Shrimp Florentine

I found this in my June issue of Cookie Light and couldn't wait to try it! It's simple, bright, and most importantly, I used up all the frozen shrimp in the freezer. It also required me to buy a package of spinach so I was able to have spinach salads for lunch last week. Win, win!

My favorite part of this pasta is that it's not coated in a heavy sauce, so it wasn't as guilt-inducing as say, an Alfredo dish. I love using crushed red pepper to give a dish flavor. It's a low cal way to add another dimension to a dish.

The fresh ingredients. Plenty of spinach, a large lemon, and minced garlic.

I decided to zest my lemon before juicing it. It seemed like a waste not to :)

The sauce is flavored with a smidge of butter, 2 tbsp. The smell of butter, garlic, and crushed red pepper was amazing as it sizzled in the pan.

After toasting the garlic, the shrimp go for a dip in the butter mixture. So good!

Add all the spinach to the pan. It may look huge now, but it wilts fast.

Pretty soon the spinach looks like this and everything fits in nicely in the pan again. I grilled up zucchini as a side dish to up the veggie ante. It was fantastic! I don't use fettuccine noodles very often and after this dish, I'm wondering why not. Definitely adding this dish to the rotation :)

Ingredients:
8 oz fettuccine, cooked to package directions
2 tbsp butter
1 lb large shrimp
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
6 oz spinach
zest of 1 lemon
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:
1. Melt butter in a large skillet. When heated, add garlic and crushed red pepper to the pan. Saute 30 seconds to 1 minute.
2. Add shrimp to the pan. Cook 2-3 minutes, or until the shrimp are done.
3. Add spinach to the pan. Cook until the spinach begins to wilt, about 1 minute. Add pasta, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper to the pan. Toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Adapted from Cooking Light