Shrimp Scampi with mushrooms and angel hair pasta

I haven't made shrimp in a while, even though it is one of my favorite foods. Mainly because the kids throw such a fuss. I tried a different tactic last night and asked them if they wanted fish or shrimp. Of course -1 said fish and the other said shrimp. I told them ok, we will have shrimp tomorrow and salmon the next night. They were a little confused, but at least forewarned.

Shrimp scampi is very easy:

Defrost a dozen or so peeled, cleaned and deveined raw shrimp in a bowl of warm water.

Put on a pot of water to boil the angel hair pasta.

In a large nonstick pan, add 1 tbs. unsalted butter and 1 Tbs. olive oil

While the oil heats drop in either 2-3 cubes of frozen garlic or chop 2-3 cloves of fresh. Add it into the oil.

Wash and thinly slice 7-8 mushrooms and add to the pan. Add in a pinch of kosher salt and pepper and saute for 3 minutes until mushrooms are brown.

When the water boils, add the angel hair and cook for about 5 minutes.

After the mushrooms have sauteed, add in the shrimp and stir around until the shrimp are coated with the oil from the pan. Zest 1/2 a lemon then cut and add the juice from that 1/2 a lemon. Add in 1 diced tomato. I didn't have any fresh, so I added in 3 tbs. of canned diced tomatoes.

Normally, I would add in 2 Tbs. of capers and some freshly chopped parsley, but I didn't want to push my luck with the kids, so I left those out. When the pasta is cooked through, add it to the shrimp and stir to combine. Serve.

Kirk added a little red pepper flakes, and I added a little grated Parmesan cheese.

The kids ate it, along with some red and green raw peppers, which we renamed "sweeties" as we all agreed that peppers was a bit of a misnomer as they aren't actually peppery!

They both ate 1 shrimp and pushed it around their plate for a while. BUT... they ate it and didn't whine.

Tomorrow's dinner will be a bit of a push for them. I am going to make a salmon in a coconut curry sauce. This probably won't go over well, but we'll give it a try. That's what PB sandwiches are for!!