Lately I have been itching for a vacation. Since that’s not a possibility for us right now, I’ve been reminiscing about the last vacation we took, which was our honeymoon. Chris and I went on a Caribbean cruise that sailed out of New Orleans and we flew into New Orleans a day early and stayed a full day after we got back so we could experience the city.
The night we got into New Orleans we decided to go to the French Quarter. We went to a restaurant called Bourbon House for dinner. We ate at the bar because it was so busy, but we didn’t mind, we were in our own little newlywed world. In fact, a man at the restaurant came up to us and said we reminded him of him and his wife and they had been married 20+ years I believe. It was a huge compliment! We took our time eating and we tried fried alligator and Creole style BBQ shrimp. It was delicious. After dinner we walked up and down Bourbon Street then went back to our hotel.
The next day we got on our boat for a 7 day cruise to the Caribbean. It was a blast! We got back a week later early in the morning and our flight home wasn’t until 8pm so we had all day to continue exploring New Orleans. The first thing we did was go to Cafe Du Monde for coffee and beignets. So good!
Next we explored Jackson Square and met up with some friends that happened to be in New Orleans at the same time. We stopped at a brewhouse sort of place and since Chris insists on eating anything that can potentially eat him, we decided to order the alligator soup. I’ll try anything once and I have to say, it was actually really good!
One of the best things about New Orleans is the food and reminiscing about our time there during our honeymoon led to some serious cravings for Cajun food. I’ve mentioned previously that my husband is on a kidney-friendly diet and that has been challenging at times. We’ve tried some recipes that turned out to be pretty bland. And bland is the opposite of Cajun food. So I was left with the challenge of coming up with a Cajun style recipe that was low in sodium and potassium, but still had plenty of flavor.
I decided to use a kidney-approved Alfredo recipe from a cookbook we have and add a few extra ingredients to turn it into Cajun Shrimp Alfredo. Recipe below:
Cajun Shrimp Alfredo
Ingredients
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (I buy them with tails off, but you could leave them on)
½ lb pasta (whatever style noodle you prefer)
Cajun Seasoning Blend (You can buy it or make your own salt-free version if you’re following a Renal diet)
Alfredo Sauce (on pg 74 of this Renal Diet Cookbook)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 ½ tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 cup plain unsweetened rice milk
- ¾ cup plain cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- Dash of black pepper for seasoning
To Prepare
- Rinse the shrimp with water. Place in a bowl and season with about 1 Tablespoon of Cajun seasoning. Let it hang out for a bit. (Note: If you made your own seasoning, you will probably have seasoning left over. I store it in a plastic bag or tupperware in our pantry)
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add in the pasta, turn the heat down to low, and cook until tender, stirring occasionally. (It should take about 10 minutes depending on the pasta). Drain water when pasta is finished cooking.
- While the pasta cooks, make the Alfredo sauce (again, this is on page 74 in the Renal Diet Cookbook)
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and minced garlic. Continue whisking for about 2 minutes.
- Add rice milk and continue whisking for about 4 minutes until the mixture has thickened. Add in cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, and nutmeg. Continue whisking until the sauce is smooth, about 1 minute.
- Remove the sauce from heat and season with pepper.
- In a separate skillet, heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil over medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the seasoned shrimp. Cook until the shrimp are pink and cooked through.
- Combine cooked pasta, Alfredo sauce, and shrimp. Stir to combine. Serve immediately.
This recipe is very easy and quick to make. It was ready in about 15 minutes. Just because you may not be able to physically travel somewhere doesn’t mean you can’t create the experience at home. If you’re missing New Orleans, try this Cajun Shrimp recipe! Let me know what you think!
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