Shrimp tortellini

Mom received a Taste of Home Healthy Cooking cookbook in the mail the other day. We didn't know what we were going to have for dinner today until she showed me a recipe that she thought looked good. I said I could make that so the following recipe is what we decided to eat.

Review: This meal was quick and easy to make. If you buy the minced garlic in the can there is hardly any prep at all. If you use fresh garlic though, which I did, the only prep is however long it takes you to peel and slice the garlic. The recipe also calls for measuring the oil, salt, pepper and thyme but I just sprinkled them in without measuring. I also wouldn't worry so much about the amount of peas. Because I don't think I'm mentally and emotionally ready to kill live shrimp to use in my meals, I used frozen shrimp and thawed it. Next time I make this recipe I'll probably double the amount of shrimp but, like the peas, the amount you use is up to you. Overall the meal was quite tasty, light-tasting and one mom said was, "one of my favorites."

Recipe: Shrimp tortellini

• 1 pkg. (9 oz.) refrigerated cheese tortellini
• 1 cup frozen peas (I actually doubled this but you can use however much or however little peas you want)
• 1 lb. uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined 
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided (I also didn't measure the olive oil I just poured)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp. pepper

Cook the tortellini according to the package directions and add the peas during the last five minutes of cooking. In a large nonstick skillet, saute the shrimp in 2 Tbsp. of oil for roughly two minutes (again I just poured a little oil in the pan without measuring). Add the garlic and cook one to two minutes longer or until the shrimp turns pink. Drain the tortellini mixture and then add it to the skillet. Stir in the salt, thyme, pepper and remaining oil.

That's it! Like I said, quick and easy and as long as you have the ingredients the amount you use of them actually doesn't matter. The amounts mentioned, though, make about four servings.