I am a total sucker for re-using recipes and tweaking them JUST ever-so slightly.

I am RE-USER.

A recycler?

A revisioner?

Alright, I’ll stop. I’m making up words right now.

Let’s back track for a second.

How are you? Things?

The 4^th? I feel like the 4^th landed on an incredibly inconvenient day (Tuesday, I mean come on) and people either used the weekend before to essentially take a 4 day weekend, or used the whole week as an excuse to party for America.

I did neither.

YUP.

Work it was.

I am taking a vacation on Friday to London and Italy so I guess I can’t complain (too much).

(I will be sharing a little of my trip with you all on Wednesday. Would love some recommendations on restaurants, shopping and fun things to see.)

Back to that whole food/recipe thing I was talking about earlier.

Have you guys noticed I get easily distracted? You don’t mind my tangents….do you?

(happened again)

Oh yeah, reusing recipes.

So last week I shared with you my broccoli rabe and scallops recipe, here. This week I am sharing my easy variation of the meal with shrimp!

Shrimp are one of my favorite things to eat.

They are super easy and quick to make and have an amazing flavor to them. They have a pure, fresh, clean taste to them and are perfect (in my opinion) during any season of the year.

Although slightly high in cholesterol, shrimp are an excellent source of protein, low in calories and full of nutrients such as B-12 and Zincd. Basically, shrimp are a prime Summertime food.

Instead of laying the shrimp on a bed on BR (broccoli rabe), I sautéed up some seasonal dandelion greens that I picked up at my local grocery store.

Dandelion greens belong to the sunflower family and were used as a source of medicine in the early centuries of Middle Eastern medicine.

I would describe the greens as earthy, nutty and bitter (just like the rabe.)

So where is this whole recipe reusing occurring? I swapped out the scallops for shrimp and the broccoli rabe for dandelion greens. The tomatoes have stayed the same in this recipe as has the blood orange vinaigrette, which is an optional addition.

The easy to make dish is another solid option for a low carb, light, weeknight meal.

You probably don’t want to be slaving over a stove on a hot day, especially without A.C. (can you tell I’m slightly bitter because we don’t have A.C. and it is super-hot every time I cook….. :/).

I also added some caramelized onions to the mix for some extra flavor to the greens. The sweetness goes really well with the leaves.

Ok, so…. looking back on this dish, maybe it wasn’t a “reused” recipe…I would say it is a reinvented, or inspired dish!

I’ll let you decide.

Happy Monday Babes!

Sweet and Masala

Shrimp & Dandelion Greens with Caramelized Onions & Blistered Tomatoes

Buttery shrimp, bitter greens and sweet onions come together with an explosion of flavor in this summertime dish.

Servings

Ingredients

1 lb. shrimp deveined, tails left on, optional
1 small onion sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 bunch of dandelion greens washed
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 tsp. butter
6 tsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Blood Orange Vinaigrette optional

Servings

Ingredients

1 lb. shrimp deveined, tails left on, optional
1 small onion sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 bunch of dandelion greens washed
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 tsp. butter
6 tsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Blood Orange Vinaigrette optional

Instructions

In a small bowl combine shrimp, salt and pepper to taste, crushed red pepper and 1 tsp. olive oil. Stir to coat shrimp. Put in the fridge.
In a pan, add 3 tsp. of olive oil over medium heat. Add butter and let melt. Add sliced onions and salt to taste. Cook down for 8-10 minutes until onions are soft and are a caramelized golden-brown color.
Remove onions from pan and wipe clean.
Add remaining oil to the pan and add garlic. Let cook for 30 seconds on a medium heat. Add washed dandelion greens.
Continue to cook down for 5-6 minutes until soft. Make sure not to let the garlic burn!
When greens are almost ready add the onions back in and add tomatoes stir to combine. Cook for 3-4 more minutes until tomatoes have begun to soften.
Remove greens and onions from pan and add in the shrimp.
Cook for roughly 2 minutes per side, or until shrimp have turned opaque and tomatoes are soft. If the tomatoes are not soft yet, remove shrimp and continue to cook tomatoes until they have reached their desired consistency.