Baked Shrimp Scampi on a Meatless Monday

Baked Shrimp Scampi

I joined Weight Watchers mid-February this year and decided to join in on Meatless Mondays in an effort to eat healthy and mindfully.  This also helps to eat more vegetables and overall make better choices. For my birthday, one of my girlfriends bought me Giada’s new cookbook that came out in March, “Weeknights with Giada” and while reading her first couple pages, I found out, that she too, had embraced “Meatless Monday” movement which was fantastic news to me as I am a big fan of hers!

Preparing guiltless vegetable and meatless meals is a task in itself, and I’m not going to sugar coat it, it got kind of difficult after my first 3 weeks, but I’m staying strong and really pushes me to think of new dishes to experiment with that I don’t typically eat. I’ve done caprese panini’s, breakfast for dinner, salads, etc…and then a light bulb went off in my head last Monday and was like, ‘duh’ I can eat fish/seafood too! So with that I decided to try a baked shrimp scampi that I had stumbled upon through Pinterest and had 90% of the ingredients. So, I stopped at Whole Foods on my way home from work and picked up a pound of fresh shrimp, squash (for my veggie side) and a side of brown rice for my hubs

Be sure the shrimp lies in one layer. This is incredibly easy and fast using few ingredients. Feel free to double the recipe using a larger pan.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• ·         1/3 cup melted butter, plus 1 Tablespoon for greasing baking dish
• ·         5 cloves garlic minced
• ·         1 pound jumbo or colossal shrimp, peeled, cleaned, and deveined
• ·         1 cup fresh dense bread crumbs ( I used Cento brand)
• ·         1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
• ·         Juice of 1 lemon
• ·         1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (not the canned type, use fresh)
• ·         Salt, optional
• ·         Chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Select a casserole dish capable of holding the shrimp in one close layer and grease with 1 tablespoon of butter. 
2. Melt the remaining butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the garlic and gently saute until garlic softens, but does not brown. Do not overcook the garlic or it will become bitter. Set aside to cool. 
3. Place half of the bread crumbs in an even layer in the bottom of the casserole. Sprinkle with some oregano.
4. Place shrimp in the casserole in a single layer . Squeeze lemon juice over shrimp, then top with remaining bread crumbs. 
5. Drizzle cooled garlic butter evenly over the top. Sprinkle with the optional salt and all of the Parmesan cheese. 
6. Bake for 25 minutes or until top is golden brown. Keep an eye on them and set a timer so they dont burn or get too dried out. If the top is not golden after 25 minutes (oven temperatures vary), place under the broiler for a couple of minutes, but watch carefully. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley to serve.