Teaching myself to cook, one recipe at a time.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Philly Shrimp (2nd attempt) and Honey Pecan Green Beans

IMG_2528

You may remember a post a while back for Philly Shrimp. It’s basically shrimp sauteed in butter, supplemented with a sauce made from diced tomatoes and melted cream cheese. I made it while hubby was away, and I liked it a lot. It was simple and tasty. But I was pretty sure the recipe suffered from a lack of regular cream cheese (all I had was whipped), plus I didn’t have fresh spinach to add.

Not that long ago, I found myself with about a pound of shrimp, so I thought I’d give it another go.

IMG_2502

This time, I used a package of lemon-pepper linguini that I had in my cupboard. I’d received it as a gift ages ago and honestly wanted to use it a million times, but I always chickened out because it seemed like lemon-pepper linguini would require a certain recipe and I wasn’t sure what that recipe was. However, since I was making this dish for hubby and he tends to think that pasta is boring and bland, I decided to go ahead and finally use it.

IMG_2501

While I was taking that last picture, I noticed a bowl of unused Roma tomatoes chilling on on the counter. Figuring that they could add some extra flavor intensity, I chopped a few of them up. The Sam Adams was there to facilitate the cooking process, of course.

IMG_2505

Then I cooked the linguini according to package directions. Well, actually, the package didn’t have directions, so I cooked it as I would regular linguini. Pretty sure you can’t screw this up too badly.

IMG_2507

Measured out some cream cheese and licked the spatula clean because you all know how much I love cream cheese.

IMG_2508

And the rest went pretty much as it had the first time. Melted butter and sauteed minced garlic, then added the shrimp, tomatoes, and cream cheese.

IMG_2511

And stirred until it was creamy. It was definitely creamier than when I used whipped cream cheese, but I don’t think anyone would be surprised by that.

IMG_2513

And this time I had fresh spinach to toss with the linguini, unlike last time. The recipe called for 2 cups worth, and I was happy to use all that because my spinach was starting to go limp and wouldn’t have been good for very long beyond this, anyway.

IMG_2514

I tossed the chopped spinach with the linguini, then picked out some of the spinach because it seemed like an awful lot. Maybe it would have been better if I’d actually chopped the spinach into smaller pieces, rather than simply tearing it haphazardly.

IMG_2527

Lastly, I mixed in the shrimp and tomatoes with the creamy sauce.

IMG_2529

So that was the main course! It was looking better than my first attempt, for sure.

Now for the vegetables. Buckle up, because this is an amazingly simple, delicious, and different veggie recipe. My vegetable side dishes always end up being pretty savory, with salt, pepper, and whatever spices I choose to add (often red pepper flakes). I was in the mood for something a little different, something sweet. And I found this.

First, steam some green beans (I started with frozen ones).

IMG_2506

Next, take a lot of butter (I never said this was healthy, did I?)…

IMG_2516

…and melt it in a pan.

IMG_2518

Add about two tablespoons of cashews. I didn’t have cashews, so I used pecans. It worked beautifully. Put them in the butter and saute for about 2 minutes, or until the nuts start browning.

IMG_2519

Then add a tablespoon of honey.

IMG_2521

And stir in your green beans.

IMG_2522

That’s it! It’s that simple. Takes just a few minutes and adds a subtly sweet side to a savory main dish.

Voila! Dinner is served. None of it took very long, and it wasn’t complex. It’s a nice weeknight dinner. And for the record, hubby cheerfully told me that it wasn’t, in fact, bland. The leftovers were certainly more enjoyable than the first time I made the Philly shrimp, that’s for sure.

IMG_2530

The Philly shrimp recipe is already in my TasteBook, and the green beans recipe will be in there soon. Or you can just check out the link to allrecipes.com that I posted above – the only change I made was substituting pecans for cashews.

Happy cooking.

No comments:

Post a Comment