This Dish Is A Treat For Your Tastebuds!

This is a wonderful dish that I concocted and cooked for my daughter Randi and her husband Dan last summer.  They are both huge aficionados of Greek food and they were getting ready to go on a trip to Greece.  They wanted to get into the spirit of things, so I cooked them a shrimp dish with a distinctive Greek flavor.  They both went crazy for this dish!  

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 5-6 garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 pint of grape or cherry tomatoes, halved if you are using larger cherry tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 pound of raw extra large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 cup of fresh Italian parsley, chopped and divided 1/4 cup and 1/4 cup
• 4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 pound of spaghetti
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (use a little of the grated rind if you like a more intense lemony flavor) 
• a few grinds of freshly cracked pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.  Add the red pepper flakes and the minced garlic.  Saute 1 minute over low flame.  Add the tomatoes.  Sprinkle the tomatoes with the salt and 1/4 cup of the parsley.  Saute over medium flame until the tomatoes start to look soft or cracked- about 3-4 minutes.  Add the shrimp, and cook for about 3-4 minutes just until the shrimp are starting to not look raw.  Take off stove.  Put into casserole dish.  Sprinkle crumbled feta on top and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Take out of oven and sprinkle shrimp with reserved 1/4 cup chopped parsley and 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and a little freshly cracked black pepper.   

Cook spaghetti while shrimp is in the oven.   When you are ready to serve, put a portion of spaghetti on each dinner plate, and then a portion of the shrimp on top of the spaghetti.

Notes: 

1.  You can serve over rice instead of over spaghetti.

2.  You can prepare the dish ahead up until the point where you put the shrimp in the casserole dish, cover it and then refrigerate it.  About a half hour before you put it in the 400 degree oven, take it out of the fridge and let it come up to room temperature.  Then bake in the 400 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Learn To Make This Amazing Shrimp With Feta Cheese And Pan-Roasted Tomatoes Tastes Wonderful And Looks As Pretty As A Picture!

My daughter Randi and her husband Dan are healthy eaters. They use as many organic products as possible in their cooking and they are vegetarians. They do eat seafood and fish, though. One day last summer, Randi asked me to come over and cook with her. She wanted to prepare something new and special for her husband Dan. She also wanted to make something with a Greek flavor to it, since she and Dan were gearing up for a trip to Greece. Randi and I came up with our own amazing recipe using shrimp, tomatoes, and feta cheese. It turned out fabulous, and Dan loved it. He said it was the best shrimp dish he had eaten. It is fresh tasting, and very satisfying.

• 1 pound extra large fresh or frozen raw shrimp
• 1 pint whole grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
• 2-4 ounces of good feta cheese, which you break into small pieces
• 5-6 garlic cloves, minced (sliced very thinly)
• 1 fresh lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• fresh parsley (chop 1/2 cup - 1/4 cup + 1/4 cup and set aside)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• light or extra virgin olive oil, depending upon your preference
• 1/2 pound spaghetti or penne for serving (rice can be substitued)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Add minced garlic cloves

and 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, and saute over a medium flame

just for 1 minute. Add tomatoes. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon kosher salt

and a few grinds of black pepper. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup chopped fresh

parsley. Saute until tomatoes just start to look soft and are beginning to

crack- about 3-4 minutes. Then, add shrimp and cook over a medium to

high heat for 5 minutes just until shrimp are starting to NOT look raw.

Take off stove. Pour everything in pan into an oven proof casserole dish.

Then sprinkle the 2-4 ounces of feta cheese, depending upon how much

cheese you want in the dish, on top. Bake for 10 minutes. Take out of oven

and sprinkle with another 1/4 cup of fresh chopped parsley, 2 tablespoons

of fresh lemon juice and some additional cracked pepper.

Serve over pasta or rice.

Note: I recommend that you serve this over spaghetti or rice. The presentation looks best when you place a portion of spaghetti or penne on each dinner plate, and then spoon one portion of shrimp with tomatoes and feta on top of the pasta. I do not recommend that you mix the spaghetti all together with the shrimp. If you want to serve this family style, then put all the spaghetti, penne, or rice on the bottom of a serving platter, and then carefully spoon the contents of the baking dish on top. Mixing all the ingredients together will take away from the eye appeal of the dish.

My mother made this recipe often.  It was her mother’s, my Grandma Hindes’s recipe.  My grandmother was born in 1908, so if she were alive today, she would be around 100 years old.  My grandmother was an immigrant from Europe.  She immigrated to this country from a place called Galicia, which is now part of Poland.  She was a huge fan of a nutritionist on the radio named Carlton Fredericks.  She learned a lot from him and followed his advice.  My grandmother was way ahead of her time.  My mother and her brother Nat were the ONLY children who brought sandwiches to school made with whole wheat bread.  When my mother talks about her mother’s wisdom in this area, she is still amazed by it.  For that generation, being concerned about nutrition and healthy ingredients was very uncommon.  Well, my grandmother developed this delicious rice pudding recipe because she wanted to create a healthy version of a rather unhealthy dish.  She made it as a side dish that she served along with tuna salad or broiled fish.  My mother made this many times, and my father loved it!  He liked it plain or warm with a little milk in it.  When my father was still alive, I often made this for him so he could take it home and have it as a yummy snack.    I also regularly make this and deliver it to my daughter Randi and my mother as they love it too.  As soon as the cool weather hits, I start making this recipe.  It’s such comfort food!  I like to know it’s in the fridge for a late night healthier than usual snack.  When I put that first bite in my mouth, I’m in heaven.  How many healthy dishes can you say that about?  I know that this is not your traditional rice pudding recipe, but it’s mine.  So please, give this family, heirloom recipe of mine a whirl.  Trust me, once you taste it, you will love knowing that this healthy treat is waiting for you in the refrigerator.

• 1 cup whole grain brown rice (not instant)- I use Uncle Ben’s or Carolina.
• a nice chunk of butter or Fleischmann’s margarine- about 2-3 tablespoons
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar 
• 1 1/4 cups of whole milk
• 3 extra large eggs
• cinnamon 

Note:  If you wish to make this dish healthier, you may reduce the sugar to 1/4 cup and use lowfat or skim milk in place of the whole milk. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a two quart casserole dish well with butter or margarine.  Crack the eggs in a mixing bowl, and mix them with the milk.

Combine the rice, 2 1/4 cups cold water in a 2 quart saucepan.  Bring the water to a boil, then put the lid on and lower the flame as low as possible.  Simmer about 30 minutes until the water is completely absorbed.

Take the saucepan with the rice off the stove.  Put your greased casserole dish into the oven to heat it up while you are completing the rest of the recipe.  Drop the butter or margarine into the rice and mix it through the rice until it is completely melted through.  Then, dump the sugar in and mix gently with a rubber spatula.  Sprinkle some cinnamon in - about 1/2 teaspoon.  Then pour milk and egg mixture into the rice mixture and mix it in well with the rubber spatula.  Take out the casserole dish, and pour the rice mixture in.   Sprinkle the top of the pudding with a nice amount of cinnamon.  Place the casserole dish in the center of the oven.  Bake it for about 1 hour - 1 hour and 15 minutes until the sides and top are brown.  Let the pudding cool a few minutes before serving, or let it cool completely, and then put it in the refrigerator for later.  You can take out a portion any time, and warm it up in the microwave.