Shrimp with Cilantro Pesto
Hubby and I have been enjoying our new kitchen so much but sometimes we get a bit ambitious… I pick exciting new recipes I want to try and then it’s 8:30 before we sit down to eat. Yea, that just doesn’t sit well in my stomach. So we’ve been trying to save those more intricate recipes for the weekends and focus on easy to make weeknight meals. This is our most recent go-to weeknight meal. We’ve been eating it about once a week because it takes no time at all.
The first thing you need for this meal is some frozen pesto. Obviously freshly made pesto or pesto from a jar would also work, but I’ve started freezing pesto, as I’ve seen so many other food bloggers do. See, our fridge came with these little mini ice cube trays. They’re somewhat useless for making ice cubes, so I use them for pesto. The first time I froze pesto was after we made the salmon with cilantro pesto. Now, any time a recipe calls for fresh herbs, I take whatever is left and whip up pesto to freeze.
The next thing you need is some shrimp. We like to buy the two pound bag of shell-on uncooked frozen shrimp when it’s on sale. Just thaw 1/2 the bag and remove the shells. I like to sprinkle the shrimp with some Old Bay prior to throwing them on the griddle that came with our new stove.
Once the shrimp is cooked, throw it in a bowl with a few of your pesto cubes. I like to use 4-6 of my mini pesto cubes for a pound of shrimp. Now cover the bowl with saran wrap and shake it so that the heat from the shrimp defrosts the pesto and the pesto distributes itself on all of the shrimp (a ziplock bag would work for this too, although I’ve never tried that).
And voila, in no time at all, dinner is served. I like to steam some veggies or throw together a quick salad to serve with this shrimp.
Shrimp with Cilantro Pesto
Yield: Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 lb uncooked shrimp, peeled
Old Bay seasoning
frozen pesto cubes
Directions:
Sprinkle Old Bay on the peeled shrimp and cook shrimp in a pan, on the grill, basically any way you like.
Put cooked shrimp into a bowl with a few pesto cubes and cover. Shake to distribute pesto. Enjoy!
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Caramelized onions. I would always snarl at them until I actually tried them and realized they are delicious!
Love Fish Taco’s! We like ours with: fish fingers, cabbage and ranch sauce w/ taco seasoning…ummm..
Try the true Mexican way: with shredded, crispy cabbage, it’s so good.
I tried something I thought I wouldn’t like (that’s a very small percentage of the foods in the world!) and I was right, I totally disliked it – and that’s octopus!
Brussel sprouts. I split them in half, and saute them with olive oil, butter, and garlic. They’re my new favorite vegetable, and my wife and I make them once a week.
On a fish taco note, I had always wanted to try them, finally did, and they were terrible. Turns out I tried them at a bad Mexican restaurant, even though the place was always packed. It was sort of a tourist trap, and eventually went out of business. I’d never thought to try them home, that sounds like a great idea.
I just had to comment…I was the same way with fish tacos and then i tried them and LOVED them. I can’t get enough! Glad I’m not the only one
Oh boy fish tacos… when I first heard of them I thought the concept was a terrible idea. I finally let my husband convince me to try them and I of course loved them. Like Nancy said, we eat them the Mexican/Baja way with cabbage. So good!
Now have you tried shrimp tacos?!
I have not tried shrimp tacos. I will have to look into that.
So true!! I always giggle about them too lol. I had this sandwich that sounded so gross I wanted nothing to do with it, then a friend ordered it and made me try it… it was AMAZING!
roasted corn seasoned, mashed and mixed with diced red bell pepper, topped with cheddar, apricotjam and mixed greens, on wheat
The use of sprouts in your tacos is a great idea! I’m going to have to try that!
I’m not a big fan of fish but these look very delicious:) I used to turn my nose up to deep fried pickles but then I finally tried them…they are delicious!!!
I was skeptical of fish tacos until I tried them. Now they are probably one of my top 5 foods. I love mine with cabbage, lime, and pico de gallo
Also used to turned my nose up at fish tacos! Had them again tonight, this time with swordfish nuggets (Hey the bits and pieces were only 4.99 per lb!) DELISH 🙂
Jen, I too was a fish taco “snob” Couldn’t imagine whoever would think to do such a thing. You actually opened my mind up to trying them. I made salmon with taco seasoning ones and we really loved them, thanks to you. I told a friend whose husband goes to Alaska fishing and always brings home lots of salmon and halibut. They are coming over tonight and guess what we are having? SALMON TACOS!! Thanks.
So glad to hear it!