For the holidays, I spent a long, lovely and leisurely week at my mom's house in Baltimore. My mom is an amazing cook and filled me up with lamb stew, Christmas cookies and homemade bread for days. It's fun not having to cook sometimes, but it's also fun for me to cook, so I decided to make dinner one night. Even though my mom's kitchen is the one I grew up, the one I've seen my mom cook meals in for over fifteen years and cooked a fair amount of meals in myself, it was kind of weird cooking in someone else's kitchen. I didn't remember where some things were kept and my sister was like UMMM what's wrong with you? Anyway, I poked around the fridge and cabinets to see what ingredients my mom had on hand and this is what I came up with:
Avocados, tomatoes, shrimp and pistachios. Inspired by this avocado pasta recipe from Oh She Glows, I decided to make an avocado-based sauce. It turned out really really good. Definitely felt like more of a summery meal, but easy, slightly unusual, and delicious.
Roasted Shrimp in Creamy Avocado-Pistachio Sauce
serves 3-4
total time: 30 minutes
total hands on time: 10-15 minutes
What you'll need:
about 20-25 medium or large fresh or frozen shrimp (more than in the picture. We needed a few more shrimps per person!)
1 container of grape or cherry tomatoes (regular ones, chopped, would be fine too)
quinoa or pasta
for the sauce:
2 avocados
small handful of shelled pistachios (can be salted or unsalted; I used salted, so I didn't add any salt to the sauce. If you're using unsalted, add a pinch of salt)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsps lemon juice
a lot of good black pepper
What you'll do:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Wash tomatoes and slice into halves. Season with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for 20-25 minutes until they're slightly shriveled.
3. Add shrimp to tomato mixture and roast for another 10 minutes.
4. While the shrimp and tomatoes are roasting, make the sauce: add all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. You may need slightly more or less lemon juice or oil; taste it and see.
5. Once the shrimp and tomatoes are done, toss them in the sauce.
6. Garnish with more pistachios and serve.
I was seriously pleasantly surprised by this fast, impromptu dinner; I want to make this again, but maybe incorporating mint or cilantro into the sauce. This creamy avocado sauce would be damn good atop tacos or enchiladas, too.
The avocados I used were kinda small, so you might be able to get away with one and a half or even just one, especially when they're in season. I served this alongside quinoa, but I'm sure Roasted Shrimp with Creamy Avocado-Pistachio Sauce would be great alone (low carb New Year's resolution?) or with pasta. You could even serve this on top of a big green salad. The recipe can be made vegan if you omit the shrimp, and it's naturally gluten-free!
I'm Carrie. I make quick, easy, healthy food. I don't have any culinary training; I'm just a regular person who wants to eat well. You'll like this blog if you're a busy person who wants to eat flavorful, healthy food without going broke or spending hours in the kitchen.
