Charlie was gone this weekend so I knew I was going to be cooking a) mushrooms or b) seafood. It was snowing all day Saturday so I decided to work with what I already had. Shrimp it twas.
Shrimp is such a great go to. It cooks super fast and it can be made a million different ways. Oh, it also keeps great frozen. I was in the mood for some kick so I decided to fry up some spicy shrimp and dip it into a Sriracha laced dipping sauce. Yum. I'm drooling up in here.
This sauce was delightful. I could have drank it. I just threw together some fat free Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, fresh lemon zest, garlic, some finely chopped red and yellow bell peppers, Sriracha, and seasoning salt. I gave it a little whisk and voila! Dipping sauces don't really need to be carefully measured. Just throw some stuff together and try it...see what it needs...and adjust. Don't worry - I included exact measurements at the bottom.
You can really use whatever shrimp you like for this. I usually buy frozen that have already been split and cleaned and thaw them out in the sink. Obviously fresh is the best, but this is what I had on hand. It's usually just me eating them, so it works well to buy them frozen and just take out what I need.
After thawing them out in the sink, I patted them down with a paper towel and tossed them with some blackening seasoning.
Charlie and I went to a cooking class on Friday and fell in love with grape seed oil. It's a super light flavored oil and has a higher smoking point than olive oil, so it works well with searing at a high heat. So I cranked the heat on high, added some oil, and then when the oil was glistening, I added the shrimp. Grape seed oil and seafood were just made for each other. Trust.
I think cooking seafood at a high heat for a lower time, helps form that nice outer crust. Soft seafood is no bueno. These came out beeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaautiful.
This makes such a simple, super quick (low carb!) appetizer.
Just wait til you see what I did with the leftover shrimp. YUM.
Super Simple Spicy Shrimp Recipe
Shrimp:
2 Cups of Frozen or Fresh Shrimp, Thawed
1 Tsp of Blackening Seasoning
2 Tbs of Grape Seed Oil
Sauce:
1/4 Cup Fat Free Greek Yogurt
1/4 Cup Hellman's Real Mayonnaise
Zest from 1/2 Lemon
1-2 Tsp of Sriracha
1 Garlic Clove, Minced
2 Tbs Each, Finely Diced Red and Yellow Bell Peppers
Once thawed, pat shrimp with a paper towel. Toss with blackening seasoning, set aside. Mix all of the sauce ingredients together and set aside and chill. Heat skillet over medium high heat and then add grape seed oil. Let pan heat up until oil is hot and glistening. Carefully add shrimp, one at a time and flip ounce shrimp turns pink and opaque, about 2 minutes. Cook other side until shrimp curls and shrimp is cooked all the way through. Serve immediately while hot with chilled, spicy dipping sauce.
Stay hungry!
Looks fahntastic!
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