My Mother-in-Law came down to visit last week, and we decided to make her a customized treat filled with ingredients she loves. We started with shrimp as the key ingredient and then shifted our focus to the starch. She LOVES cornbread (and makes some of the best I’ve had), so we decided to play off that and make polenta since it’s a corn based side that wouldn’t run the risk of me attempting to compete with her cornbread.
Once we had the polenta and shrimp decided, the spinach and onion fell into place naturally. We had some incredible organic spinach from our local farm, and we figured that its natural sweetness would add to the overall flavour profile (and up the nutritional range as well). Then, after we made our little shrimpy morsels, we added some sauteed peas to the plate to finish everything off.
While we served this as an entree, we think these bites would also make for an excellent hors d’oeuvre!
Time: 20 Minutes (more if making your polenta from scratch)
Ingredients:
- Large Shrimp (peeled and deveined)
- Fresh Garlic
- Spinach
- Onion
- Polenta (or make your own with):
- 1/2 Cup Yellow Corn Meal
- 1.5 Cups Water
- 2 Teaspoons Olive Oil
- Garlic Powder
- Parsley
- Salt
Method:
- If making polenta from scratch, start an hour or two ahead of time, and use the method from our Garlic Cheddar Polenta recipe (but with the ingredients noted above).
- As your polenta cools in its parchment wrapping, prep your other ingredients.
- Peel and devein your shrimp
- Peel and dice your garlic
- Chop your spinach
- Dice your onion
- When you’re ready to cook, heat a griddle with some oil.
- Slice your polenta, and arrange it atop the griddle. Flip part-way through cooking to ensure even crisping on both sides.
- Sauté your spinach and onion in a little butter in one pan
- Sauté your shrimp and garlic together in a little butter in a different pan.
- Arrange your polenta on your plate.
- Top each piece of polenta with some spinach and onion.
- Add a shrimp and some garlic over your spinach and onion.
- Devour, and enjoy!
