Shrimp and “Grits”

Plan Z Phase” This is a Z3.5 (ZReboot 3.5) recipe. My husband loves shrimp and grits. His mother was from Arkansas and they ate grits often. Trouble is grits are very high carb. Traditional grits are made from cornmeal. I took an inspiration recipe and came up with my own version of shrimp and grits. There is just enough corn in here to help you get the corn flavor without the cornmeal. And there’s enough cheese in here that even though you’ll be using almond meal (aka almond flour) for your grits base, you won’t taste the almond.

Servings: Serves 2. Can be doubled easily.

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound of shrimp. I used cooked shrimp and just removed the tails. You can use fresh shrimp or cooked. And you can use any size you choose. I used smaller ones because they were on sale that day.
  • 2 tsp of Cajun seasoning. You can find seasoning blends in the spice section. Try to find one with no sugar.
  • 1 cup of super fine ground almond flour
  • 1 cup of water
  • grated sea salt to taste
  • 1/3 cup of canned corn, drained
  • 1 cup of grated cheese. I used white cheddar but you can use orange, too.
  • 4 pieces of bacon cooked crisp and chopped
  • 1 tsp of butter
  • ½ cup of minced shallot
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 2 Tbl of whiskey (optional)
  • ½ cup of chopped green onion for garnish

Instructions:

Sprinkle shrimp with Cajun spice and set aside.

For the grits: Mix the almond meal, a dash of grated sea salt and the water in a small sauce pan. Bring to a low boil and cook for 1 – 2 minutes. The grits will thicken a bit and might bubble and spit, so be careful. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese until it melts.  Add the corn and stir again.

In a saute pan melt the butter and add the shallot and red pepper. Cook until soft but not yet brown. Just a minute will do it.

Turn to medium high and add the shrimp. If you are using cooked shrimp all you’re doing is heating them up. If you are using raw shrimp you’ll need to cook them about 3 minutes (depending on what size you chose) to get them cooked through. Add the bacon bits.  Stir.

Then if you’re using the whiskey turn off the heat and add it. Stir until most of it dissolves. Only takes a minute or less.

To serve:  Stir your grits one more time to fluff them up. Put a portion of grits on the plate or in a bowl and pour on the shrimp. Top with the green onion bits for garnish and a bit of zip.

Enjoy!

Cheers,