Coconut Spinach Artichoke Shrimp

Oh boy, it's been awhile since I've posted a dinner recipe on here! As I mentioned in last Monday's post, I've been staying pretty basic and boring in the kitchen for my main meals out of convenience and paying more attention to budget. Buuuut it's time to spice things up!

I've become a tad obsessive about fitting as many greens into my daily diet as possible. Whether it be my favorite green smoothie, salad, or just lightly sautéed in a pan with dinner, I have been particularly crazy about baby spinach.

Also, you know when you have to go out of town and that means you have to eat everything perishable in the fridge, ASAP? Well, I had a whole extra bag of baby spinach in need of using (thanks to my obsessive spinach frenzy), some coconut milk about to go sour, and leftover quinoa. When I thought of creamy spinach, it's as if the can of artichoke in my cupboard shouted out to me, basically volunteering as tribute.

Spinach and artichoke together is a heavenly combination, and I looove me some spinach artichoke dip or NYC's infamous creamy Artichoke pizza. But I don't really do the super heavy creamy restaurant foods anymore, which leaves me missing this delightfully creamy combination of spinach and artichoke in my life. Until now!

This dish is awesome because it has your veggies/greens, protein from the shrimp (and spinach for that matter), carb + some protein from the quinoa, and healthy fats from the coconut milk. It's an incredibly satiating meal, and has a nice balance of nutrition.

This dish is gluten-free, and if you also want to make this entirely dairy-free, just eliminate the cheese. I doubt it would negatively impact the taste at all, it'd just make the sauce more liquid-y. I also had the idea to pop some nutritional yeast in here, but I've never tried it (so curious though!) and didn't feel like making a grocery trip. You can also make this vegan by eliminating the shrimp-- I think tofu would be delicious in here as well!

Coconut Spinach Artichoke Shrimp

Serves 2
*Gluten-free, Vegan modifiable

Ingredients

~1.5 dozen large Shrimp, tails removed/deveined
1 bag of Baby Spinach (4 cups)
1 can Artichoke Hearts, rinsed & drained
1/2 cup of Quinoa, cooked
2/3 cup of Coconut Milk
1/3 cup of Grated Parmesan
2 cloves of Garlic, minced OR crushed
2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
2 tbsp Coconut Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.

2. While oven is heating up, add 1 tbsp of the coconut oil to a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic to the skillet and cook until toasty.

3. Switch back to oven prep: Toss shrimp in the other tbsp of coconut oil, and spread out on aluminum foil/parchment paper, and place in preheated oven. Cook for ~10-12 mins (depends on size of shrimp) until fully cooked and shrimp are opaque.

4. Back to skillet: Add spinach in and stir to combine. Cook until all of the spinach is wilted, stirring occasionally. Add artichoke hearts and quinoa and mix in thoroughly. Pour in the coconut milk, add parmesan, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, and mix until combined. Reduce heat and let simmer until sauce begins to thicken in a few minutes. Add in cooked shrimp and stir.

5. Remove skillet from heat, and serve!