Shrimp Scampi Linguine

My kids asked me at dinner last night, "Mom, why do you take pictures of your food?" I told them that sometimes I like to write about the yummy things we make. I decided that meant that I better actually write about that particular dish. This one is from my mom (again). We both have a "problem" with perpetually tearing recipes from magazines, or printing them from the internet, then storing them in a file for later. Every so often we pull one or two out and experiment. Then, if they are exceptional, we trade recipes, so our files are even thicker. But seriously, this one was a winner. Mom copied this one from Prevention Magazine, so it's relatively healthy. I even used the whole wheat pasta (spaghetti instead of linguine because I wasn't thinking straight at the store apparently). The kids didn't even notice. They slurped up the whole wheat spaghetti no problem. It was light and fresh, and had TONS of shrimp. There was enough to easily serve 4 adults, or me, my kids, then two lunches (leftovers were delicious today). Here you go!

Shrimp Scampi Linguine

9 oz whole wheat linguine

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 1b medium shrmp, peeled (I used a 1 lb bag of frozen shrimp from Trader Joe's)

4 cloves garlic, minced (or a little more)

1/2 tsp red-pepper flakes

1 pt cherry tomatoes, halved (I threw in some little yellow ones too)

1/2 c dry white wine (or chicken stock)

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 tsp salt

3 c packed baby spinach

1/4 c finely chopped fresh parsley

1/2 c grated parmesan

1. Prepare pasta per package directions.

2. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat while pasta cooks. Add shrimp, garlic, and red-pepper flakes and cook until shrimp start to turn pink, about 2 minutes.

3. Add tomatoes, wine (or stock), lemon juice, and salt. Cook until tomatoes start to soften, about 1 minute. Add spinach and parsley and cook until spinach wilts, about 1 minute.

4. Drain pasta and add to pan. Toss to coat and serve sprinkled with cheese. I put a little extra lemon juice in at the end too.

5. Enjoy!!