Real Food, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, IBD-AID (Phase III: sub compliant flour for arrowroot)
This recipe is quick to prepare and enjoyed by everyone in my household. We actually ate this for Easter dinner this past year. It allows for flexibility where ingredients are concerned, so you can adapt or make creative changes based on personal preference. It’s also a good way to use up fresh vegetables at the end of the week. This shrimp dish is colorful, fresh, and vibrant. It presents a great opportunity to maximize nutrient density, but it’s accessible enough to make on a Tuesday. I hope you enjoy this recipe for Colorful Shrimp and Vegetables in a Savory Peanut Sauce as much as my family does.
THE VEGETABLES
As written, this recipe calls for onion, carrots, pea pods, and red cabbage, but the options are limitless. You could also include sweet peppers, broccoli, or zucchini. Baby bok-choy would be a fun alternative. Use what you have available. Mix it up if you get bored. The sauce is adaptable to many different options.
I like for the vegetables to be bright, colorful, and still a bit crisp when this dish is served. To do that, the vegetables need to be cooked quickly. Hard vegetables, like carrots, should be sliced very thin so they can cook rapidly. If chopped into soup-sized pieces, the carrots will not cook adequately in a short amount of time. If you let everything else cook to accommodate the carrots, you’ll have a mushy mess, so slice the carrots long and thin. Likewise, if using broccoli, chop the florets into small pieces.
I like to garnish this dish with fresh cilantro.
THE SHRIMP
I keep frozen wild-caught shrimp in the freezer pretty much all the time. It’s a staple for us. It can be thawed out very quickly by placing the frozen shrimp in a bowl of water. This has saved dinner for me more than once when I’ve forgotten to take out something that takes longer to thaw.
The shrimp that I purchase are quite large. After thawing, I generally cut them into halves or thirds. This helps to stretch them farther. Admittedly, my husband and son feel slighted if they only see three large shrimp on the plate, but a pile of nine smaller pieces appears more satisfying. It’s a psychological trick, but it helps out our grocery budget.
THE SAUCE
The sauce is made from just a few ingredients. Smooth peanut butter, “No Soy Sauce” or another soy alternative, chicken stock, garlic, and a bit of arrowroot powder to thicken everything up.
There is really only one important tip. In order to incorporate arrowroot powder, you first mix the powder in a separate bowl with a bit of the sauce. Stir it until there are no clumps or bumps. When that liquid is poured into the hot pan, whisk immediately. If you pour it and let it sit for even a few seconds, the arrowroot mixture will form a gelatinous gel that cannot be incorporated. Even though I use arrowroot powder to thicken sauces often, I sometimes have this happen. I simply scoop out the arrowroot gum and continue stirring everything else together. There’s usually enough viable powder that I don’t have to start completely over.
I hope you’ll give Colorful Shrimp and Vegetables in a Savory Peanut Sauce a try!
Colorful Shrimp and Vegetables in a Savory Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 – 1 1/2 lb wild-caught shrimp
- 1 small onion, slivered
- 2 carrots, trimmed very thin, “Julienne” style
- 4 oz pea pods, sliced small
- 1/4 head of purple cabbage, cut into 1/2 in pieces
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 c “No Soy Sauce” or another soy alternative
- 3/4 c “No Soy Sauce” or another soy alternative (used separately from above ingredient)
- 2-3 tbsp peanut butter (less for a more subtle peanut flavor)
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced or finely chopped
- 1 – 1 1/2 c chicken stock
- 2 tbsp arrowroot
- Chopped fresh cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- If you plan to serve this dish with rice noodles, rice, or any other vegetable side, prepare that first as the shrimp and vegetables cook very quickly. From start to finish, this dish requires only about seven or eight minutes to cook.
- Thaw the shrimp. If shrimp are very large, you can cut into smaller pieces. Dry the shrimp with a paper towel and set aside.
- Prepare the onion, carrots, pea pods, and cabbage. If you’d like to use any other variety of vegetables, prepare them at this time.
- Heat a large pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the shrimp to the pan. Shrimp cook very quickly. You only need to cook about sixty seconds on each side. From a fleshy color, the shrimp will whiten as they cook.
- When the shrimp are mostly cooked, scoot them to the side of the pan and add the vegetables to the other side. Pour the first 1/4 c of “No Soy Sauce” over the vegetables and shrimp. Stir the vegetables as they cook. This will likely take about 2 minutes.
- While the vegetables are cooking, in a separate bowl, mix the 3/4 c of “No Soy Sauce” with the peanut butter and minced garlic. The mixture may appear clumpy. That’s okay. When it makes contact with heat, the peanut butter will smooth out. Once the vegetables have softened a bit, but are still bright and vibrant in color, add the sauce over the entire mixture. Stir everything together.
- In a separate mixing bowl, add 2 tbsp of arrowroot powder. Pour a bit of the chicken stock into the arrowroot powder and stir to combine. This will form a slurry. When it is smooth and there are no lumps, add the slurry to the hot pan, stirring constantly. This should mix into the sauce and begin to thicken it.
- Add 1 – 1 1/2 c of chicken stock while stirring. You are adding just enough chicken stock to reach your desired sauce consistency. Once the stock is added and the sauce is warmed, your dish is done and ready to serve. Garnish with fresh cilantro.
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