Dinner in Fifteen Minutes - Shrimp Quinoa Bowl with White Wine Butter Sauce

I am a big big fan of easy, especially when it comes to the kitchen. Yes I love healthy. Yes I love trying new things. BUT if there are a million steps or it takes me three hours odds are I am never going to try making it ever again. There are many other things I want to be doing (or need to be--like vacuuming.)

I have really really tried to put way more effort in when it comes to meal prep. I am at home all day with my kids so I don't need to prep the way someone who works a million hours a week needs to prep...but it never fails that when it comes to dinner time there is one disaster after another. Pretty soon we are all eating cereal or eggs (or I am frantically calling my husband telling him it's his turn to cook...which is code for pick up a pizza.) 

I have been adding in little meal prep ways here and there to make my week run more smoothly and it works. I will shout it from the rooftops that over the past two weeks making a few small changes has saved me what feels like hours in the kitchen. 

So far this is what I've done: 

1. Washed and cut fruit and veggies as soon as I get them from the store or the farm. 

2. Cooked a big batch of chicken instead of enough for one night. We have been tossing it on top of salads all week for easy lunches. 

3. Hard boiled a dozen and a half of eggs at a time. This is about what my largish sized pot holds (without having to bust out the giant soup pot that doesn't fit in the dishwasher!) We grab these all week for snacks or for a quick breakfast. 

4. Double or triple the amount of quinoa I need for a recipe. I love using this cold on my salads for extra protein (and to fill my yellow containers) but I usually have enough handy to toss into those recipes where having an already cooked grain saves loads of time. (This goes for rice or any other grain we are eating for the week.)

That's it. Four simple steps that helped me throw this together for dinner in under fifteen minutes. 

So here is what I did: 

Ingredients: 

1 16 ounce bag of frozen shrimp- thawed

1 cup of quinoa - cooked (I used truRoots Organic Quinoa )

1 bunch of asparagus (or whatever veggie you have on hand)

1 bunch of rainbow chard (or any type of green)

1 small bunch of garlic scapes - minced

3 small spring onions-minced

6 TBS dry white wine

4 TBS grass fed butter - divided**
salt and pepper to taste

Melt 1 TBS of butter in the bottom of a large pot or skillet. Add thawed shrimp, minced scapes and onion. Cook until shrimp is almost cooked through, stirring occasionally.

Add white wine, 2 TBS butter asparagus and chard stems. Cook a few more minutes.

Add cooked quinoa, stir.

Once almost all the liquid is absorbed (a minute or two) add chard leaves and last TBS of butter. Cook until slightly wilted* (about another minute.)

And dinner is done.

Yes. It was that easy and it tasted awesome.

*I prefer my greens barely cooked and a little bit crunchy. I think it helps keep them from becoming too bitter. Cook however you prefer your greens to taste.

21 Day Fix: 

I counted a cup and a half as a serving

1 yellow
1 green
1 red
3 spoons**

** I use grass fed butter once a week or so even on the Fix. You can sub with coconut oil or another healthy fat