Breaded Shrimp with Veggies

Food costs are high, these days … (“How high is high?” asked the customer of the cash cow. “Very high!” said the cash cow, grinning …) 

Let’s start again: With food costs high, many of us have been watching our pennies. But oh-h-h-h, I’m a sneaky one! I’ve had a dozen breaded shrimp in my freezer for weeks. Buying them on sale, I was waiting for the moment when I could showcase them as a lovely (but inexpensive) dinner.  If I remember correctly, the package was $8-to-$10.

I didn’t want to use these as an appetizer. Appys are what you stuff into your face, from the lips to the hips. But Ron ... He’ll eat anything - anything - served with a bit of flair. He didn’t know these breaded shrimp were packaged appys: He thought I’d made them myself.

Which is why I excavated the contents of the fridge to dig up some carrots from 1997, a few Brussels sprouts, and a chunk of squash. A day or two before, with the shrimp on my mind, I made some Tartar Sauce and Seafood Cocktail Sauce. 

So … Toasting a few slivered almonds in the toaster oven, and then baking the shrimp in the same place (follow the directions on the package, dearies), I steamed the squash and slivered the sprouts, lightly salting and sautéing each in a skillet coated with olive oil on medium-high.  

Finding two rectangular serving plates, I arranged a ribbon of each sauce to the left, the shrimp at the center, and the almond-toasted veggies to the right. This produced to meals, with plenty of sauce left over. Everything looked so attractive that Ron stuffed his face, from which the calories will never migrate to his hips. This is the cross we women bear. Such is life.