Lenten Friday’s Dinner

Ok, like the good Catholics my husband and I are we abstain from meat every Friday during the year, not just during the lent season. This actually has health benefits as more and more studies suggest that people should have one meal every week sans meat. Now, don’t ask me why, but seafood is not considered “meat” in the Catholic sense of abstaining from “meat”, and so on Fridays, we usually either have something vegetarian or with seafood. This Friday, we had shrimp with broccoli and leftover pasta salad. I’m not including the pasta salad recipe at this time….that will come later. First up:

Garlic Bay Shrimp

• 1 pound raw shrimp (I cooked using 36-40 count shrimp, in other words, there is 36-40 shrimp in a pound)
• 1 lemon and extra wedges to serve with shrimp
• 3 tsp of Chesapeake Bay Seasoning (sometimes called”Bay Seasoning”, you can find it in just about any decently stocked grocery store)
• 4 cloves garlic (I love garlic, so this may be a little much if you are not such a garlic-lover like me)
• 3 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Make marinade for shrimp: combine juice from one lemon (roughly 2 tbs. of lemon juice), Bay seasoning, garlic, pinch of salt and pepper and 2 tbs olive oil. Coat shrimp and marinade for 30 minutes. Don’t marinade much longer as the acid in the marinade can make the shrimp taste “mushy”. Drain marinade off, heat large skillet over medium heat, add 1 tbs olive oil and sauté until done, about 4-5 minutes. Shrimp is done after it is pink on both sides and curls up…not a minute longer! Right before you take shrimp off skillet, toss with a small sprinkle of more Bay seasoning and serve with lemon wedges. Delicious!

This turned out really good, I absolutely LOVE Chesapeake Bay seasoning on shrimp. This spice blend has just about everything but the kitchen sink in it, but it works brilliantly with shrimp! Just love it! Next my side dish:

Roasted broccoli (serves 2-3, depending on how much you like to eat broccoli)

• 2 cups of broccoli (usually, one large head will yield about 3 cups, but I had two small heads that only gave me 2 cups)
• 3 tbs canola oil
• 1-2 tsp hot pepper flakes (depending how much of a “kick” you want)
• salt and pepper to taste

Cut broccoli into florets and coat with canola oil. Add pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Roasting will decrease heat in flakes, so 1 tsp is not really spicy at all, just gives the broccoli a nice “kick”, so to speak. I added about a tsp of salt and pepper because I cannot stand bland vegetables. Spread broccoli out into a thin layer on a baking sheet giving a lot of room in-between vegetables. Bake in a 500°F (yes, you saw right, 500°) for about 12 minutes, flipping broccoli over about half-way during cooking time. That’s it! Easy, very scrumptious and the broccoli gets a delicious flavor from roasting.

Yummy!