With proper planning and a little prep work, Creamy Creole Shrimp and Pasta is a pretty simple dinner to pull off.  My sweet friend, Cheryl, emailed this recipe to me and said it was one of her family's all time favorite dinners.  I changed it up just a bit to match what I had on hand.  At first, I worried the kiddos would find it too spicy, so I chose a can of MILD diced tomatoes with green chilies and left out the Tabasco sauce.  That was a good choice.  The kids gobbled up their dinners faster than I could photograph my plate and sit down.

I asked my dear friends to taste test this recipe with me.  John and Kim frequently travel through Louisiana to visit family and they KNOW good Cajun and Creole food.  They found this to be an excellent dinner!  Kim recognized right away it did not have the heavy cream sauce or spicy heat traditional in Creole cooking, but she truly preferred the lighter sauce.  As for the spicy heat, next time I'll set the Tabasco bottle on the table and let the grown ups dash to their heart's content.

HERE'S WHAT IT TAKES

• 1 (8 oz) package linguine

• 1/2 cup or 1 stick salted butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 6 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 celery ribs, finely chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped

• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 (10 oz.) can diced tomatoes with Mild green chilies, drained
• 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

• 1 (2 lb.) bag frozen shrimp, medium size, peeled/deveined, thawed
• 1 1/2 cups Half-n-half
• a few dashes of Tabasco sauce (optional)

• Parmesan cheese, shredded
• fresh chopped parsley, garnish

PREP

Wash and chop all the vegetables, place in a medium bowl and set aside.  Make sure to have shrimp thawed, peeled and deveined; set aside and ready.

Heat chicken broth in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes in a 2 cup container.  Then, add the drained diced tomatoes with green chilies, Creole seasoning, dried parsley and pepper.  Set aside.

Begin large pot of water to boil to cook linguine according to package directions.

COOK

Melt butter in heavy saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add flour and cook for up to 5 minutes until mixture is a caramel color.  Stir frequently.

Add the bowl of finely chopped vegetables, cook 5 to 8 minutes or until soften. Stir frequently.

- - - This is a good time to add linguine to cooking pot of boiling water.

Add hot chicken broth with spices. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in as many dashes of  hot sauce as you can muster, if desired.

Stir in shrimp and half-n-half, cook 10 minutes.  Inside this time, the pasta should be cooked and ready to drain.
Add drained linguine to creamy shrimp mixture.   Stir until pasta is well coated.

Top individual servings with shredded Parmesan cheese and garnish with parsley if you like it that much.

Just so you know...

I heated up the chicken broth beforehand to keep the cooking temperature consistent.  I didn't have to wait to bring the mixture back up to a simmer before going onto the next step.

I didn't mention it above, but I warmed up the half-n-half, too.  I popped it in the microwave for 1 minute, just long enough to knock off the cold.  I didn't want it to bring down the temperature when I needed a full 10 minutes of medium heat to cook the shrimp.

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• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1 1/4 tablespoon corn meal
• 3/4 tablespoon baking powder
• pinch of salt
• flour to thicken

Mix all but the flour together.  Dip shrimp in mixture, the roll in dry flour before frying.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

Fresh, bright and super easy to bring together. This salad is delicious at room temperature and cold.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1 box Far East Tabouleh Wheat Salad
• 2 to 3 green onions
• 1 small cucumber
• 1 large tomato
• juice of 1 medium lemon
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 (4 ounce) package crumbled Feta cheese

• 15 to 20 raw shrimp, shelled & deveined
• olive oil
• salt & fresh ground pepper

Prepare the tabouleh as directed on the package. This first step requires that the tabouleh sit in the frig for one hour, so account for that.  I started the tabouleh in the morning before my day got started. Anyhoo.

By dinner time: Heat the oven to 400ºF

Chop the green onions, cucumber and tomato into the same size small chunks and place in large bowl.  Set aside.

Place the shrimp on a cookie sheet, drizzle a little olive oil on top, season with salt and pepper.  Toss with clean hands until shrimp is well coated.  Distribute shrimp evenly on cookie sheet.  Roast for 6 to 8 minutes until shrimp is pink and opaque.  Allow to cool a few minutes before adding to salad mix.

In the large bowl with the onions, cucumber and tomato, stir in the shrimp, lemon juice, and oil THEN toss in tabouleh and feta.  Serve at room temperature or refrigerate it for later.

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by Central Market

Allow the butter to come to room temperature in a small bowl. Cream the butter before adding the other ingredients. Mix well so that the herbs are evenly distributed. Chill in the refrigerator until firm OR shape into a log on clear plastic wrap when you refrigerate and then slice into pats. Freeze any leftovers.

Put butter pats on top of pan-fried or grilled steak just before serving. Pasta and cooked, drained green vegetables can also be tossed in lemon herb butter while they are still hot.

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• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tsp Rosemary, dried
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced

Combine and serve.

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You can make the tomato sauce base as mild or spicy as you prefer.  I started with a mild tomato sauce then added the spicy goods at the end when I brought the shrimp and sauce together.  I kept aside half of the mild sauce for the sensitive folks in my family.  That's just the way I have to roll.

HERE'S HOW EASY THIS IS

• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, seeded & chopped
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 (14 ounce) can plum tomatoes, chopped with their juice
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 pounds shrimp, peeled & deveined
• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley or 2 teaspoons dried
• 1 piece dried chili, crumbled or chopped (optional) OR 1-2 teaspoons of the tomato sauce that comes from the canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

Serves 6

In a heavy saucepan, heat half of the oil.  Add the onion, and cook over low heat until soft.  Stir in the celery and chopped bell pepper, and cook for 5 minutes more.  Raise the heat to medium high, and add the red wine vinegar and tomatoes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes.

Lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer until the veggies are soft, about 30 minutes.  Puree the sauce through a food mill OR a food processor then push it through a sieve with a spatula. Set tomato sauce aside.

Heat the remaining oil in a clean heavy saucepan.  Stir in the garlic, parsley and chili, if using.  Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until the garlic is golden.  Do not let it brown.  Add the tomato sauce and bring to a boil.  Taste for seasoning.

Stir in the shrimp. Bring the sauce back to a boil.  REDUCE heat slightly and simmer until the shrimp are pink and firm, 4-6 minutes, depending on their size.  Remove from the heat and serve.

My Notes

• It would be just as easy to use leftover, homemade tomato sauce from a previous spaghetti dinner.
• I happened to have been given garlic pickled with habeneros and used them instead of fresh garlic - WOW! They were HaahhOT & YUMMY!
• I didn't have a dried chili on hand.  But I had some leftover chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, and used the smokey tomato sauce to heat up the freshly made tomato sauce.  It deepen the flavor of the sauce and made it hard to stop eating.  I was drawn to sopping my plate before I could claim I was finished.

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Zesty and light, shrimp sauteed in butter and lemon juice mixed with rice is a great lunch treat.

I caught this shrimp, on sale of course, and couldn't resist treating myself.  My husband and kids are NOT shrimp eaters, so I rarely cook it.  Have you ever noticed that you don't see a lot of fish or shellfish on this site?  That's why. Anyhoo.

HERE'S ALL I DID

• 6 to 8 shrimp, already shelled & deveined
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped red bell pepper (it was on hand)
  
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  
• juice from half a lemon
• salt & pepper

• 1/2 to 1 cup cooked rice (leftovers)
• 2-3 tablespoons cilantro or parsley

Since the cooked rice was really a leftover, I warmed it up in the microwave first.

In a medium fry pan over medium heat, cook bell pepper 2 minutes or so in butter, add shrimp, lemon juice, salt & pepper.  Cook shrimp until it becomes white, 1 1/2 minutes on each side.  Shrimp cooks fast! so don't walk away.

Add in the warmed rice and cilantro, toss together, cook just a minute or two more to get the rice hot.  Fix yourself a plate and EAT UP!

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Don't do it! I have a tasty alternative.

Close your blinds, turn up the thermostat for one hour and put on some shorts...or not if you look into the mirror to find that your pasty white trunks are whiter than the snowdrifts in your driveway and the lack of sunshine is causing you to look like Gollum from Lord of the Rings and then you might snap and they'd find you in the kitchen cupboards mumbling about blizzards and the sunlight burning your eyes...not that I speak from experience. Anyhoo, go into the kitchen to make this summery tasting salad. You'll feel better, I promise.

Seafood Avocado Salad

• 1 lb. seafood (I used surimi here but shrimp, crab, or any firm fish will work well)
• 2 avocados, peeled and cubed
• 2 tomatoes, cubed
• 4-6 green onions, minced
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon canola or avocado oil (A neutral tasting oil is best here)
• A handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
• A pinch of salt and fresh pepper

Mix them together. Eat.

If you're planning to make this ahead of time, coat all the ingredients thoroughly with the lime juice as the avocado will turn brown without the lime juice. Cover with plastic wrap right on top of the salad to help prevent oxygen from getting to your lovely little avocado bits.

This salad is really delicious on a bed of lettuce or rolled in a tortilla.
Now close your eyes and count the days until summer.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

This recipe came straight from an experienced Cajun home cook.  Simple to pull together and absolutely down home delicious!  It was everything I expected to taste.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 large yellow onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 can tomatoes with green chilies
• 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons creole seasoning
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 pound crawfish tails, peeled & cleaned
• enough cooked rice to serve 4

Serves 4

In a large dutch oven over medium to medium low heat,  saute onions, garlic, and bell pepper in butter until onions are translucent.  Add canned tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, creole seasoning, dissolved cornstarch, cook 10-15 minutes more.  Stir frequently.

Add in crawfish meat and cook 15 minutes more.  On the serving plates, make a ring with the cooked rice and pour etouffe into the center.

YOU'RE READY TO EAT!!!

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

This recipe comes from a good friend, Susana R.  Susana and I went to the same high school and her sister, Carmen, and I were running buddies.

We found each other on Facebook; I love Facebook.  One thing led to another and well, we're swappin' recipes now.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.