lil carb Bobby Flay Summer "Shrimp-spiration"

I am always on the look out for new recipes.  I browse Pinterest and my favorite blogs. I'm also addicted to the Food Network- if you couldn't tell.  I was watching Bobby Flays show last weekend and he made a shrimp dish that looked so amazing I had to make it this week. It was already low carb and falls into the "simple yet flavorful" kick that I have been on lately. As an added bonus it includes some of my favorite thing: fresh herbs, bacon, and garlic. Although garlic was not in the recipe itself I felt like adding it. Hey, it could only make this dish better! In my opinion garlic is a food group.

In the original recipe there is cilantro.  I am one of the few percent that cannot eat cilantro. I just do not like it!  Take note everyone because there are not many foods I won't eat. Easy fix though, I just subbed cilantro for fresh parsley from my herb garden!

I prepped my ingredients so I could drop them in the skillet when I was ready.

Fresh thyme, fresh parsley, scallions, garlic, and bacon!

It said to sauté the bacon in the skillet- I personally don't like when bacon has a rubbery consistency so I opted to bake mine in the oven and then I used some of the bacon drippings to start the vegetable sauté.

I had to get a second picture including the tomatoes.  I used Roma tomatoes and cut out the juicy centers.

I love cooking with all fresh ingredients!  This is the definition of feel-good-food!

Saute the tomatoes in about 1 tbsp of bacon grease over medium heat for about 1 minute then add all the other ingredients.

Then add in some red wine vinegar to create a lil sauce.

This doesn't take long at all. Saute just until everything is warmed through. After about 3-4 minutes I turned the heat down to low just to keep the pan warm. 

What beautiful colors! 

In the meantime Jason prepped our shrimp!  We used18 shrimp for the two of us.  He put them on skewers, patted them dry, brushed them with olive oil and then used a spice grinder that we have.  In the spice grinder was a mixture of sea salt, pepper, red pepper, cumin, garlic, and onion.  But really salt and pepper is all they need! He grilled them just until the shrimp turned a light pink.  Very proud of my hubby- he's the grill mater of our house.

Spoon some of the tomato mixture on the plate and top with the shrimp!

The fresh shrimp and fresh herbs really pop with this dish then you get the smoky bacon flavor and the crunch from the scallion and finish with the warm tomato- YUM!  

Thank you Bobby Flay for your inspiration and this recipe! 

Find the original recipe HERE!

My take on Bobby Flays Grilled Shrimp Dish- Serves 2

18 Shrimp- raw, deveined with shells removed

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper or a few grinds from your favorite spice grinder

Sauce:

10 slices of bacon- reserve 1 Tbsp of bacon grease

6 Roma tomatoes, juicy centers cut out and diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbsp parsley, chopped *You can sub for cilantro*

2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

3 scallions, sliced thin

2 1/2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

Prep the shrimp by patting them dry, skewering them, brushing with olive oil and seasoning them with salt and pepper or your favorite spice grinder.

For the sauce I cooked the bacon in the oven at 395 degrees for about 20 minutes then cut it into large chunks and set aside along with the bacon grease.  

Add the 1 Tbsp bacon grease to a large skillet over medium heat.  Drop in the tomatoes and garlic and sauté for about 1 minute. Then add in the thyme, parsley, scallions, and bacon. Mix all the ingredients together and cook for another minute. Then add in the red wine vinegar and mix again. 

At this point you can turn the heat down to low and cook your shrimp. As soon as the shrimp are done spoon some tomatoes mixture onto your plate and top with shrimp and some extra salt and pepper. 

I served this with easy grilled asparagus- Thanks to Jason ;)  In a shallow dish mix asparagus spears with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon each of garlic powder and onion powder and lemon pepper seasoning.  Sprinkle with salt and grill!

If you're baking the asparagus try my Simple Asparagus Side Dish Recipe!

Let me know if you try this or any of my recipes!  I would love to hear from you!