Ellie Krieger's Shrimp with Spinach, Garlic and Smoked Paprika

When cooking is the last thing you want to do on a Friday evening, healthy but delicious recipes like Ellie Krieger's Shrimp with Spinach, Garlic and Smoked Paprika. Once your shrimp is peeled and deveined and your garlic sliced and spinach chopped, it comes together quickly in one pan. I put rice in the rice cooker while my shrimp defrosted and had a low effort, high flavor and healthy dinner on the table and in my belly in about 30 minutes.
 

I made just a couple of small changes to the recipe--using smaller shrimp because that's what I had on hand and using a smoked paprika spice blend that contains garlic, chili pepper, and chives.

Shrimp with Spinach, Garlic and Smoked Paprika
Slightly Adpated from EllieKrieger.com
(Serves 4)
  

1 1/4 lbs large shrimp (about 20 per lb), peeled and deveined, tails on (I used 31-35 size)
3 large cloves garlic
5 cups lightly packed baby spinach leaves (5 oz)
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp smoked paprika (I used a smoked paprika, garlic, chili & chive seasoning blend)
¼ tsp salt
pinch cayenne pepper (see above seasoning blend)

Rinse the shrimp and pat dry with a paper towel. Thinly slice the garlic. Coarsely chop the spinach.

Place the oil in a large non-stick skillet and heat over a medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is golden, about 5 minutes. Watch closely so the garlic does not burn. Transfer the garlic to a small dish using a slotted spoon, leaving the oil in the skillet.

Raise the heat on the skillet to medium-high, add the shrimp, paprika, salt and cayenne and cook until the shrimp turns pink and is nearly cooked through, about 3 minutes. Stir in the spinach and return the garlic to the pan and cook until the shrimp is opaque throughout and the spinach is wilted, 1-2 minutes more.

Nutritional Information: Serving size: 1 1/4 cups (about 6-7 shrimp)

Calories 260; Total Fat 13 g; (Sat Fat 2 g, Mono Fat 7.8 g, Poly Fat 2.1 g); Protein 30 g; Carb 6 g; Fiber 2 g; Cholesterol 215 mg; Sodium 410 mg

Excellent Source of: protein, vitamin A, vitamin B12, iron, phosphorus, selenium 
Good Source of: niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin C, calcium, copper, magnesium, zinc

Notes/Results: This recipe goes together quickly and tastes delicious. Smoked paprika, garlic, shrimp and spinach should always hang out. This is a recipe where you'll want to have all your components prepped and ready and then it comes together in under 15 minutes--in once pan--or another pan or rice cooker if you are adding rice. I was using up my partial bags of rice so this is part jasmine rice and part wild rice blend. I recommend using extra spinach as it does cook down a lot--I think it's a bit stingy divided among four--it made 2 healthy servings for me--even with the rice, but the calorie count is still reasonable if you eat more. I would happily make this again.

Linking up at I Heart Cooking Clubs where our it's our Monthly Ingredient/Dish Challenge and the theme is Healthy Meets Delicious--healthy but yummy recipes from any of our featured IHCC chefs.

 
Happy Aloha Friday!