Spicy Shrimp and Grits

A couple people have asked for my Shrimp and Grits recipe. It's from Cooking Light, and Matt says it's the best Shrimp and Grits he's ever had and says it's his favorite thing that I make. 

Ingredients:

• 3 cups 1% low-fat milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
• 1 cup uncooked quick-cooking grits
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 4 slices applewood-smoked bacon
• 1 pound peeled, deveined large shrimp
• 1 cup thinly vertically sliced white onion
• 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce or chopped chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon ground or crushed red pepper
• 1/4 cup green onion strips

• 1. Combine milk, water, butter, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer; gradually add grits, stirring constantly with a whisk. Reduce heat to medium; cook 4 minutes or until thick, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in cheese.
• 2. While grits cook, cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 2 teaspoons drippings; crumble bacon. Add shrimp to drippings in pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until done. Remove shrimp from pan. Add white onion to pan; sauté 1 minute. Stir in bacon, tomatoes, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/8 teaspoon black pepper; sauté 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add shrimp, pepper sauce, and red pepper; cook 1 minute or until shrimp are heated. Serve over grits; sprinkle with green onions.

Serves 4 (unless one of those four is Matt)

I think preparing it as written makes is super hot. I half the hot sauce and red pepper and it's still plenty hot. I don't typically have peppers in adobo sauce, so I just use Tabasco or Texas Pete.  And I typically use cheddar instead of parmesan. You can get the raw, deveined, peeled shrimp (frozen) at Walmart (I know, I know... I'm so two faced.) And if I don't have green onion, I just leave it out. It's still super tasty. (And I leave the tomatoes out of Matt's part.)

For a printable version, click HERE.

Hope you like it. Let me know if you try it.