Orzo with Shrimp

This is  not my photo (shocking, right?)

I want to start cooking a little healthier because I have noticed my belly increasing exponentially. I am afraid that BP II will have to start rolling me to work like the blueberry girl from Willy Wonka. The problem is that I love pasta and have a hard time giving it up. My wonderful aunt gave me a subscription to Cooking Light Magazine for Christmas and while I was trying to figure something out for dinner I decided to try the website out. I was surprised how many pasta recipes there were. I found the Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi recipe and fell in love. Pasta-Good. Shrimp-Good. Butter- Good. I wondered how this was a “light” meal.

On my way home I stopped by my local food emporium to pick up some ingredients. I headed over to the seafood case and I looked in horror at the empty dark case of ice. Where was all the fish? I asked the meat department person what happened because normally everything is out until 8:00. Apparently the fish guy never showed up. I am so glad food emporium hires such reliable vendors. What was I to do but try the recipe with frozen shrimp? I have never worked with shrimp before- fresh or frozen and was looking forward to learning how to shell and devein. But I had my heart set on this Shrimp and Orzo recipe and headed to the frozen food isle. I found uncooked, frozen shrimp and added them to my basket. Located the orzo and was off.

Well, I found out why the recipe was in Cooking Light magazine. The serving size is one cup of orzo for 4 people! A quarter cup of pasta per person was just not going to cut it. I made the full cup of pasta for BP II and I then made 18 shrimp. After a cooked the garlic for about 30 sec, I added the lemon juice and seasoned with salt and pepper. When I added the shrimp back to the pan, I didn’t think there was enough sauce so I added some orzo water. I also added the pasta back to the pan to soak up the sauce. To finish the dish off, I added a splash of lemon at the end to really bring that lemon freshness to the forefront. I think the result was very good. I frozen shrimp turned out perfect and I will definitely make this again. As for the ½ of orzo per person, it didn’t look like much in the bowl but it ended up being filling. I really have to work on portion control. That is the key but I am just not ready for ¼ a cup of pasta.

Note from author: For full disclosure, I might have “forgot” to mention that I also bought a half pint of Edy’s peanut butter cup ice cream while at Food Emporium. Luckily the ice vendors always show up. Ugh! I am so weak!

Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked orzo
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
3 teaspoons unsalted butter, divided
1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

1. Cook orzo according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain. Place orzo in a medium bowl. Stir in parsley and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cover and keep warm.

2. While orzo cooks, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle shrimp with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add half of shrimp to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Transfer shrimp to a plate. Melt 1 teaspoon butter in pan. Add remaining shrimp to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Transfer to plate.

3. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in pan. Add garlic to pan; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in shrimp, juice, and pepper; cook 1 minute or until shrimp are done.