Healthy-ish Cajun Shrimp and Grits

I had this dish at my first serving job at Birdsall House. It was divine. I knew I wanted to recreate it at home. When I started looking at recipes to recreate it I realized (to my horror) how much milk, cream, and butter was in this dish. Not to mention sausage AND bacon. I like to make it slightly healthier by using almond milk instead of whole milk. To add some richness to the polenta, I do add some cheddar cheese, but you could skip that. I use good quality vegan sausage as well but you could regular if you prefer.

This takes a good amount of time and a good amount of dishes and some timing to cook everything and have it hot at the same time, but it’s worth the effort and the dish cleanup. It takes about 1-1.5 hrs to make.

Ingredients

2 cups milk (I use almond)

2 cups water

2 tsp salt

1 cup cornmeal polenta (I use Bob’s Red Mill)

6 slices bacon, cooked and chopped

1 lb andouille sausage (or whatever kind you have - I used tofu sausage)

15-20 frozen shrimp, thawed

¼ cup stick butter

¼ cup all-purpose flour (I’ve tried substituting almond flour in the past and it messes up the consistency slightly but not end of the world if that’s what you want to use)

1 cup onion, diced

1 cup vegetable broth

Few stalks of celery, diced

Minced scallions (optional)

1 cup cheddar

Cajun Seasoning Ingredients - if you don’t have, you can make your own here

Things you can do to prep to make life easier:

Shred cheddar cheese

Make the cajun seasoning or buy it

Cook bacon

What To Do

Combine shrimp, cajun seasoning and lemon juice to it.

Meanwhile, cook the bacon and set aside. I like to do this first to use the bacon grease to saute the vegetables.

Sautee onion and celery in oil for abut 10 minutes until soft then add garlic and 1 tsp cajun seasoning. 

While that’s cooking, saute sausage in another small pan until cooked through. Add to veggie pan.

In separate large pot bring milk, water, grits, and salt to a boil. Simmer for 15-20 minutes or cook according to package.

Melt butter in a small saucepan and add flour and cook to make a roux for 5ish minutes. Add this mixture in with the sausage and veggies. Pour in 1 cup vegetable broth, add bacon, and 1 tbsp worcestershire and let simmer for a few minutes.

Saute shrimp in heated pan with olive oil until cooked about 2-4 minutes. Add to sausage/veggie mixture.

Toward end of polenta cooking time, add in 1 cup of cheddar cheese and stir to mix.

Assembly

Ladle grits into bowl then add meat/veggie mixture. Garnish with scallions and parsley.