Shrimp n' Grits!

Or at least my version of it...

*yes that looks like a ton of polenta, but I promise, it's barely a 1/2 cup! It spread out really fast!

Shrimp & Grits
12 large raw shrimp, tail on
1 tbsp lemongrass
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 c grape tomatoes, diced
1 tsp chili garlic sauce
1 tbsp scallions, chopped
1 c polenta
3 c low sodium chicken broth
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp butter
1/4 c parrano (or parmesan) cheese, shredded

Place shrimp and lemongrass in a bowl. Mix and set aside. Bring broth, salt and 1 tbsp butter to a boil in a heavy bottomed pot. Once broth comes to a boil, add polenta and stir frequently. Cook for 20 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Stir cheese in until melted.

Heat remaining butter and olive oil in a skillet. Add tomatoes and garlic, saute for 1 minute. Add shrimp mixture, let cook for 1 minute. Add chili garlic sauce and scallion, cook until shrimp are pink. Serve on top of polenta.

Verdict? DEEEELICIOUS! I've done variations of this dish a few times, but this was by far the best. I'm not sure if it was the order in which I did things this time (with the shrimp), but it turned out more flavorful than other attempts. It might be the grape tomatoes...I think the last time I did this, I used vine ripe tomatoes. This time, I used the grape tomatoes b/c they were all I had in the fridge!

The lemongrass was a nice addition to the dish too. At first I was a little worried it might be too much of a random flavor, but you really didn't taste it until you bit into a piece of shrimp. It was a nice after taste :) I might let the shrimp marinate a little longer with the lemongrass next time. OR I might even use an actual stalk of lemongrass. I used this instead:
Because, really, who uses lemongrass enough to keep a stalk around?? It does it's job, but I think it might be a little less potent b/c it's in a jar.

The polenta was also a little better this time around. Maybe it was the parrano? Usually I'll use parmesan, but since I have the wedge of parrano sitting around, I decided to make good use of it. I usually throw in some frozen corn to add some fun texture to the polenta, but we didn't have any for some reason. (As you can see, there are a lot of additions I still want to make to this!)

Ok, short post. Probably even shorter tomorrow since it's a run day. I'm going to check out appetizers at Founding Farmers as we celebrate one of our projects winning an award before heading out on a 3-4 mi mall run. A bit ambitous, but I got bamboozled into organizing the last minute details of the event and refuse to miss my runs this week! Probably won't have pictures (haven't quite announced my blogging to the coworkers!), but I'll do my best to remember what I snack on.