Shrimp Étouffée

Sounds fancy right? With Brian's new job he is having to work a few Saturday's until the end of busy season, so this past weekend I wanted to fix a special dinner for when he got home.

I started looking through my Cooking Light 2009 Cookbook my mom got me for Christmas. I love this thing. I have made several really yummy dishes and have a lot more I want to try. Winner: Shrimp Étouffée. “Étouffée” is the French word for “smothered,” and you know how I like things smothered. It kind of reminded me a Jambalaya upon reading the ingredients - just no sausage, which was good because I do not like sausage. I only made a few variations from the recipe.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 1/4 cups étouffée and 2/3 cup rice)

Ingredients
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 bay leaf *did not use- did not have one
1/3 cup butter, divided
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)* I used 1/4 all-purpose, 1/4 whole wheat
Cooking spray
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
2/3 cup diced celery
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper *just used green
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tablespoon salt-free Cajun seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 30 shrimp)
4 cups hot cooked long-grain rice *used brown rice

Preparation
1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat; bring to a simmer. Cover and remove from heat.

2. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Add flour to pan; cook 8 minutes or until very brown, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove from heat. Add 1 cup broth mixture to pan; stir with a whisk until smooth. Add remaining 3 cups broth mixture, stirring with a whisk until smooth; set aside.

3. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon butter in a large Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add 1 1/2 cups onion, celery, and bell peppers to pan; cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender and onion is golden brown, stirring occasionally. Stir in 3/4 cup water, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add tomato paste, Cajun seasoning, garlic, salt, black pepper, and red pepper to onion mixture; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add reserved broth-flour mixture and Worcestershire sauce to pan, stirring well to combine; bring to a simmer. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add green onions, 1/4 cup parsley, and shrimp; cook 3 minutes or until shrimp are done. Discard bay leaf. Serve over rice. Sprinkle each serving with 2 teaspoons remaining parsley, if desired.

Here is a picture how it is suppose to look:

And here is how mine turned out:

Brian and I both enjoyed it a lot and if thought it was even better leftover, eaten the next day. And in case you are curious, here is the nutritional marks.

Nutritional Information
Calories:395 (28% from fat)
Fat:12.2g (sat 6.9g,mono 3g,poly 1.1g)
Protein:22.6g
Carbohydrate:47.9g
Fiber:3.6g
Cholesterol:142mg
Iron:4.9mg
Sodium:655mg
Calcium:102mg