Lemon Paprika Shrimp

We live in a meat-free zone and eat only fish and seafood. While my husband abides strictly by this limitation, I enjoy the occasional chicken dish or burger when we go out to eat. I have always preferred seafood to white or red meat so this arrangement is delightful.

I strive to make our fish and seafood meals varied rather than the same recipe all the time. I love meal prep videos on my Facebook feed from Tasty, Delish, Cooking Panda, you name it! I save these videos for cooking inspiration when I’m out of ideas. One such video is Lemon Paprika Shrimp.

The recipe is easy, delicious, and budget-friendly. Trifecta! Please note that I altered the recipe (as usual).

The main ingredients are pasta and shrimp. Not a mysterious name for the dish that leaves you wondering what it is. I found a bunch of boxes of Barilla Pronto linguine on clearance at Publix for 50¢ per box. I bought 1 bag of uncooked shrimp that was on sale for $5.99 (a $4 savings). Since I only used 1/3 of the shrimp, the approximate cost of this meal is $3 including the onion and seasonings I had on hand already. I used a Target coupon which deducted $10 off a $30 seafood and/or meat purchase. I purchased $35 worth of seafood and then paid less than $25 for the shopping trip!

I boiled 1 box of linguine. While the pasta was cooking, I seasoned the shrimp with Everyday Seasoning even though the recipe did not call for seasoning.

Next, I chopped 1 large onion and tossed it in a pan with olive oil until soft and slightly browned.

Then, I mixed paprika, thyme, rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper. Dumped the seasoning into the pan with the onions and mixed well. I let it cook for another few minutes.

I added the seasoned shrimp to the onions and let the shrimp cook for a couples minutes on both sides. Next, I switched up the recipe by adding lemon juice, more olive oil, and balsamic vinegar to the shrimp mix. The recipe called for white wine and lemon juice only.

I tossed the shrimp mix in the linguine with enough olive oil to make the mixture a little wet. I served the pasta with grated Parmesan cheese.

It was really a delicious dish. I was a little concerned that the balsamic vinegar and lemon juice would make the final product too sour. Surprisingly, it was somewhat sour, but was rounded out by the olive oil.

We will be having this again.