Haven't Cooked Much Lately

Been too busy with trying to do midterms, assignments and wade through legal crap to cook much, but I did cook last night. You may already know from my blog that I cooked shrimp scampi again last night. I noticed the lack of vegetables, and it got me wondering what shrimp scampi would taste like on a bed of grilled squash and zuccini, or nested on top of a pile of spagetti squash. I'll have to try it soon (if I can figure out how to COOK spagetti squash) and let you know how it turns out.

Quick and Easy Shrimp Scampi

Tired of the same-old same-old dinners, last night I whipped together a scampi-esque meal, but I used rice instead of pasta. It was a major hit! I don't really have any exact measurements; I just put the ingredients in until it "looked right" to me.

Ingredients:
~ 2 Tbsp. olive oil
~1/2 lb. pre-cooked, deveined peeled frozen shrimp (thawed)
butter or margarine (probably about 2-4 Tbsp.)
white wine (~1 cup)
garlic (I used powdered)
onion (I used powdered)
Italian seasoning
lemon pepper
dash salt

Directions:

1. Put enough olive oil in bottom of skillet to lightly coat entire surface
2. On medium-high setting, heat oil and add butter or margarine. Allow to melt.
3. Add shrimp.
4. Add garlic, onion, lemon pepper, dash salt and Italian spices. I added until the shrimp had a nice "coat" of spices on it.
5. Add wine and stir all ingredients well.
6. Turn heat up to high and allow to boil. Let boil until all alcohol has evaporated off and there is a level of "juice" left in the pan that is to your liking. Don't cook too long, though, or the shrimp gets rubbery.

I had enough juice left that I fished out the shrimp and served on the side separately, then poured the juice over the white rice I served as a side. Add a side of green peas, and you have a yummy, balanced meal. (Note: I have been strongly urged by Jamie to make this again!)

Frugal tip:

You can make a whole other meal if you have left over shrimp. Just add cold shrimp to the top of a garden salad, add some shredded cheese and some vinaigrette, and you have shrimp chef's salad for another meal!