Day Six: Shrimp al Diavolo

Boy that's hot!

Dinner number six of our journey through having fish every night and still have lots of variety.  I've been having fish for dinner practically every night since starting this blog four months ago and I've lost 10 pounds.  It wasn't my plan to lose weight; it just happened and the only change in diet and exercise has been the fish.  

Large shrimp, hot spices, lemon and oil

Besides being low in calories and virtually fat free, shrimp isn't all that expensive.  I had six large shrimp in my dish last night which cost just under $4.  The rest of the ingredients I had in my pantry so this is one inexpensive dish. 

Combine extra virgin olive oil, cayenne pepper, paprika, lemon, salt and minced garlic.  If you're not a fan of spicey leave out the cayenne pepper and paprika.

This even looks hot!

If you aren't a fan of spicey food I would omit the cayenne pepper and paprika.  I love spicey foods and really enjoyed this dinner.  I love lemon, too, and squeezed one medium lemon in the juicer to use in the mixture.

Marinate the shrimp in the mixture for about 15 minutes. 

There's a lot of lemon juice in this recipe, and lemon will "cook" the shrimp so don't leave them in the marinade for too long.  Think cerviche.  And this dish calls for grilled shrimp.

Grill tomatoes for a few minutes before adding marinade

I sautéed  tomatoes with marinade I reserved and later covered the shrimp with the mixture.  The tomatoes take longer to cook then the shrimp so start that first.

 

Both pans going with couscous bubbling in the backround

The shrimp cooked for 30 seconds on each side

Toss the shrimp in the tomato and marinade at the end so all the flavors blend

The most time consuming part of this dish is doing the prep work - and even that takes only about 5 - 10 minutes.  Even the whole wheat couscous cooks very quickly.

Et viola!

Ingredients

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tspn coarse sea salt

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 tspn paprika

1 tspn cayenne pepper

1 medium sized lemon juiced

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 cup cherry tomatoes sliced in half

Method

Preheat cast iron skillet over medium heat

Preheat a second, smaller skillet for the tomatoes

In a small bowl, mince the garlic until it has a pastey consistency

Add the olive oil and dry ingredients

In a separate bowl toss the shrimp and add the mixture; reserve some of the mixture

Sauté the tomatoes in 1 tspn extra virgin olive oil

Add the reserved mixture

Start the shrimp - cook for 30 seconds each side or until they turn pink and you get the grill marks

Add the shrimp to the tomatoes and mixture; toss for a few seconds

Remove from heat and serve immediately

This can be served over spinach pasta or, as I did, over whole wheat couscous; follow instructions on package for preparing.

Enjoy!