Grilled Shrimp Salad

For Valentine's Day, Michael made Shrimp Fra Diavolo and a Ceasar Salad for dinner. It was delicious!However, he didn't grill all the shrimp he got for it, so that meant that lunch today was all about 2DG!

He put them in some really good Citrus Sesame dressing to marinade, so they were already very nicely seasoned. All I had to do was heat up the cast iron grill pan, put in some olive oil, and then put in about half the shrimp. After about 2 - 3 minutes, I turned them and let them go another 2 minutes or so.

Next, I put some of the leftover romaine lettuce, chopped, and some of our homegrown tomatoes, sliced, some leftover onion and sliced black olives in a bowl. Topped it off with the grilled shrimp, salt and pepper, and then added a little catalina salad dressing to mimic cocktail sauce a little bit.

Yum! Lunch!

Enjoy...
-J

Pasta Primavera with Chicken Sausage

Tuesday I was jonesing for some pasta. I've cut back on carbs since the beginning of the year. Not totally doing the Atkins thing, but cut way back on 'em. So since we were getting another produce delivery from Orlando Organics on Wednesday, I decided to use up all the remnants of our produce and use a half box of whole wheat penne on the shelf. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I went to the grocery store and actually only bought TWO things! I got some of Publix's Greenwise Mild Chicken Italian Sausage and a grated cheese blend with Romano, Parmesan and Asiago.
First, I browned the sausage on all sides in a cast iron skillet. When that was done, I took it out and using the same skillet, browned some chopped onion, garlic, bell pepper, all sprinkled with salt, in olive oil. Put in some chopped carrot and parsnips. When they were somewhat cooked, I sprinkled about a tablespoon of flour over the whole thing and mixed it in to make a little bit of a roux. Then in went some frozen chicken stock. I sliced the cooled sausage, which was mostly cooked, but not quite thoroughly, and put that back in the skillet with the veggies and stock.
While the sausage was cooling, I put on a pot of water for the penne. Salted it. When it boiled, I put in the half box of penne and cooked it for a minute less than the box said. When it's done, save some of the pasta water. You can use it to add a little juice to the sauce if necessary. Drain the pasta and put it back in the pot.
Dump the veggie/sausage/sauce in with the pasta, and toss. Add some of the pasta water if it's too dry. Sprinke on some of the grated cheese blend, salt and pepper to taste, and serve!
Enjoy!
-J