In college chicken seems to be the go to protein, but that gets boring. Using shrimp is an easy way to get your protein and change it up! I think some people are scared to cook with it, but it is incredibly easy and versatile. Also, there is no count on how many shrimp to use because you can use anywhere from 3-20 shrimp and the instructions will be the same.
- Frozen and peeled shrimp
- One clove of garlic
- 1/4 cup (or less) of olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- One lime or half of a lemon
- Paprika or Chili Powder (optional)
- Handful of parsley (optional)
Frozen and peeled shrimp are easiest to use. If you know a day in advance that you will make shrimp, put it in the fridge to defrost. If not, throw the bag of shrimp in to a bowl and run cold water on it until the bowl is full. Let that sit (about an hour) until it is defrosted. Now comes the fun part. Hold a shrimp in your hand so the backside is facing up. Then you will take your knife along the backside and slightly cut so the shrimp “opens.” Hopefully this picture makes more sense than my instructions.
Once you’ve made the incision, your shrimp should look like this:
Now that the hard stuff is done, Season with salt, pepper and the powdered spice of your choice. I like paprika because although the flavor Isn’t too strong, it makes the taste more interesting than just salt and pepper.
Coat the bottom of a pan with olive oil and bring to medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, throw in the sliced garlic for a bout a minute. Then, put in the shrimp, but be sure to not overcrowd the pan. You can do multiple rounds of this if you have to much shrimp for one go. Cook for about 2-3 minutes, then use tongs to flip.
While cooking the second side of the shrimp, squeeze lemon or lime juice over them. When the shrimp look just about done – another 2 minutes and looking pink – throw roughly chopped parsley in the pan. Just like that, you’re done!
Once you get comfortable cooking shrimp, season it up with anything you like and the rest of the cooking will be the same. Serve over pasta, preferably fettuccine or spaghetti, and trust me it will be amazing!
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