Barton Seaver, the Chef at the helm of Blue Ridge restaurant, says "if you can turn on your stove, you can cook fish." He's right. Cooking fish is easy. And, more importantly, it's TASTY. I would happily give up meat if I could eat fresh, sustainable fish every night for dinner. The problem is that fish is expensive and most varieties you find in the supermarket are unsustainable and usually not that fresh. Further, I want to know the origin of the shrimp. I don't want to eat farmed shrimp from China because I've read the news articles. I don't want to get into that here, because this blog is about arousing people's appetites, but let's just say that imported farmed shrimp is definitely bad for the environment and it's probably bad for you. That is why I'm eagerly anticipating the opening of Seaver's new fresh fish market, which will feature sustainable fish choices.
Enough about that. Let's talk about this dish. It's basic, easy, and packs HUGE flavor from the onions, thyme, and garlic. Cooking the shrimp in the tomato broth produces a juicy, tender shrimp, and the feta brings the salt. All you need to add is crusty bread to sop all the goodness up from the pan.
Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta
Eat Smart with Ellie Krieger (Fine Cooking)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, mined (about 2 tablespoons)
2 14.5 ounce cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes with their juices
1/4 cup fresh thyme
1 1/2 pounds of large shrimp (try to buy wild caught from the U.S.)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup crumbled, creamy feta
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Heat the oil in an oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, and cook, stirring until softened, about three minutes, then add the garlic, and cook for about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for about 5 minutes, until the tomato juices thicken.
3. Remove from heat, add thyme and shrimp, season with salt (go light on the salt until the finish because, remember, the feta has lots of salt) and pepper. Sprinkle the feta over the top.
4. Bake until shrimp are cooked through and the cheese melts slightly, about 12 minutes.
Serves four. Serve immediately with crusty bread.
