Cherry Tomato Shrimp Scampi

I successfully ate shrimp for 7 meals last week. I’m not sure you can constitute that as successful, but regardless I did it. When I tested this shrimp scampi recipe earlier in the week I didn’t think about the fact that I’d be away for the weekend near water aka a surplus and desire to eat as much fish as possible. A spontaneous dinner date to a favorite seafood spot in town didn’t help either. After meal 7 I think I can confidently say I’ll be taking a siesta from shrimp for a bit, but you can bet when I’m ready again this recipe will be the one breaking my shrimp fast.

This recipe comes together so quickly. The white wine butter (I use ghee) sauce is kind of insane. Just hold the pasta, add crusty bread, you’ll be wanting to sop up every last bit. I also added tomatoes for a pop of color and flavor amongst the shrimp. Pair with an easy green salad, I just did butter lettuce, avocado slices, leftover parsley from the shrimp and a vinaigrette, and your meal is done.

Cherry Tomato Shrimp Scampi
yields 3 servings | recipe adapted from BevCooks

Ingredients:
1 lb. large frozen shrimp, thawed, peeled, and deveined
2 Tbsp. ghee (or butter)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ shallot, finely chopped
½ cup white wine (I used sauvignon blanc)
10 oz cherry tomatoes
3 tbsp. chopped parsley
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 lemon, zest and juice
Salt and pepper
Crusty bread and a green salad, for serving

Directions:
Over medium heat, melt the ghee and olive oil in a large pan. Add the garlic, shallot, and tomatoes, and sauté for 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the wine and crushed red pepper to the pan, and give it all a stir. Turn the heat to medium-low, put the lid on your pan, and let the tomatoes, garlic, and shallot simmer for about 5 minutes, until the tomatoes begin to wilt.

Once the tomatoes are starting to soften, add the shrimp to the pan and season generously with salt and pepper. Squeeze half of the lemon into the pan and let the shrimp cook for about 1-2 minutes per side until pink. Stir in the lemon zest and parsley and give it a taste. Adjust seasoning as needed.

Serve in a low bowl with toasted crusty bread and a green salad!

Annie

This recipe was prepared in the Phantom Chef 11” Deep Fry Pan, a new favorite line of kitchenwares!

Bites of My Life

After getting back into Dallas after starting the week still in OKC, it was a quick week before heading to Corpus Christi for a wedding weekend. The weekends have been full and continue to be the next few weeks. Which in turn makes the weeks short and busy. All for good reason! I’m coming off the most fun weekend and trying to get my head on straight. After indulging in shrimp tacos for about every meal, getting my cardio in on the dance floor (my feet are unwell), and drinking errrr too many ranch waters than I should those Sunday scaries turned into a manic Monday…

We are good, we are happy, we are ready for a new week. I have a recipe post containing…shrimp lol, and later this week is the 8th birthday for Take A Bite!

-Stuck around OKC last Monday to help set up for a work event. How cute did these custom Topo Chico labels come out that I did for the party?
-Got my vaccine!!! And treated myself after to my favorite matcha on my way out of Oklahoma City en route back to Dallas.
-You cannot beat S&D Oyster Company for a classic Dallas meal. One of my favorites!
-Showed up to a fun shopping event Thursday night fully twinning x2!
-Arrived in Corpus Christi Friday for a wedding weekend!
-Hotel breakfast buffets, truly what is better? Snagged a box of mini Cherrio’s for my purse.
-One last shrimp taco before leaving the ~ sparkling city by the sea ~.
-Congrats Jack and Kathleen. Thanks for a reason to be on a dance floor again!
-Sunday scaries cured with Mia’s brisket Tacos. They lived up to The Defined Dish’s hype!

Annie

Bites of My Life

I haven't "gone back to school" in a couple years now, but hearing about schools starting and having a teacher as a roommate, I have a sense of the school year creeping in and can feel my routine starting to fall back into place. Summer has been c-r-a-z-y and I don't expect much less this fall, but the idea of a routine amongst the crazy sounds pretty nice. 

-I'm really trying to take advantage of what StudioHop has to offer, by exploring studios outside my comfort zone. I stepped into Four Graces pilates studio last week and fell in love. Use my code, AnnieHop20 to get $20 off your first month and hop to pilates with me. 
-Easy tuna nicoise salad for dinners last week. Canned tuna, soft boiled egg, olives, green beans, cherry tomatoes and salty capers!
-Annie through the years while cleaning out old boxes and organizers. I found a slew of old business cards from my high school entrepreneur adventure to my summer gig in D.C.
-Friday started off slow and easy with this at home smoothie bowl. 
-Friday ended a little more wild being transported via party bus.
-Beer, nachos, fried chicken and okra. Solid Oklahoma night at our state's oldest bar. 
-Shnugs and snugs with Claire now that she if back from NYC.
-From living with Matty girl when she first met Steve to then seeing them get married is something rare and so cool. Funnest night celebrating the Behms.  
-StudioHop recently launched in Tulsa and I'm so excited to have Katie repping SH up north. Catch us both at their Tulsa Launch Party this Saturday at Lululemon on Brookside!
-The Matcha Flotcha Flame from Wheeze the Juice is my version of matcha heaven. Just matcha, coconut milk and cinnamon. 
-A rainy weekend, fallish temps and having someone around who geeks out over pumpkin seeds, resulted to these Double Chocolate Pumpkin Seed Cookies along with Perfect CCCs being baked up yesterday.
-A healthy twist on Shrimp and Grits coming soon!

Annie

Copycat Republic's Grilled Shrimp Salad

Yesterday I got to share my talented friend Katie and her budding photography business, KGC Photography. A few weeks ago Katie and I got together to play around in my kitchen and with her camera. I made lunch and she photographed. It was too fun. I felt like a celeb chef for like 5 seconds!!!

At the time, I had recently shared this blog post on the Best Salads in OKC. With the post on my brain, I thought it would be fun to recreate one of my faves, the Grilled Shrimp Salad from Republic Gastropub. 

I recommend this salad to evvvvvveryone! It is filled with eclectic ingredients but they make it work. Components are: spinach, grilled shrimp, spaghetti squash, roasted brussels sprouts, crispy salami, smoked gouda cheese, red onion and tossed with a horseradish dressing. 

I was on Whole 30 at the time so I modified a bit, eliminating the gouda and swapping the dressing for my favorite balsamic dressing. With so many ingredients the salad takes some time, but if you pre-prep this salad it can easily be thrown together. I had already roasted my spaghetti squash and brussels and made the dressing. When it came to lunch time I just had to sautee the shrimp and toss it all together. 

Copycat Republic's Grilled Shrimp Salad
yields 2-3 servings for an entree salad

Ingredients:
8 oz baby Spinach
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 spaghetti squash, forked into strands
2 oz sliced salami
1 lb. brussel sprouts, halved
~5 Tbsp. avocado oil, divided (or whatever oil you prefer)
1 tsp. Pink Himalayan sea salt (or regular kosher salt)
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 lb. peeled and deveined shrimp (10-12 shrimp)
1 clove of garlic minced
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbsp. butter or ghee
salt and pepper

Dressing: yields a little extra, but this is a great balsamic dressing to have on hand!
1/4 cup balsamic
1/2 cup oil
1 Tbsp. spicy brown mustard
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:
*I suggest doing some prep for this salad. Pre-roast your squash and brussels and make your dressing ahead. This way everything can easily be thrown together.

Preheat your over to 425 degrees. You will use the same oven temperature to roast your spaghetti squash and brussels sprouts.

Slice your spaghetti squash in half and scrape out the seeds. Season with a drizzle of oil, salt and pepper.  Place in a baking dish and roast cut side up for 45 to 50 minutes, until fork tender. Now prep your sprouts. Cut the bottoms off your brussels sprouts then slice them in half. Place on a roasting sheet and generously coat them in oil, salt and pepper. Once there are 25 minutes left of the squash, pop your sprouts into the same oven. Roast for 25 minutes until browned and crispy. 

Heat a pan over medium heat. No need to oil the pan, your salami has enough fat in it. Cook your salami in a pan for about 3 minutes on both side, transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb the grease. Keep the pan, we will use it in a bit to cook the shrimp. Cut the crispy salami into long strips and set aside.

Now time to make the dressing. In a small mason jar or in a small bowl combine the mustard, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and red pepper flakes if you are using them.  Shake or whisk to combine. 

Once your squash, brussels and salami are all done, it’s time to prep the salad. In a large bowl place your spinach, sliced red onion, sliced salami, and brussels. Fork one half of spaghetti squash to create strands. Fork them right into the salad ingredients. Give the salad a good drizzle of dressing and toss. Final touch is the shrimp. 

Over low-medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan with the salami drippings. Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute, being careful it doesn't burn. Add shrimp to the pan then sprinkle over salt and pepper over the top. Cooking for 2 minutes on both sides, until pale pink. Increase the heat to medium high and add 1 tablespoon butter or ghee. When the butter starts to foam add your chopped parsley. Stir the shrimp around until it is all coated in the buttery parsley. Immediatly plate, adding 4 pieces to each salad. 

All photos by KGC photography, see more of her work here.

Annie

Summer Shrimp Rolls

Chrissy Teigen you genius. If you haven't heard of her recent cookbook, Cravings, then you may be living under a rock. Chrissy is wife to John Legend, momma to Luna, hot model and now, a New York Times Best Selling cookbook author. 

Cravings came out last Spring. The book's tagline is "recipes for all the food you want to it." It's just that. Page after page of recipes your everyday person actually wants to eat and make. When I received my copy, I did as I usually do with a new cookbook. I sat down with a stack of stickies going through marking each recipe I wanted to make. I read the book cover to cover. Like actually read all the little blurbs and antecdotes that no one usually reads. Chrissy writes the book like she is talking to her best friend, texting her husband or ranting on Twitter.  She also has insane pictures of her in hot pink ballgowns, sitting on John's lap shoving hot dogs in his mouth as well as modeling bathing suits by the pool chowing down on chicken wings. She pulls it off, it's too good.  

After reading through the book I found myself with practically every page marked with a sticky. Yellow Cake Baked Oatmeal, Caprese Salad with Crispy Proscuitto, Mac and Cheese, Baked Pasta with Mozzarella Bombs, Steak Bites with Melty Blue Cheese Butter, Artichoke, Spinach and Buffalo Chicken Dip, Cheesy Guacamole, Chorizo Queso, Sh*t on Toast, and BTI (better than Ina's) Roast Chicken and Vegetables. SO much goodness in this book. 

The thing I couldn't wait to make though were these Summer Shrimp rolls. Those sticky rice paper fresh rolls you get before your meal at Thai places can now be made at home. I made these for dinner almost every night for dinner last week. They are so satisfy and perfect for a summer dinner. Kudos to you Chrissy for bringing the fire to the world of cookbooks. 

Summer Shrimp Rolls from Cravings
yields 8 rolls*

Ingredients:
4 to 6 red leaf lettuce leaves
8 medium shrimp, peeled (fresh or frozen (thawed))
salt
1 ounce Asian vermicelli or rice noodles
8 large or 16 small basil leaves
8 large or 16 small mint leaves
1 medium carrot, cut into 3-inch long julienne strips
1 avocado thinly sliced
8 (8-inch) round rice paper wrappers (you can find in most supermarkets with the Asian food)
Thai sweet chili sauce, for serving*

Directions:
Rinse the lettuce leaves and pat dry. Remove and discard the center ribs then slice in half so you end up with 16, about 3 inch long pieces. 

Fill a saucepan halfway with water and salt the water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add the shrimp and cook until pink, about 2 minutes. Turn the heat to low, take the shrimp out of the pot with tongs or a slotted spoon and rinse with cold water, pat dry. Cut off the tails and slice lengthwise.

Place the rice noodles in the pot of still hot water to soften. Cook until soft. Remove and rinse in a colander under cold water. 

Create a workspace lined up with lettuce, herbs, carrots, avocado, shrimp and rice noodles. Fill a clean skillet or shallow bowl with warm water to soak the rice papers. Arrange a damp towel on your workspace. One at a time, dunk the rice papers into the warm water to soften. Remove from the water and run under cool water. They easily stick together, so the cool water is a good time to unstick them from themselves. Lay flat on the damp towel.

To assemble: place 2-3 shrimp halves pink side down about 1/3 from the bottom, layer over mint and basil, then avocado, then carrots, rice noodles, then lettuce leaves. Roll up like a burrito by pulling up the bottom, tucking in the sides, then rolling till the end. The rice paper will stick together sealing it shut. Repeat with remaining rice papers. 

Serve immediately with the chili sauce. *If chili sauce is too spicy for you, you can tone it down by adding a little bit of lime juice and water. 

*The recipe says it makes 8 rolls, but it is easy to make less if you are cooking for one. I would eat 2-3 for dinner. The components last well in the fridge, so I would keep everything prepped, then just cook the shrimp, noodles and rice papers fresh each night and assemble just before eating!

Annie

I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. If you are a also a blogger make sure to check out their site on how you too can start Blogging for Books!