Lemon-Rosemary Grilled Shrimp with Lemony Quinoa

This is a delicious light and fresh dinner dish! I found the Lemon-Rosemary Grilled Shrimp recipe on the Martha Stewart website and the Lemony Quinoa recipe at allrecipes.com. I have never cooked with quinoa before but it is actually quite easy to cook and has a great texture. The rosemary and lemon zest flavors in the shrimp recipe are absolutely mouth watering. The shrimp paired fantastically with the lemony quinoa. Served over a bed of baby spinach this healthy dinner was very light and satisfying!

 

Lemon-Rosemary Grilled Shrimp Recipe:

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary

Juice and zest from 1 lemon

Coarse sea salt

Freshly ground white pepper

1. In a large bowl, combine shrimp, 1 tablespoon olive oil, garlic, 1 tablespoon rosemary, and half of the lemon zest; season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat.
2. Preheat grill pan over medium-high heat. Place shrimp on pan and cook, turning once, until cooked through, about 1 minute per side. Transfer shrimp to serving platter and drizzle with remaining olive oil and lemon juice. Sprinkle with remaining teaspoon rosemary and lemon zest. Serve immediately.

A couple notes:

I used frozen pre-cooked shrimp. After thawing I followed the recipe and let simmer in pan until heated through.

I didn't have a grill pan so I used a skillet to heat the shrimp.

The recipe calls for white pepper but I used freshly ground black pepper.

Lemony Quinoa Recipe:

¼ cup pine nuts

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

Sea salt to taste

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

2 stalks celery, chopped

¼ red onion, chopped

¼ cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon ground cumin

1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped

1. Toast the pine nuts briefly in a dry skillet over medium heat. This will take about 5 minutes, and stir constantly as they will burn easily. Set aside to cool.
2. In a saucepan, combine the quinoa, water and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook until quinoa is tender and water has been absorbed, about 10 minutes. Cool slightly, then fluff with fork.
3. Transfer the quinoa to a serving bowl and stir in the pine nuts, lemon juice, celery, onion, cayenne pepper, cumin and parsley. Adjust salt and pepper if needed before serving.

A couple notes:

I used toasted pine nuts so I was able to skip the first step.

I slightly softened the onion and celery by sauteing them in a saucepan with olive oil for a couple minutes adding the cayenne pepper, cumin, salt and pepper.

I added a can of white beans to the lemony quinoa mixture for added texture and fiber.

Enjoy!