Foodista's Roasted Shrimp Risotto

I'll admit it...I've been eating a looot lately.  And while I love trying different restaurants and indulging in foods I'd never cook at home, sometimes it can be a bit much.  That's why I cooked up a healthy and really satisfying meal yesterday, combining two dishes I've made before - 1. Mexican risotto and 2. roasted shrimp salad.

It was gooood - hearty and fresh tasting, as it used mostly fresh ingredients and really good shrimp.  I bought jumbo shrimp for this, and it made a huge difference.  They added meatiness to the dish and made it more substantial--as did the generous cubes of my beloved ingredient, avocado.  Even though you can't see it from the picture above, the bed of this dish consists of long grain white rice with black beans.  Everything was seasoned with lemon juice, giving it nice tang.  Try it yourself and feel free to add your favorite protein or veggies.

Foodista's Roasted Shrimp Risotto

Ingredients (serves 2)
1/2 cup of long grain white rice

1 cup of black beans
1 avocado, cubed into 1/2" pieces

1/2 lb of jumbo shrimp, cleaned and deveined (or you can clean them yourself)
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Olive oil

A pinch of each, Italian seasoning and dried paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cook rice according to directions on the packaging.  Add the beans at the end, when you've taken the rice off the flame.

Clean shrimp and coat with olive oil (1 generous glug), Italian seasoning, dried paprika, salt and pepper.  Make sure to incorporate it thoroughly.  Spread out on a lined baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes or less. Check on it once to see that the shrimp is nice and pink, but be careful not to overcook it. If it curls in too much, that means you overdid it.

Spoon rice and beans into a bowl.  Top with more beans if you like and then add the sliced avocado.  Add the roasted shrimp at the very top.  Season with more salt and pepper if you like and squeeze lemon juice on top. 

Enjoy with a glass of white wine or a nice light beer.

Still Eating Healthy - My Roasted Shrimp Salad

In an on-going effort to eat well and cook healthy, I made really good roasted shrimp on a bed of mixed greens and other fruits and veggies.  I used my signature oil/mustard/lemon juice/honey vinaigrette and the overall effect was delicious.  I don't think you need another side dish with this, but it can use some nicely toasted bread or pita.

Hint - When buying fresh shrimp, get the uncleaned vs. the cleaned - it'll provide a significant savings.  I couldn't believe that the cleaned shrimp was a whopping $16.99/lb vs. the uncleaned which was a mere $6.99/lb at Whole Foods.  It takes an extra 15 minutes to clean and devein, but it's worth it.

Foodista's Roasted Shrimp Salad (serves 2)

1 lb of fresh shrimp (uncleaned)

Olive oil

Salt and coarse pepper to taste
Mixed greens such as arugula, radicchio, fresh baby spinach
1/2 red pepper, coarsely chopped

1/2 or a whole golden delicious apple, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 pieces of fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed into 1/4" pieces
Handful of dried cherries, halved
My signature dressing

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Peel and devein shrimp and then coat in olive oil (about 2 tbs).  Season with salt and pepper and then mix thoroughly with your hands until well incorporated.  Place on foil-lined baking sheet and put in oven for about 5 minutes or until the shrimp turns pink.

In the meantime, prepare the salad by tossing the greens with the peppers, apples, cheese, cherries and then finally the dressing.

When the shrimp is done, place on top of the greens and enjoy.  As I mentioned, a crusty piece of bread or a pita might be tasty with this.  Bon appetit.