Shrimp and Grits with Vidalia Onions
Featured In WTFCF Season 2, Episode 08: Once Sweet Circle. Shrimp and grits are a southern staple, and the addition of Vidalia onions and Gouda cheese puts this dish over the top! Recipe and photography by Jodi Danen of Create Kids Club.
Ingredients
- 1 cup old fashioned grits
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 7 ounces gouda cheese, cut into cubes
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 RealSweet® Vidalia onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups spinach
- 1 pound shrimp, raw and peeled
- 1 - 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
- In a saucepan, add 2 cups chicken broth and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil.
- Add to saucepan, 1 cup grits and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook per box instructions.
- In a large skillet, add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 diced onion. Sauté onions until translucent.
- Once onions are translucent, add to the skillet 2 minced garlic cloves and 2 cups spinach. Cook until spinach starts to wilt. Remove spinach from the skillet and set aside.
- When grits are cooked, add 7 ounces cubed Gouda cheese. Stir and cover saucepan to allow cheese to soften.
- Peel and season shrimp with 1 - 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning.
- Add to the skillet, 1 tablespoon olive oil and shrimp. Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until cooked through.
- Stir grits until the cheese is completely mixed. Then add 2 tablespoons lemon juice and stir.
To Serve
- In serving bowls, layer grits, onion and spinach mixture, and top with shrimp. Add fresh cracked pepper to taste.
Enjoy!
About the Author
Long before Vidalia sweet onions became a worldwide favorite in the 1980s, they were a local treasure in the small region of Southeast Georgia where they grow. Only the specific soil and climate in that area can produce a Vidalia sweet onion, and you literally can't grow one anywhere else. Mr. Buck Shuman was one of the pioneers of the Vidalia industry -- in fact, several of the most popular varieties in production today came about under Mr. Buck's watchful eye. A few years backs, he was inducted into the Vidalia Onion Hall of Fame. And now, his son, John Shuman, has built one of the world's largest sweet onion empires under the banner of Shuman Farms. And Shuman Farms has two labels it brings sweet onions to market under -- RealSweet®, and... you guessed it, Mr. Buck's. John Shuman came home from college in the 1990s and picked up his father's work. Since then, he's grown Shuman Farms from a small broker of other growers' onions to a world industry force with multiple grower-partners, including John himself, who was recently named Vidalia Onion Grower of the Year. Shuman Farms is the industry leader when it comes to Vidalias -- and when that season (sadly) runs out in early September from its April start, Shuman Farms is also the leading grower and importer of Vidalia's cousin, Peruvian sweet onions, from September to March.