Tuesday Edition: Kitchen Tip



"Shrimp" uploaded to Flickr by Kevin H.



I love shrimp!  Do you?  What's your favorite way to eat it or make it?

Well, I could eat shrimp pretty much any way that someone prepared it - cocktail, scampi, fried, in a salad, in a stir fry... But unfortunately the Husband is allergic.  Thankfully not too allergic since we can still go to Red Lobster and he can get the steak and be fine.  But he can't eat it without having a reaction.  So I don't make it very often, and usually when I eat shrimp it is when I am out to lunch or dinner.

When I do make it, I typically buy already cleaned shrimp. You know - the kind without the shell and without the vein!  Bluck! That is the yucky part of shrimp that I could do without, so I am happy to pay a little extra to have that done already.

But just in case you buy shrimp that you need to clean by yourself, did you know that the "vein" - you know, that dark line down the curved side of the shrimp - is actually not a vein?  You wanna know what it is?  It's the shrimp's digestive tube!  Blech!

According to Bon Appetit magazine's prep school, you don't need to worry about deveining smaller shrimp, but for the larger one you should stick with this rule of thumb: if the tube is thick and black, take it out; if it's think and white, leave it in.

p.s. I've linked up to the blog hop at One More Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Shrimp with Yellow Rice

I know, the title to this post isn't that catchy, but it's all I could think of!

The other night the Husband had a pretty early hockey game so I was left to figure out dinner with the Toddler.  She decided that she wanted noodles.  I decided that I did not want noodles.  So I scrounged around in my fridge and found leftover yellow rice and a half a bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer.  I decided that I would just thaw the shrimp and have it with the rice.  Then I found frozen peas and string beans and decided to get all fancy and make dinner a "fried rice" type of thing and throw the rice, shrimp and veggies all together.

It was so simple, and I loved it.

Making the recipes from non-leftovers will take you as long as it takes to cook the rice.  I used Goya Low Sodium Yellow Rice, and that takes about 25 minutes to cook.  While the rice cooks, you just thaw the remaining ingredients and through them in with the rice when it's done.  I added a dash of Goya seasoning, but I really didn't need it because the rice and shrimp had enough flavor for me.

Here are the ingredients to serve 4 people:
30-40 frozen, fully cooked, medium size shrimp, thawed according to directions
1 box yellow rice, cooked according to directions
1/2-1 C frozen green beans, thawed
1/2 - 1 C frozen peas, thawed

And the instructions:
Cook rice.  While rice is cooking, thaw other ingredients.  When rice is done cooking, toss it all together.  Serve!

What are your favorite shrimp dishes?  I don't cook with fish or shellfish since the Husband has had some weird reactions in the past.  I just keep some frozen shrimp around as quick protein -  I can add them to salads, etc.

Updated: I am linking up at Life As Mom
And check out Elizabeth Ann's giveaway here!