Tomato with Shrimp and Basil

Perfect for hot summer days, this is a light and tasty dish!  If you have tomatoes fresh from your garden, this is a great way to use some up.  Fresh basil is very important for this dish, so don't cut corners with dried.

Ingredients

• 4 c. (3/4 inch) cubed whole wheat French bread baguette
• 5 c. ripe tomato wedges (about 4 large)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided
• 1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 TBS fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 c small basil leaves

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Place bread cubes on a baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes or until crisp and golden brown, turning cubes once.
3. Combine tomatoes and 1/4 tsp salt in a large bowl.  Sprinkle shrimp with remaining black pepper and salt.  Heat olive oil, red pepper, and garlic in a large non-stick pan over low heat; cook 5 minutes or until warm and fragrant.  
4. Increase heat to medium high.  Add shrimp to pan; saute 2 minutes or until shirmp are done, stirring frequently. Stir in lemon juice.  
5. Add bread, shrimp mixture, and basil to tomatoes; toss gently to coat.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Grilled Shrimp Scampi

A few weeks ago, my family and I went out to my new favorite seafood restaurant, Pappadeaux's.  While my family dined on an amazing meal, the bill at the end was amazing too (lucky for us, I had a $50 gift card which covered about half the meal).  But I was reminded about how much my family enjoys seafood.  While seafood is a little pricier than chicken, making it at home saves a substantial amount!  I picked up a $5 bag of frozen shrimp at Walmart for this meal.  In the future, I'll spend the money on the larger bag as we all would have enjoyed a little more shrimp, but this was a meal the whole family loved!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• ground black pepper to taste
• crushed red pepper flakes to taste (optional)
• 1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions

1. In a large, non-reactive bowl, stir together the olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, garlic, and black pepper. Season with crushed red pepper, if desired. Add shrimp, and toss to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat grill for high heat. Thread shrimp onto skewers, piercing once near the tail and once near the head. Discard any remaining marinade.
3. Lightly oil grill grate. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until opaque.

I used fettuccine noodles for this.  I doubled the sauce except for the garlic and reserved half of it. I then used the leftover marinade and sauteed the garlic, then added just that to the reserve mix.  I then tossed it with the pasta and shrimp, served a fresh green salad and some garlic bread on the side.  This meal with the one bag of shrimp cost me about $9 to make.  For a family of 6!  Even adding an additional bag of shrimp, $11 for a seafood dinner is a great bargain.