Shrimp and Grits

A restaurant here in town served shrimp and grits for a short time.  I never had them there, but I found the idea intriguing.  The sauce seemed to be tomato-based, which I like in general, but most of the recipes I found were cheese-based and that did not sound good.  I had bits of CSA stuff and I ended up throwing a lot of things together.  It was actually remarkably good and not as heavy as Southern Sunday normally is.

Serves 2-3

1 lb shrimp (60-80 size)
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
1 small onion, minced
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
Splash Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
Salt and garlic salt to taste
Cheese Grits

1. Shell and de-vein shrimp.  Set aside.
2. Mix together tomatoes, pepper, and onion.  Stir to combine and set aside.
3. Mix cornstarch with shrimp.  Set bowl aside again.
4. In skillet, heat butter and oil.  Saute garlic until soft.  Add shrimp to skillet and saute until shrimp is cooked.  Drain any liquid from tomato mixture and pour over shrimp in skillet.  Cook until tomatoes release juices and those juices thicken.  Season with Worcestershire sauce, Cajun seasoning, salt, and garlic salt.  Serve over grits.

Red Beans and Rice

I made red beans and rice last year and wasn't real impressed.  The recipe I made took a really long time and didn't really taste good enough to justify the work.   We had a lot of flooding in my town this week and were on severely restricted water usage, so my main goal with this meal was to make something filling with as little water and as few dishes as possible.  It was a real bonus that it also tasted fantastic.

Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 ring link smoked sausage, chopped (I used turkey)
14 oz can diced tomatoes
14 oz can chili beans
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
Rice, for serving

1. In medium saucepan, heat oil and butter over medium heat.  Add onion, pepper, and garlic and saute until bright.  Stir in sausage and heat until fragrant. Add tomatoes and beans.  Stir well and add seasoning.  Heat to a simmer and reduce heat to low.  Simmer steadily for 45 minutes or until thick.  Serve over rice.

Week 11 Box

The city I live in flooded pretty badly this last week, so there has been a lot of distractions around here.  I was actually surprised that our box came on time and full this week.  At the moment, we have all the roads open here and have no restrictions on using water--earlier this week we were limiting to a bare minimum--but we are still boiling everything used for washing dishes and in or on food.  Hopefully it's all over soon.

• Swiss chard
• Kale
• Green beans (from the CSA and my mom)
• Zucchini
• Cucumbers
• Okra
• Jalapeno pepper
• Leeks
• Savory