Baked Lemon Shrimp and Beef

New is good.  Cooking the same old recipes week after week starts getting dull and can lead to snacking throughout the day.  I don't know about you, but when I snack I cannot get satisfied, so I tend to over indulge.  I also start falling back to REALLY basic and easy meals - we are talking boxed Mac & Cheese, Hot Dogs, and Top Ramen - and then my kids start to say "Not that again" a whole lot.  That, of course, is never a good sign.

Well, the cycle ends here!  This week I am going to post four "new to me" recipes as an incentive for me to get more creative in the kitchen.

So here comes the first one: Baked Lemon Shrimp and Beef.

I saw this one on Pinterest as just a picture and decided that I HAD to blog it, if only just to get a full recipe and article on the internet for it.

Last month my husband and I went to his Union's Christmas Dinner at The Sea Grill (a wonderful, fancy seafood restaurant in our town) and Todd ordered Steak & Shrimp.  The shrimp was prepared scampi-style and was amazing.  This got my appetite whetted for more shrimp dishes.

Then, as we were preparing our shopping list for Costco and trying to decide what to make for dinner I saw the picture, said "Good enough!", wrote down the ingredients, and headed out.

The original recipe called for only shrimp, lemon, butter, and Italian seasoning.  I, however, added stew meat (you can substitute thinly sliced beef of your choice) and garlic (not pictured, because I didn't add it to this batch but should have!).

Pre-heat the oven to 350° F.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Slice up a couple of lemons.  I used only two lemons because I bought mine at Costco and they are HUGE there.

Place the lemons slices on the foil lined baking sheet.

Melt 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter in the microwave.  It takes about 25 seconds in mine.

Drizzle the melted butter on the lemon slices.  Mince up two cloves of garlic and sprinkle that on the slices as well.

Place raw shrimp into a large bowl and toss with Italian seasoning.  While I used cooked tail-off shrimp (50-70/lb), that is not what I recommend.  Use raw tail-on shrimp (25-30/lb), they cook up more tender and juicy.

Arrange shrimp in a single layer in the middle of the pan on top of the lemon slices.

In a large bowl, toss beef cuts with 1 Tbsp of olive oil, 1 tsp of lemon juice, 2 tsp Italian seasoning.

Place the beef cuts on the inside perimeter of the pan.  Doesn't that just look pretty?!

Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until shrimp is opaque.  Serve over rice.

This was the very first time either of my sons ate shrimp and they loved it.


BAKED LEMON SHRIMP AND BEEF

1 lb raw, peeled, tail on shrimp (25-30/lb)
1/2 lb choice beef, sliced into thin strips
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
2-3 lemons, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp + 2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350° F.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Place lemon slices on the baking sheet, drizzle with butter, and sprinkle with garlic.
3. In a large bowl, toss shrimp with 1 Tbsp of Italian seasoning, to coat.  Arrange shrimp in a single layer on top of the lemon slices in the middle of the baking sheet.
4. In another bowl, toss beef cuts with olive oil, lemon juice, and 2 tsp of Italian seasoning.  Place beef cuts on the inside perimeter of the baking sheet.
5. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until shrimp is opaque.