Make dinner easy: Cooking on the fly with what's on hand
As much as I like to plan out a week of menus in advance, sometimes I need to find a quick dinner from ingredients I have in the house.
One staple in my freezer is a bag of frozen shrimp. There are so many quick dinners that can be created if you have some frozen shrimp on hand, including this recipe for Cilantro Citrus Shrimp Salad. This is one of those recipes that works well for dinner or a weekend lunch and can even be served as an appetizer. Shrimp can be expensive, so I usually pick up a few bags if I see a good sale. You can use the shrimp size that fits your budget. Even if you're watching your pennies, you may be able to find a bag of frozen salad shrimp that would cost the same amount as a piece of meat. You can further stretch this recipe by serving it over salad greens.
One trick that I highly recommend when using shrimp in a recipe is to make sure it is blotted dry before sautéing, or in this case mixing it with a dressing. Shrimp can hold a lot of moisture and if it's still a bit frozen will have ice crystals on it, both of which will water down the dressing in this recipe.
So, the next time you need a quick dinner you may find it as close as your freezer along with this easy recipe!
• Crystal Maleski, of Long Grove shares family recipes, and a printable grocery list each week at makedinnereasy.com.