Creamy Shrimp and Veggie Pasta

I made this for dinner last night, and it was quite good. Fairly quick, especially if you buy shredded carrots (which I did) and shredded parmesan (which I did not). I did not use parsley on Child’s dish (he does not like ‘lettuce’). The sauce tasted very much like alfredo (but a lot better for you).

adapted from Cooking Light

1/2 pound uncooked long pasta (fettuccine, spaghetti, angel hair)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used precooked frozen shrimp)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup frozen green peas, thawed
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup (4 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided
1/4 cup bacon crumbles (optional; we did not use it and it was still tasty)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain well; keep warm.

2. Heat up olive oil in a large skillet. Add shrimp and garlic to pan; sauté over medium-high heat 2 for minutes. Add peas and carrot; cook 2 minutes or just until shrimp are done. Transfer shrimp mixture to a large bowl; keep warm.

3. Combine milk, flour, salt and pepper, stirring with a whisk. Add milk mixture to pan; cook over medium heat 3 minutes or until thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove pan from heat; add cheese, stirring until blended.

4. Add milk mixture to shrimp mixture; stir until combined. Add pasta and half of the parsley, tossing gently to coat. Transfer pasta mixture to a platter or divide evenly among each of 4 plates; sprinkle evenly with remaining parsley and crumbled bacon, if desired. Serve immediately.

Amazingly Easy Broiled Salmon

This is one of my recent finds, and I’ve already made it three times. It just can’t get much easier than this. And if you use aluminum foil, clean up takes no time at all. The family loves it! On the side, the magazine recommends a salad and roasted potatoes. I made it with steam broccoli and buttered gnocchi, and the whole meal was out of this world.

• 1/2 cup orange marmalade
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets (do not use one large piece in hopes of cutting it later—it will take too long to cook through and the marinade will begin to burn)
• Cooking spray

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Combine first 6 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well.
3. Line a jelly-roll pan with foil, spray foil with cooking spray.
4. Brush half of marmalade mixture over fish; broil 6 minutes.
5. Brush fish with remaining marmalade mixture; broil for 2 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.

Turkey Meatballs

I found this recipe a long time ago and kind of forgot about it. Nothing gourmet about it, but it’s definitely easy and quick, and it freezes wonderfully.

Adapted from allrecipes.com

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 (20 ounce) package ground turkey
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• Spaghetti sauce of your choice (I often mix the sauce in the blender with some steamed broccoli and/or steamed carrots to sneak in some veggies)
• Package of spaghetti or noodles of your choice
• Shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with the olive oil, and place it in the oven while preheating.

2. Make noodles according to package directions.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together the ground turkey, egg and bread crumbs using your hands. Form the meat into golf ball sized meatballs. (You can freeze them at this point, although I usually freeze them after baking).

4. Place about 1 inch apart in the hot baking dish. Press down to flatten the bottom just slightly.

5. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then turn them over and continue baking for about 5 more minutes.

6. To give meatballs more flavor and make them a little juicier, place cooked meatballs in a skillet, pour tomato sauce over them and simmer for 10 minutes. Or you can skip this step and simply serve meatballs right out of the oven with pasta, warmed up sauce and grated Parmesan cheese.