Shrimp w/White Bean Ragu

Tonight's menu was adapted from a recipe in Ellie Krieger's So Easy.  I have enjoyed quite a few recipes in her books and thought this one would be great on a night when I needed a quick meal.  The original recipe was  Salmon w/Chickpea Ragu.  I just ordered shrimp from Blue Sea so I used a pound of shrimp instead of salmon.  I also substituted organic great northern beans for the garbanzo because I had those on hand.  I prefer to cook my own beans and didn't get the garbanzos started in time so the northerns worked perfectly.  I also used vegetable stock...I really prefer to use this instead of chicken stock in any recipe with seafood, with the exception of a seafood bisque.

Shrimp with White Bean Ragu

1/2 tbsp. olive oil

1 medium organic onion, small dice

1 cup organic carrot, small dice

2 cups organic zucchini, small dice

1/2 cup tomato paste (tubed in you can find it)

4 c. organic vegetable stock.

2 cups organic great northern beans

1 pound shrimp, deveined and tails on (I prefer tails on as I think it adds a lot of depth to the dish)

1 cup basil, chiffonade

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in large nonstick saute pan.  Add onions and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes.  Add carrots and zucchini and cook until they start to soften, 5-7 minutes.  Add tomato paste and incorporate well with vegetable mixture.  Add stock and heat until boiling.  Add beans, reduce heat and simmering until sauce starts to thicken, about 10-13 minutes.  Add shrimp and cook for about 3-5 minutes or until they just curl and turn pink.  Add basil, salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately.  I served ours over steamed brown rice.