Shrimp, Vegetable & Orzo Pasta

Let's be real with each other. Sometimes you don't have a plan. Sometimes you know you need to get dinner on the table and you have no clue what you have in your pantry or fridge. 

So what do you do? Well you throw something really colorful together and hope for the best. We eat with our eyes first and foremost, so why not be stimulated by color. This is something I look for at restaurants. You know, when you sit down and look at the plates that other diners have and start the search for the best looking dish. I tend to look for the plate with most color and then order it. 

This dish is one of my no recipe, recipes. I had some frozen shrimp in the freezer and I am always stocked with fresh, frozen and some canned vegetables, so I had a good start. I wanted to make a salad of sorts and found a bag of orzo pasta, so I figured I was about there. 

Do you know what orzo pasta is? It looks a lot like rice but is in fact a pasta. Maybe that is why I like using it because it reminds me so much of rice, which I tend to eat quite often. Feel free to spice this dish up a bit. I made this quite simple with basic flavors. I think it would also work quite well with roasted vegetables. 

Shrimp, Vegetable & Orzo Pasta

12 extra large uncooked peeled and deveined shrimp fresh or frozen

1/2 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half

1/2 cup cooked edamame

1/3 cup fresh or frozen corn

1/2 cup canned black beans

1/3 cup bell pepper, chopped

3 Tbls unsalted butter, separated 

juice of one lemon

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp onion powder

3 cups cooked orzo pasta

1 Tbls olive oil

salt and pepper

cilantro for garnish

Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Rinse pasta and add in a large bowl add 1 Tbls of butter and toss pasta until the butter has melted. Set aside.

Heat a skillet over medium high heat with about 1 Tbls olive oil. Defrost your shrimp if using frozen. Toss the shrimp with the garlic salt, onion powder and pepper. Add shrimp to the skillet and cook until pink. Remove from the skillet and cool slightly. Cut the shrimp into  thirds. 

In a large skillet heat the butter. Add the chopped bell peppers. Cook for about 2 minutes. Now add in the corn and edamame. Cook for another 2 minutes and add the black beans. Season the vegetable with salt and pepper. 

Turn off heat and add the cooked vegetables to the pasta. Stir to distribute vegetables. Add the shrimp and sliced tomatoes to the bowl. Squeeze the lemon juice over the pasta and stir to combine. Taste and season with more salt and pepper as needed. Garnish with cilantro if desired.