Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta

It’s been a while… No excuses except the typical ones: work, life, projects, deadlines, exhaustion. : X

So today I will share my experience with making creamy cajun shrimp pasta. Trust me, you’re going to love it! I was thrilled to be able to use parsley from my own plant as a garnish. I need to get a basil plant as well… wouldn’t mind getting an herb garden going! If you have any experience with that, do tell.

There’s a 1/4 cup butter in this recipe, but that’s about it for fat. Not bad at all, considering how creamy it turns out.

Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta 

Ingredients

• 1 package linguine
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I would try substituting with 3/4 whipping cream next time, flour lends a bit too much thickness to the sauce)
• 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Garnish with parsley

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 4 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute shrimp for 1 minute on each side. Stir in garlic, and cook for 1 minute. Remove shrimp with a slotted spoon; set aside. Stir in flour and Cajun seasoning. Cook, stirring for 5 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk, then cook until thickened. Remove from heat, and season with salt and lemon juice. Return shrimp to sauce, and spoon over cooked pasta.  Garnish with parsley.

Kale Dip and Veggie Spaghetti

Kale dip with raw vegetables and whole-wheat pita crackers

Vegetable Spaghetti

Dinner is served

This kale dip is not something I would have normally tried, but I decided to give it a shot after finding the recipe on Dr. Preston Maring’s blog. He is an OB-GYN physician who supports healthy eating as a powerful form of preventive medicine. In 2003, he started the first weekly Farmer’s Market at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center to provide patients and medical staff with easy access to fresh fruits and vegetables.  Today, there are many Farmer’s Markets open at various KP facilities. It’s a pretty awesome concept- bring the healthy goodies to the people, who may otherwise not have access to such ingredients (or perhaps the inclination to seek them), and they will eat!

The kale dip can be used as a dipping sauce, as shown above, or even as a spread for sandwiches and pita pockets. It is quite tasty, considering it is packed full with leafy greens, and makes it easier and more enjoyable to eat raw vegetables. My little brother was eating carrot sticks with this kale dip!! I was seriously amazed.

Spaghetti with Veggie Meat Sauce

This spaghetti is what I made for dinner a few hours ago, and it came out surprisingly well! I’m saying surprisingly because I used a vegetarian product called Smart Ground instead of beef or turkey. It’s made of ”veggie protein crumbles,” and is packaged as one big chunk. You should try it- it’s fat and cholesterol free, and provides a good dose of protein to boot. However, I will note that it has a distinct soy taste that clearly sets it apart from real meat. Don’t worry, though, because the other ingredients in this dish will mask the soy. Your end result will be a delicious, flavorful sauce to heap on top of a pile of spaghetti! Pair it with a side salad, and you have a complete meal.