Bonefish Grill serves a fun dish called Bang Bang Shrimp. While I think the flavor is great, it's a dish that includes breaded, fried shrimp swimming in a very heavy sauce with nary a vegetable to cut through that sea of fat. So I skip the expensive restaurant bill and make a much lighter, vegetable-laden version that's tossed with pasta to help soak up some of that delicious sauce. The result is a meal I can easily justify enjoying once or twice a month.
The vegetables I opted for include brightly colored slices of mini sweet pepper and tender asparagus. This combination also happens to give the dish a bright rainbow color palette that is great at any table this time of the year. Remember, spring is on its way and here's a rainbow to help you remember! But since it's not spring yet, the spicy, creamy sauce gets caught in all those nooks and crannies in the pasta and helping you feed your inner cravings for comfort food.
This dish can easily be a one bowl meal, but I do like to have a fresh salad or some fruit alongside it to help with that reminder that not everything served in winter needs to carry enough calories to fuel a buffalo! Instead, enjoy a slightly less heavy version of a restaurant favorite and look forward to warmer, lighter days!
Bang Bang Rainbow Shrimp Pasta
- 16 oz. short pasta - I used radiatore pasta
- 12 oz. shrimp, deveined and peeled
- Salt & pepper
- ½ tsp. paprika
- 2 T. butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- Red pepper flakes, to taste
- 4 sweet mini peppers, cored and sliced into strips
- 6 oz. thin asparagus, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
- ½ c. mayonnaise
- ⅓ c. sweet Thai chili sauce
- 2 tsp. lime juice
- 1 tsp. sriracha sauce
Prepare the pasta according to the package instructions; drain.
While the pasta is cooking, toss the shrimp with the salt, pepper, and paprika. Melt the butter in a medium nonstick skillet and sauté the garlic in the melted butter for 2 minutes. Add the seasoned shrimp after the 2 minutes and sauté until the shrimp is fully pink. Add the pepper flakes, mini pepper strips, and asparagus and saute an additional 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the remaining ingredients (mayonnaise through sriracha sauce) and stir to fully combine.
Add the drained pasta to the contents of the skillet. Toss well to combine and serve immediately.
- Yields: 4 servings
- Preparation Time: 20 minutes