Guest Appearance! Paleo Shrimp Scampi

You are all in for a special treat today....we have a guest blog entry from Miss Lindsey Cucumber! ;)

 

Linds has been such a huge supporter of my blogging adventure from day one. She has offered advice and given me the support I needed when I had no clue what I was doing. Here's a pic of Linds and I having brunch in the marina in 2012.

 

 

And Chrissy and Linds made an appearance at the annual Fourth of July festivities down the Cape!! Linds is rocking the American flag bikini front and center.

So now onto her guest blog recipe. Here is what Linds sent me to post for you guys:

"This shrimp scampi made with spaghetti squash is a delicious Paleo meal that makes great leftovers! I feel great when I eat a Paleo diet, but of course still miss many foods (like pizza!). Instead of being disappointed after trying to recreate a recipe I love into a “Paleo-fied” version (think Almond Crust Pizza… though I LOVE it, it’s just not the same as my beloved Papa Gino’s!), I find it easier to try new-to-me recipes! That way, I don’t have to worry about the comparison factor. Since I am not much of a spaghetti lover and have never made shrimp scampi, I thought this would be a great dinner idea. Adding extra veggies such as broccoli and organic tomatoes to the spaghetti squash made the meal very filling. It all came together in under an hour.

  

Ingredients

• 2 dozen shrimp (frozen or fresh!)
• 1 spaghetti squash
• 4 tablespoons of butter or ghee
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• Splash of white wine
• 4 cloves of garlic
• Splash of Half & half or cream (Optional and not Paleo, but I feel fine eating a bit of dairy, so why not!?)
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon of lemon zest
• ½ cup of chopped Parsley
• Broccoli florets
• Cherry tomatoes

 

Instructions:                          

 

Spaghetti Squash 

 

As Shaz has mentioned a number of times on her blog, cooking spaghetti squash is super easy! Just preheat your oven to 400 degrees and cut the squash lengthwise. After you take out the seeds, put it face down in a baking pan with about 2 inches of water on the bottom. Set a timer to about 30 minutes and begin making your sauce.

 

The Sauce

 

For the sauce, heat your butter or ghee and olive oil over medium-low heat for a few minutes. You don’t want it to burn! I love ghee as a substitute for butter. It is clarified and has a great taste. Add your garlic and cook it until it does not have much color, but don’t let it turn brown! When your garlic is looking done, add your shrimp, a dash of salt and pepper, and an optional splash of cream and/or white wine. Cook until pink.

 

When your shrimp are done, you can remove the pan from heat or turn the heat down low and add in the lemon juice, lemon zest and parsley. If you take a taste and the sauce is a bit too lemony, feel free to add more wine, cream, or olive oil… or a bit of all three! ;)

 

While the shrimp were cooking, your squash timer should have gone off! Grab each half of the squash with an oven mitt – it will be hot! – and flip over so that they are face up. Add fresh broccoli and cherry tomatoes to the water and cook for another ten minutes. (Linds Cooking Tip: I find that flipping the squash face up for the last ten minutes makes it a bit firmer and prevents it from being too watery.)

 

Once the squash and veggies are finished, take them out of the oven and use a fork to scrape the squash and make “spaghetti”.

 

 

Add the spaghetti and veggies to the scampi sauce and stir until the sauce has coated all of the spaghetti. Plate it up and voila! Dinner is served. I highly recommend serving with a glass of white wine… Shaz I’ll remake this for you with wine in May ;) Hehe. This wine from France was perfect with it!

  

 

This recipe should make about 4 servings. Great for a big dinner or leftovers the next day! Thanks Shaz, for having me guest blog. You are always in the back of my mind when I am cooking (and I am likely texting or calling you for help while I do so!) Keep your great recipes coming " - Linds

 

 

Hope you guys enjoy Linds' amazing dinner!!!  Stay tuned for more guest entries from the little red headed chef!

 

xo,

Shaz (& Linds)