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Soo, hey!! Who’s ready for Monday!
I have been sitting at my desk now for a good twenty minutes, just kind of staring at my screen, wracking my brain for just how to start this Cajun Garlic Lemon Butter Shrimp post. I’ve said this before, but the first line of every single post is typically the hardest for me to write. I just need a starting point and from there I can usually keep going.
WATCH THE HOW-TO VIDEO:
After twenty minutes of coming up with nothing catchy, I figured I’d just start with the truth. My brain is full of thoughts right now, but no good starting lines, so we’ll just randomly dive right into things!
Cool. 🙂
If you guys follow me on Snapchat or Instagram then you know I started to shoot the recipes for the cookbook this weekend. I’m only shooting a handful of recipes this week, I just need to make sure I get to use all the killer summer tomatoes and peaches that are currently taking over my local farm stand before they disappear for the season. The rest of the shots will happen in September. Here’s the thing, I have been stockpiling new props for “cookbook shoots only” for the last six months. For a while, I was actually being good and not using them, but then I got tired of using the same props over and over, and well, the inevitable happened, I broke into the sacred “cookbook only” props and started using them for blog photo shoots and other projects.
NOOO… like why did I have to do that?
Now I am scrambling to find new props that you guys have never seen before. No joke, I have all my family members searching high and low for dishes and surfaces. My phone is constantly buzzing with new photos of this and that. This all started with my brother Brendan and his girlfriend Lyndsie. They live in Portland, which is the land of awesome pottery and vintage packed flea markets. I asked them if they would be willing to shop around for me and they jumped at the chance. I mean, this is Brendan’s and Lyndsie’s thing. Soo for the last week they have been all over the place looking for new items for me to shoot with. They even made the drive up to Seattle to roam around there for two days. They found some goods, but trust me, I am picky, and prop shopping is not the easiest task… they did good though!
On Saturday I was texting with Kai (my younger brother who is closest to me in age), he mentioned that he and Cait (his girlfriend) were going to World Market…oh man, he should have never told me that. For some reason when he said it like a light went off in my head, “oh my gosh, he’s in LA, they can totally find me some awesome stuff”. After that he basically had no choice other than to help me out and shop till they dropped. Poor Kai, Cait’s a pro shopper, but Kai? Well, he’s just a really, really good sport.
I couldn’t believe they spent all day looking, like that’s not an easy thing to do, and they sent me a gazillion photos. They didn’t end up getting all that much, because like I said, I am really picky when it comes to dishes, but their efforts where super impressive, and what they did find was cool.
Soo really what I am trying to say is that my family members are awesome and I love that they will always have my back… one of the bonuses of being part of a large family. 🙂
And that was my weekend in a nut shell. Many other things happened, but all in all it was busy, and good.
What did you guys do???
OkOK. Let’s talk about this big bowl of comfort right here.
We are sadly nearing the end of August. Asher starts school tomorrow. For me this means slowly introducing more comfort foods, while still retaining their summery vibe. So guys, say hello to the bestest shrimp piled over the creamiest, most perfect cheesy corn polenta.
Honestly, this is what late summer dinner perfection looks like.
The shrimp is possibly the simplest thing ever, it’s also so fast to make. PLUS, it is totally delish! But then, how could anything covered in cajun seasoning, garlic, lemon and butter not be insanely amazing!?!
Most of the time when I make shrimp, I pair it with one of three carbs, rice, pasta or polenta. Since I really wanted to include some summer corn in this recipe I knew I had no choice other than creamy, buttery polenta.
I mean, DUH.
The polenta is a must… A MUST. You spoon the saucy shrimp over top and it’s just beyond perfect. Spicy, buttery, slightly cheesy, creamy… and filled with summer corn and fresh basil.
Yes please!
Cajun Garlic Lemon Butter Shrimp with Caramelized Corn Polenta.
Servings: 4 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 620 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Caramelized Corn Polenta
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 3 ears sweet corn, kernels removed from the cob
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 cup dry polenta
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper
Cajun Lemon Butter Shrimp
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined, tail on or off
- 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
- black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 1 cup fresh basil
- juice from 1 lemon
Instructions
Caramelized Corn Polenta
- Add the butter to a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the corn and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Cook 5-8 minutes or until the corn has browned lightly and caramelized.
- Bring 1 1/2 cups water and 1 1/2 cups milk to a low boil in a medium size pot. Whisk in the polenta and cook 15-20 minutes until thickened. Stir in the parmesan cheese and corn, season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the butter. Add the shrimp, cajun seasoning and a large pinch of pepper. Cook until pink, about 2-3 minutes per side. Stir in the garlic and continue to cook the shrimp in the butter until the garlic begins to caramelize and turn a LIGHT golden brown, about another minute or two. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Remove from the heat and stir in the basil and lemon juice. If needed, season to taste with salt.
- Serve the shrimp over the polenta, spooning any sauce left in the pan over the shrimp. EAT!
Monday Dinner = Done and DONE ?
PS. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite bloggers in the Bloglovin 2016 awards…Half Baked Harvest is nominated for best food blog, yeah!!
PSS. I’ve also been nominated for the SAVEUR Magazine 2016 Blog Awards for Most Inspired Weeknight Dinners! I would be so grateful if you would go and vote for your favorite blogger. You can vote everyday from now until August 31st! ?
I have to say everything i make of yours is AMAZING AND EVERYONE LOVES IT! This also was DELICIOUS!!!! I couldn’t find any dry polenta (after traveling to 5 stores lol) so i bought the tube but made it creamy by mashing and cooking with the butter and added milk until it was the consistency i wanted and added in the ingredients as per the recipe. OMG ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Thanks for making ANOTHER dinner night FANTASTIC!
Hi Kim,
Amazing!! I love to hear that this recipe was tasty, thanks so much for making it sharing your review:) Thanks for your kind message!! xTieghan
Made this tonight – comment from the family: “This was one of the best meals we’ve had all summer.” Thanks for the recipe.
Hey Susan,
Awesome! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it! xTieghan
Another delicious and comforting summer dinner! We couldn’t find polenta at our store so we used about ~1.75 cups of instant potatoes with the amount of liquid and parm given in that part of the recipe, plus ~4 tbsp of butter melted and stirred into it. It was delicious! Will have to try it with polenta one day (have never had polenta before) but I’m happy we found an easy swap! My husband isn’t very confident (or quick) in the kitchen but since I’m sick he made dinner tonight, and he had an easy and quick time with it, so I’m very relieved that he has another recipe in his arsenal that he’s comfortable making, so thank you for that!
Hey Kaley,
Happy Wednesday! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for making it! Thanks for sharing what worked well for you. xTieghan
I can’t find a recipe I don’t like on this website! Definitely using Cajun seasoning instead of Tony Chatcherie’s next time. It was a little too salty. I love how quickly this comes together too!
Hey Mallory,
Wonderful! Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I am so glad to hear that it was enjoyed! xxTieghan
Forgot to give it 5 stars along with the comment ?
Thanks so much!
This was, without a doubt, one of the BEST recipes I’ve ever made!!! I always scour the HBH blog for new recipe ideas and they’re always a hit but this one was *chefs kiss*
If you’re even thinking about making this, do yourself a favor and GET TO COOKIN’ ?
Thank you Tieghan for all the delicious food you’ve helped me bring to my fam!
Hey Maureen,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad that it was enjoyed! Have a great week:) xTieghan
This dish was amazing and came together so nicely. I wish I had started with the grits as that took the longest but I used the same pan for the corn and the shrimp utilizing the leftover delicious corn caramelized butter to cook the shrimp in. Added in some green onion with the basil and it was a hit! Would absolutely make again.
Hey Caitlin,
Thanks a lot for giving the recipe a try, I am delighted that the recipe was enjoyed! Happy Sunday! xTieghan
So excited to make this! If I don’t have fresh corn, would canned corn or creamstyle corn be ok to mix into the polenta? What would you recommend? Thanks!
Hey Tracy,
I would just use canned corn. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Wow. The flavor in this is unreal! I feel like I never find blogs with recipes that are all of these things:
flavorful
fewest number of generally available ingredients possible
quick
and healthy (my definition of healthy is high on nutrients, low on refined carbs, trans fats, and other modern problems)
So THANK YOU! I’ve been using your recipes for dinner nights with friends and also my own meal preps and I’m sooooo glad I found this blog through Pinterest!!!
Hey Amrit,
Thank you so much for your super kind message! I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for making it! xTieghan
Hi! This looks so amazing as many of your recipes do that I’ve saved. My husband is unfortunately allergic to shrimp, do you think I’d be able to use cod fish instead?
Hey Adrianne,
Yes cod would be a great option here. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Couldn’t find dry polenta, how would I incorporate the polenta in this recipe, without dry polenta?
Hi Ashlee,
I would just follow the directions on your polenta box and add it to the end of the dish. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This is SO DELICIOUS. Adding it to the rotation.
Love that! Thank you Kelly! xTieghan