Shrimptastic!!!!

Ok....those of you who know me well, know that I have a thing for shrimp! Just like Bubba on Forrest Gump, I can rattle off at least fifty ways I love to eat my favorite seafood. The only exception being coconut-crusted shrimp...I don't know, something about it just throws me off...BUT never one to waste a shrimp, I just peel off the coconut and enjoy:)

Recently, I've discovered the Costco shrimp in their freezer section. It comes in 2lb. bags and is already peeled and deveined (with the tail still on). It has THE best taste, even though it's been frozen...and the best part is, it is $11.99 a bag! I think that is a good price considering they are pretty generous in size and they are already peeled/deveined. SO, since we are trying to incorporate a healthier lifestyle for our family, we like to have shrimp twice a week for dinner.

With that said, I want to share with you one of my favorite and quickest ways to prepare these tasty little creatures:) First, I must give credit to The Pioneer Woman for the inspiration and original recipe that I loved so much. Her spicy shrimp is soooooo good, but I thought we would have to give it up forever, since it uses SO much butter. In the south, a lot of people make their own version of this dish, sometimes calling it BBQ shrimp or cowboy shrimp...kind of like everyone has their own version of gumbo, tweaking it here and there to suit their regional palette.

What I did was similar, but all I do is spread my shrimp evenly in a shallow baking dish or jellyroll pan, drizzle with a minimal amount of extra-virgin olive oil, about five shakes of Worchestershire sauce, sprinkle with lemon pepper (to taste), and garlic powder (to taste). Maybe a little seasoning salt or sea salt, but not too much. Mix it all around with your tongs and put it under the broiler in your oven for about 7-10 minutes, checking every few minutes and turning with your tongs. This last time, I added a carton of fresh mushrooms for the last four minutes and it turned out just right, with the mushrooms absorbing just enough of the sauce, but not becoming soggy. Garnish with some fresh lemon wedges to squeeze on your shrimp, add a salad or baked potatoe and VOILA...quick, healthy, DE-LISH-IOUS dinner that everyone loves!! (at least in our house)

If you are a shrimp loving house like ours, try it and see what you think! It's very easy to tweak to your tastes, experiment and find out how you like to make it. I'm having fun trying to take some of the recipes we have always loved and make them healthier. If you have a favorite recipe you have done that to, email it to me to try out on the fam. I'm always looking for new ideas:)

P.S. Sorry Laschelle and Ryan, I hope you made it through this post without gagging...you two are the only ones I know who don't like shrimp! (not that there's anything wrong with that;)