Oh-So-Easy Orzo. With shrimp!

Apparently, sometime in a past life, I went through a shrimp pasta phase. All I cooked was pasta. All I added was shrimp. And whatever vegetables I had on hand. And cheese.

orzo with shrimp, peas, spinach, and grape tomatoes

I vaguely remember making pasta with shrimp a couple of times in the past. Murdo insists that I made it so much, he got shrimped out. So shrimped out that when I was frantically searching my recipe books and websites last weekend (I was determined to cook something blog-worthy for dinner that night) and casually mentioned shrimp pasta, he groaned. "Awww I knew you were gonna say that." I guess shrimp pasta is my go-to dish when I'm stumped for ideas. Who knew?

So I didn't make it that night. I made menudo, instead. But the shrimp pasta was still in the back of my mind. I had all of the ingredients for a perfectly light, easy, and delicious pasta, and they were just aching to be used before they wilted and rotted away in my fridge. So the next night I made orzo with shrimp, grape tomatoes, spinach, and green peas. Topped with shredded Parmesan cheese. Murdo had gyros from Nicky's.

orzo with shrimp, peas, spinach, and grape tomatoes

As I was cooking this dish, I suddenly remembered that Yes, I did make shrimp pasta a lot because Holy Crap, this dish is so quick and easy. In fact, I added shrimp to almost everything, simply because it tastes good with almost everything and it only takes a few minutes under cold water to thaw. (I'm pretty bad at planning meals and remembering to defrost meat ahead of time, so oftentimes I really want to make something on the spot but can't because the meat is frozen solid.)

In the time it took to boil water and cook the orzo, the shrimp and the veggies were ready. I ate the leftovers for lunch a couple of days later, and even tossed a couple of spoonfuls with some fresh baby spinach the next night for a late-night salad.

I don't think I could ever get shrimped out.

Comments

  1. Looks great--I don't think I could ever get shrimped out, either!

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  2. So colorful and appetizing! I've got 3 bags of frozen shrimp in my freezer so you're not alone in your shrimp dependency.

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  3. That's hilarious about the shrimp phase, especially that you didn't realize it. I think when we really love something, we don't mind eating it over and over (and over) again!

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  4. mrob - thanks! yeah, shrimp is just so easy and versatile, i could throw in any dish and be perfectly happy. :)

    meg - thank you! glad you could stop by.

    tangled noodle - yikes i just finished off my last bag of shrimp! it's on my list for the next grocery trip.

    shanna - i'm definitely in the "i love this food so let's eat it over and over and over again" club. thankfully, this blog helps me change things up a bit. :)

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