orzo – Poore Amy

You know what my favorite thing is about shrimp dishes?

How fast they cook!

Granted, for it to be quick, you need to buy peeled and de-veined shrimp. (worth every penny IMO!)

Although I’m at home most of the time now – my time is not my own, so quick and tasty meals are perfect for a week night meal.

This is a perfect example.

Baked Greek Shrimp

(adapted from Cooking Light)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon Greek Seasoning
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons bottled clam juice
1 tablespoon white wine
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
cooking spray
3/4 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese$
1 tablespoons dried parsley

Preheat oven to 450°.

Combine lemon juice, greek seasoning and shrimp in a large bowl; toss well.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion to pan; sauté 2-3 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add clam juice, wine, oregano, pepper, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in shrimp mixture. Place mixture in an 11 x 7–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle cheese evenly over mixture.

Bake at 450° for 12 minutes or until shrimp are done and cheese melts. Sprinkle with parsley; serve over cooked orzo.

Fabulous day! For starters, the weather could not have been better – it felt like fall when I walked outside to get the paper.

NO humidity!!!!

So after coffee and a couple loads of clothes, it was off to Church – the service was great, as usual. 🙂

Then it was home to shed the spiffy duds and off to the lake with a quick stop at KFC’s drive through – have you tried their new chicken bites??? If not, I recommend you do – yummy!

The next few hours were spent bobbing around on our floats working on our tans, yapping away with my mom and the hubby as he read on the dock. It really is the simple things in life that make it special.

When I returned home (a touch pink) I really wanted to cook something simple and light. So I decided on Spicy Lemon Butter baked red snapper and a lemon orzo salad with asparagus and tomatoes.

The salad is adapted from SparkRecipes.com – lots of good healthy recipes on this site. The snapper recipe is from my dear friend Dianne, who whipped this up last time she was at the beach and she passed it on to me. (Thank you D.C.!)

Lemon Orzo Salad with Asparagus and Tomatoes

6 oz of orzo pasta
½ bunch of skinny asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
½ pint of grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley minced
kosher salt (to taste)
fresh ground pepper (to taste)
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Start by boiling 2 large pots of salted water.

Cook orzo according to package in one and blanch the asparagus for 2-3 minutes in the other. Drain pasta and remove asparagus with slotted spoon to an ice bath to stop the cooking process.

Combine orzo, tomatoes and asparagus in large bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper.

Mix all ingredients together and then stir in Parmesan cheese.

This can be served warm, room temperature or chilled. I liked it chilled – great summer salad!

The snapper (bought from my fish man, Bayou Joe) was super easy and very flavorful!!

Place the snapper skin down in baking dish. Pour 1 stick of melted butter over the filets, sprinkle with cajun seasoning, garlic salt and cover with lemon slices.