Light Vegetable and Shrimp Spaghetti

I love to cook. I love browsing recipes. I love finding new and exciting ways to use ingredients. I enjoy watching shows on Food Network. I make more new dishes than I do repeat dishes.

So when I find a recipe that is like "WOW" I have to share. This is one of those recipes. It's also one of those recipes that I can't wait to make again.

Who likes shrimp? Yes! Who likes pasta? yes! Who likes a creamy Parmesan sauce? Yes! Then I have the recipe for you. Even the leftovers of this dish completely disappeared which I have to admit, doesn't happen all the time.

Just like all those cooking shows, I believe it's so much easier to prep all the ingredients at one time, even down to measuring out the liquids and spices. I want a mandolin to slice my vegetables all fun like, but I thought, for doing it by hand, my julienned vegetables looked pretty darn good. Here I have baby carrots, yellow squash, and a zucchini. I'll also be sauteing this with fresh minced garlic.

I admit, I cheated and used precooked shrimp. Sometimes it makes life so much easier though because it's already cleaned and shelled, all I have to do is take the tails off. Just thaw and go! Saves so much time.

I even get my pasta weighed out. ALWAYS weigh out your pasta in dry form. A serving is typically 2 ounces, and this is dry weight, and trust me, it doesn't look like much dry, but it's a LOT cooked. Sometimes I can even go for just a partial serving because it can be so much at times. My family really likes the multigrain or whole wheat pasta. It has so much more flavor than regular pasta.

Here I have my Parmesan cheese. Do not, I repeat, do NOT use the grated stuff in a can with the green lid. Sometimes I question whether that is really cheese or not. It may seem cheaper, but in the long run, by buying real Parmesan in the grocers dairy case you are getting such a better quality product. The taste alone will have you never buying that questionable stuff they pawn off near the canned spaghetti sauce again.

Once all the items are prepped and ready to go, it's time to start cooking. Here I'm just sauteing the vegetables in a light margarine. Now now, I know, real butter should be used here, but I was trying to cut back on some of the calories, and really, by using the margarine it tastes just as good.

Here I'm creating the sauce. I've added in my dill, heavy cream, and cheese. Now, I know I just mentioned cutting the calories and right here I'm using heavy cream. Light cream or half and half would work as well, I just used heavy cream because it's what I had on hand. Cook that up until it starts to thicken. I had a hard time getting this to thicken right away, so maybe start with 1/4 cup less cream.

Now all that's left to do is toss in your shrimp. Since they are already cooked all you have to do is heat them through and viola! It's finished. And oh so tasty! I served this with a nice fresh side salad and a piece of garlic bread to get the last bit of all the sauce up from the plate. It's really that good.

Shrimp and Vegetable Spaghetti

Makes 4 Servings
Each Serving is 640 calories

Ingredients

14 oz cooked shrimp
8 oz Eating Right Pasta Plus Spaghetti
2 tbsp Country Crock Light margarine
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup shredded Parmesan
8 oz baby carrots, julienned
8 oz zucchini, julienned
8 oz yellow squash, julienned
1/2 tbsp dried dill
2 tsp minced garlic

Directions

Over medium heat melt margarine, add carrots and garlic, saute until slightly tender, add zucchini and yellow squash. Continue to saute until tender.

In large pot boiling water prepare pasta, drain, set aside.

To vegetables add heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, dill, and salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook and stir until sauce thickens. Toss in shrimp and pasta and cook until heated through.