Tag Archives: Shrimp

Garlic Shrimp with Quinoa is a Gluten Free Treat!

A few months ago, I shared a delicious recipe for garlic shrimp with pasta that was created by my MIL and FIL. SensitiveHusband and I just love this meal because it is fairly quick and easy to prepare, especially if we work on it together. However, we recently tried a variation of this dish that was also quite good – instead of tossing the shrimp and peas with pasta, we used quinoa.

Keen-what? Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is an amino acid-rich seed that has a slightly crunchy texture and nutty flavor when cooked. Most commonly considered a grain, quinoa is actually a relative of leafy green vegetables. Click on this web site from the George Mateljan Foundation for a helpful chart that shows the daily percentages of magnesium, folate and other nutrients in quinoa. It is also gluten free, which is a welcome benefit to many people’s diets.

In order to make this dinner, follow the instructions for MIL and FIL’s Garlic and Shrimp Pasta. Just cook up some quinoa instead of the pasta and toss with the shrimp and garlic at the end to serve. Enjoy this dinner!

I am sharing this recipe with Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, Miz Helen’s Country Cottage and Food Trip Friday.

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MIL and FIL’s Garlic and Shrimp Pasta

Last night, my husband and I whipped up this delicious dish. What a great way to start the weekend! It’s a version of the classic agilo e olio, or garlic and oil, pasta dish. I first had this dinner at my MIL and FIL’s house around the holidays and liked it so much I asked them how to make it. It is quickly becoming a classic in our household! This is a great way to enjoy pasta if you are sensitive to tomato sauce. Instead of the shrimp and peas, you could add chicken and broccoli – or something else! If you have other variation ideas, please share them by commenting below. (And five points goes to whomever can correctly identify what MIL and FIL stands for!)

Ingredients (for two-person meal): 2/3 lb spaghetti; 4 garlic cloves, chopped; 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil; 14 large and frozen shrimp, deveined, peeled and raw; 1 cup organic peas, frozen

Fill the pasta pot with water. As the water reaches a boiling temperature, chop the garlic cloves and mix most of them into the 1/4 cup of oil. Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the package. As the spaghetti cooks, heat a small frying pan with a bit of extra virgin olive oil. Sauté the remaining garlic in the pan, then add the shrimp and heat until cooked (shrimp will turn pink). When there are two minutes left for the pasta to cook, add the peas to the water. Once the pasta is cooked, reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta and peas, then add back into the empty pasta pot. Stir in the garlic and oil mixture, then add the garlic and shrimp sauté. Add in the reserved pasta water until it reaches your desired liquid amount. Have a wonderful dinner!

I am also sharing this recipe with Everyday Sisters and Miz Helen’s Country Cottage.