a room. So back to the food. One of my kids favorite foods is shrimp. They could literally eat two pounds of shrimp all by themselves if I let them. Since shrimp is on the expensive side I limit our shrimp consumption to approximately twice a month. I also like to try new recipes as often as possible so each shrimp dish feels and tastes like something completely new. My taste buds seems to get bored very quickly and variety is key, especially with shrimp since we eat it so frequently. Recently, I tried a new recipe for Apricot Lime Glazed Shrimp from the July issue of Family Circle magazine, which with 5 grams of fat and 33 grams of protein per serving looked like the perfect healthy dinner option.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 15 minutes of prep and 15 minutes of cooking time and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and I made no ingredient modifications. Since I eat gluten free I buy gluten-free soy sauce, a lot of cheaper brands use wheat as a main ingredient. Instead of white rice I served the shrimp over brown rice, we only eat white rice in limited amounts. Brown rice also cooks great in the microwave which I love! To grill the shrimp I used an indoor grill. I love my indoor grill it is so much easier than going outside, especially in the winter. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My two sons really loved this dish. While, I like snow peas I would have preferred sugar snap peas in this recipe. The additional sweetness would have been delicious. This recipe only makes 6 shrimp per person, so I would suggest doubling the recipe if you want larger servings. The best part of this recipe was the quick prep and cook time. With only thirty minutes of total time, it makes for a great weeknight meal.

For the recipe go to Apricot Lime Glazed Shrimp. (registration required)

Skillet Gnocchi with Shrimp and Asparagus

It was very hot here this weekend. Almost 95 degrees with high humidity; all I can say is yuck. Thanks to all the very warm weather like it does every summer my kitchen has started its fast decent into a sauna. I try to minimize the amount of time I run my oven during the middle of the day and instead rely on my stove and crockpot to do the majority of my cooking. Additionally, I try to lighten up my menu. I use less heavy sauces and thick stews and more seafood and fresh vegetables. I learned this from my mom who insisted that the foods that you eat have a direct correlation to how hot you feel. I also vividly remember being given hot coffee when the weather was sweltering to cool me down. At the time I thought it was somewhat crazy, but I realized this weekend when I was drinking my hot coffee in the middle of the day, my mother seems to be ingrained in even the little slightly strange things that we now do alike. One of the other things that my mom and I had in common was our love of shrimp. Shrimp is one of my favorite things to prepare in the summer and I was drawn to a recipe in a recent issue of Eating Well magazine for Skillet Gnocchi with Shrimp and Asparagus, which looked light and perfect for the hot summer months ahead.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 4 servings. As I always do with seafood I had to go to the nicer grocery store in town to purchase non-farm raised shrimp. This to me is a deal breaker. I went to school with people who worked in the fisheries dept and the studies that they worked on with mercury levels and farm raised fish and seafood are disturbing. I have two young boys that don't need to be exposed to high mercury levels. Since the major super store in my area does not agree with my ideas I always have to go to the nicer suburban chain grocery store to buy seafood. I always seem to take forever to prep shrimp, so my prep time was longer than the recipe suggested. A pound of shrimp normally takes me approximately 15-20 minutes to peel and de-vein. I have been very pleased that I am now able to buy shallots by the pound. Previously 3 ounces cost 1.99 and now a whole pound is only 3.99, that is a substantial price difference. So I am very happy for this new bulk option. As I always do I made my own chicken stock, I don't salt my stock in order that I can control the amount of sodium in my family's diet. I was very happy to find great locally grown asparagus, I prefer to buy local as much as possible. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

Both my husband and I were surprised that the gnocchi was the real winner in this recipe. Most of the time in shrimp dishes the shrimp is always the star. However, in this dish the shrimp was a little lacking in flavor, but the gnocchi was delicious. I think that the shrimp would have been better if it was seasoned more before going in with the other ingredients or even marinated before cooking. The asparagus was delicious and honestly this dish would be just as good (and a lot cheaper) if you left out the shrimp and made it vegetarian. My kids loved the recipe, so it was very family friendly.

For the recipe go to Skillet Gnocchi with Shrimp and Asparagus.

Redbook Tagliatelle with Pesto, Asparagus, and Shrimp

Growing up I was always the kid asking for seconds of asparagus at the Easter table. I love asparagus and have passed on the feelings to my two boys. In the spring when the prices on asparagus go down and they are readily available I buy them at least once a week. For a number of years I made steamed asparagus and added various sauces. Then about 5 years ago I discovered that asparagus is delicious when cooked in pasta dishes or roasted. The great flavor remains without the outside becoming slimy and unappetizing. Recently, Redbook magazine had a recipe for Tagliatelle with Pesto, Asparagus, and Shrimp which looked easy with only 6 ingredients and full of one of my favorite vegetables asparagus.

This recipe has 6 ingredients. It takes 5 minutes of prep and 10 minutes of cooking and makes 4 servings. I used fresh fettuccine since it is the only fresh pasta that was available. To save time during dinner prep I shelled and de-veined the shrimp in the morning. Additionally, I cut the asparagus in the morning, so my dinner prep was minimal. I did notice that the cooking time for the pasta in the recipe is off. My pasta only took a total time of 3 minutes so I added the asparagus at the same time since it needed to be cooked 2-3 minutes. Finally, it took a little longer than the suggested 3 minutes for the wine to reduce. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I made this dish after a very long day visiting family over the weekend. I was able to make everything in 15 minutes, which was great! My two boys loved the shrimp and ate their servings quickly. Using fresh pasta saves a lot of time, especially when making dinner at the last minute. Best of all the recipe has 46 grams of protein. Overall, a very quick recipe using fresh vegetables and child friendly.

For the recipe go to Tagliatelle with Pesto, Asparagus, and Shrimp.

Taste of Home Thai Shrimp

To say that my five-year-old loves shrimp would be an understatement. He absolutely adores anything to do with shrimp, and devours it when I make a recipe. Recently, he has gotten to the age that he is able to help me peel the shrimp, while I de-vein, which works great as a kitchen learning project. He learns important kitchen steps and I am able to save a bunch of time. Recently, the August/September issue of Taste of Home magazine had a recipe for Thai Shrimp, which looked delicious and a perfect kitchen project for my oldest son and I.

This recipe has 16 ingredients, 20 minutes of prep and 15 minutes of cooking time. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. Instead of using store bought chicken broth I used the homemade stock I had in my freezer. I found that it took me longer than the stated 20 minutes to prep my shrimp and the rest of the recipe, but I was working with my five-year-old. The only curry powder I had in my cupboard was madras curry, so my curry ended up slightly spicy. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

If your family size is larger than two or if you are a big shrimp eater, you will want to at least double this recipe. This recipe was written as a date recipe, so it makes very few servings. My whole family loved this recipe, it was delicious. and very easy to prepare. The tomatoes make a nice addition to the shrimp and work well together. Since this recipe was small and had a great taste, we had no leftovers to put away after dinner. A delicious and easy way to prepare shrimp.

For the recipe go to Thai Shrimp.

Bon Appetit Shrimp Po' Boy

As I've stated too many times to count, my oldest son is obsessed with seafood. Whenever I take him grocery shopping, he runs to the seafood counter and points out all the food that I need to make him for the week. His absolute favorite seafood item is shrimp. Meals that claim to feed 6 people, feed barely four when my five year old gets his hand on the shrimp portion of the dish. I make a lot of stir-fry dishes using shrimp, since they are delicious and low in fat. However, my entire family also loves homemade fried shrimp, so I am always on the look-out for new fried shrimp recipes. Recently, the June issue of Bon Appetit magazine had a recipe for Shrimp Po' Boys that looked easy and like something that my family would enjoy.

The longest part of this recipe is the deveining and shelling of the shrimp. I enlisted the help of my five year old with this task for the first time, and he did great. Of course, I used the knife to devein, but he was able to very successfully shell the shrimp with little help. It took us about 35 minutes to prepare the 1 1/2 pounds of shrimp, but without little kitchen helpers the task could be completed in a much shorter amount of time. This recipe has 13 ingredients, not counting the toppings. I had the majority of the spices already in my pantry cupboard and was able to get the remainder at my local grocery store, with one exception. I was unable to find any French rolls, so I had to substitute sub rolls. I know that this substitution changes the authenticity of the recipe, but as a home cook with two kids, I use what I have available. I used homemade dill pickle spears that I had made a couple of weeks back and left off the tomatoes because of my family's preference against raw tomatoes on sandwiches. Make sure to use plenty of oil to fry the shrimp or they won't crisp up effectively.

The shrimp in this recipe turned out delicious. The one change that I wish that I would have done, was to make the remoulade recipe available on Bon Appetit's website. Instead, I used mayonnaise and I felt that the dish would have been even better with a traditional remoulade. Overall, the recipe was delicious and I preferred the shrimp batter in this recipe to any of the others that I have tried. This was a very popular dish with my two kids, and would be a kid friendly way to introduce little ones to seafood.

For the recipe go to Bon Appetit Shrimp Po Boy.

All You Shrimp Po' Boys

In the last year I have been attempting to make seafood as least once a week. My two sons have embraced this increase in seafood, and will eat anything I make. The seafood that I make the most is shrimp, which is versatile and delicious. Since I make shrimp so frequently, I change the recipes I prepare regularly and am always looking for new dishes to try. The May issue of All You magazine had a recipe for Shrimp Po' Boys which looked easy and family friendly.

This recipe uses 18 ingredients, all of which I already had in my pantry or were easily found at my local grocery store. My husband is obsessed with hot sauces, so I had a variety to chose from and Tony Chachere's Original Creole seasoning is a stable in our house. This recipe from start to finish took approximately 45 minutes, 30 minutes of which was prep time. I prepped my shrimp earlier in the day and it took about an additional 1/2 hour. The first two or three batches of shrimp came out of the pan looking better than the last two batches. The later batches tasted great, but the flour mixture had gotten gummy so the appearance of the shrimp, wasn't as good as the earlier batches.

These Shrimp Po' Boys were very popular in my house. My two boys ate all their share and most of the leftovers later in the day. The tartar sauce gave a nice compliment to the shrimp and the overall taste of the dish was delicious. I liked that even though the shrimp were deep fried, the sandwich didn't seem greasy. This is a great kid friendly recipe.

For the recipe go to All You Shrimp Po' Boys.

Parents Stir-Fried Shrimp Over Rice Noodles

My oldest son has fallen in love with seafood in the last couple of months. Any dish involving shrimp he will devour and ask for seconds. My youngest son also loves seafood, but his ultimate favorite food is pasta. He has been known to eat a half package of leftover spaghetti from the refrigerator. I have been trying to find recipes that combine both of my sons food preferences and was pleased when the June issue of Parents magazine had a recipe for stir-fried shrimp over rice noodles.

Recently, my local grocery store downsized its Asian foods section. There are currently no types of rice noodles available, so I substituted spaghetti noddles. Additionally, I have never actually seen fresh snow peas at any of the stores in my area, so I substituted frozen. This dish goes together very fast. I was able to prepare and make this meal while my two boys played in the kitchen (they thought they were helping). I did peel and de-vein my shrimp earlier in the day, since I find it time consuming to do right before dinner. The rest of the prep work was minimal, with the carrots needing to be shredded and the baby corn cut into pieces. I followed the suggestion and added sesame seeds at the end.

My two sons loved this recipe. Of course the oldest ate all the shrimp and the youngest all the pasta, but they were both content. Substituting the rice noodles for spaghetti worked out fine taste wise and the dish has a nice sweet taste. I have been trying to get more seafood into my family's diet and this recipe worked perfectly.

For the recipe go to Parents Stir-Fried Shrimp Over Rice Noodles. (registration required).

Bon Appetit Thai Shrimp-Halibut Curry

I have been making an effort recently to incorporate more seafood into my family's diet. My two boys love any dish that has shrimp or fish in it and happily eat their whole plates. However, I have been trying to broaden their seafood horizons by giving them a wider variety of fish. I was pleased when a recent issue of Bon Appetit had a recipe for Thai shrimp-halibut curry, that would introduce a new fish flavor.

The longest prep for this recipe is the shelling and de-veining of the shrimp. The rest of the prep is short, with few ingredients requiring cutting or chopping. My total time took less than the 50 minutes suggested by the recipe. I did have to make a few modifications. Halibut was unavailable at my local grocery store, so I substituted cod. Additionally, I was unable to find shallots that week, so I substituted red onion. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that I was easy able to find Thai red curry paste and fish sauce at my local grocery store.

My family really enjoyed this recipe. My two boys ate their entire plates and the leftovers the next day. My husband loved the cod, but thought the shrimp could be substituted with more fish to be more frugal without sacrificing taste. I will definitely make this dish again, with either cod or halibut.

For the recipe go to Bon Appetit Thai Shrimp-Halibut Curry.

Bon Appetit Spicy Shrimp Quesadillas

Good ethnic food is limited in the area that I live, so I am always on the lookout for recipes. Last week I made Shrimp and Coconut Curry with Green Beans and kept the leftovers for Bon Appetit's Spicy Shrimp Quesadillas.

This meal is a great way to get two dinners from the same base recipe. My family loved the original shrimp dish and the leftovers make for quick prep for the quesadillas. I only had to buy minimal ingredients for this dish and the prep work took less than the suggested 35 minutes. I did not make any modifications to the original recipe, I thought that it worked great as written. The best quesadillas were the first two, which held together better than those that followed. This might have been due to the shrimp sitting in the mixture longer for the last batch or they might have been overstuffed.

This recipe was a hit with my kids. They both loved the quesadillas and ate them happily. This recipe benefited from the added heat from a tomatilla and chipotle salsa (recipe coming soon) that I made. This was a good fusion recipe that my whole family enjoyed and will go into my recipe file for future use.


For the recipe go to Bon Appetit Spicy Shrimp Quesadillas.