Peppery Shrimp with Grits and Greens

I really enjoyed the end product of the recipe. The grits were great (my husband even said "I didn't think I liked grits!") We just got a huge snowstorm, so i couldn't go shopping, so i made some substitutions: more broth for the milk, yellow onion for green, spinach for mustard greens. I think having a more flavorful green would be better, arugula if not mustard greens. I think i needed to do a better job of pre-heading the cast iron though. things were a bit wetter than i imagined, but still tasted great. 

Huge hit with the family! Not sure why other ratings are lower -- we even rushed the recipe but sat down to a real comfort meal. Definitely one of our favorite Cooking Light recipes, and we've been CL for years!

This grits in the recipe were decent. The shrimp/sauce was an odd flavor. It was edible, but it was agreed I would never make this recipe again- CL has better recipes (see Saucy Crawfish with Whole Corn Grits, and just use shrimp). We used spinach instead of mustard greens- they were the best part of the dish.

This was a mixed bag. First, by the time it was done I was pretty frustrated, but that's partially my fault. I tend to NOT do all my prep/chopping in advance. That doesn't work here because everything has a short cooking time, and I needed the next ingredient immediately. Also, this recipe uses little bits of this and that at different times--some garlic here, and then more later. I know I would have been much happier if I had everything prepped and could reach for what I needed next. So: Lesson learned. In the end, I did mostly enjoy the recipe. I would never use mustard greens again--they were bitter, and I think I would have been happier with kale or spinach. (There are steps that reduce the bitterness of mustard greens--this recipe didn't do them). BUT the shrimp and the grits were really good!!! I read the previous review and bumped up the cheese, honey, and pepper for more flavor--just a bit--and it made a huge difference. A bit of hot sauce helped, too.

I wanted so much to love this, and we were so looking forward to eating it (my husband even yelled, "YES!" when I told him what I was making.However, my husband and I just didn't like it. I now know that I'm just not a fan of mustard greens (too bitter); I prefer collard greens, kale, swiss chard and spinach! And the shrimp just wasn't as delicious as it looked & smelled while cooking. I wanted it to be more sweet and BBQ like…or SOMETHING. I enjoyed the grits, but the mozzarella doesn't give them enough cheese flavor. If you're looking for a true lighter replacement for the classic shrimp & grits, UNFORTUNATELY THIS IS NOT IT. :(