Sometimes a girl just has to have a big, steaming bowl of lovely Asian-style deliciousness for dinner. How many times have we made our way home at day’s end after spending 10 hours working… working hard. To add to our woes often a last-minute run to the grocery store is required if we expect to have dinner. All of the ingredients for this dish are available at your grocery store and, get this, if you’re so beat you’re willing to take the easy way out, most of the makings called for are already cleaned, prepared and/or cut up. Yay for grocery store food prep! I don’t know about you but I’m slow as molasses in the kitchen and that’s on a good day. So if I can get a little help to speed things up I’ll take it. The recipe can easily be halved but I like to have leftovers for lunches the following day so take that into consideration.
This dish can be served over noodles, (rice, udon or cellophane are all fine), or it may be served over rice, (white, brown, jasmine or basmati), it all works. If you’re staying away from carbs altogether add more broth and the dish becomes more soup-like. Nice, huh? Most of the vegetables can be found already chopped in the produce section of your grocery store, the shrimp has been cooked and is in the seafood department and the sweet potato can be thrown in the microwave to “bake”. The sweet potato is SO good paired with the savory lemongrass! The spinach is tossed into the pan straight from the bag and the basil leaves are torn from the stalk and added without having to cut. Also, in the produce section, you’ll find tubes of fresh lemongrass, grated ginger paste and minced garlic in the jar. Oh, the glory of it all! Wait, wait! I almost forgot to mention that in the “international” section of the store are already prepared udon noodles in cryovac and, if you prefer glass noodles, just know they don’t have to be cooked. They soak in hot water for 15-20 minutes so they’re ready when you’ve finished the shrimp part of the recipe. Can you believe it? Again, if you’re trying to watch your weight, using “lite” coconut milk is perfectly fine. I try to have boxed chicken broth always on hand and it’s perfect with the shrimp but feel free to use what you have in the pantry. Speaking of pantry, the jarred herbs and all-ready-prepared noodles are great staples to stock up on as are a few bags of cleaned shrimp in the freezer, perfect for last-minute soups, salads and stirfrys. I know this recipe calls for a lengthy list of ingredients but please keep in mind, this is pretty much a “dump and stir” meal. I’m thrilled with the ease of it and I know you will be, too. Enjoy!
Shrimp in a Spicy Coconut Sauce
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 1/4 cup lemongrass paste
- 3 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons ginger paste
- 2 red peppers, chopped
- 1 1/2 pounds zucchini, sliced
- 1 6-ounce bag fresh baby spinach
- 1 handful fresh basil leaves, 1 small box or bunch
- 2 pounds cooked shrimp, peeled, deveined and shells off
- 2 13.5-ounce cans unsweetened coconut milk, lite is okay
- 2 cups seafood, vegetable or chicken broth, boxed is fine
- 1 medium to large sweet potato, roasted, peeled, cut into 1/4″ cubes
- juice of 1 lime
- 1-2 red chiles or jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped. I use 2 as we like heat and spice but feel free to use just one for less spice. But do use at least one or it won’t be spicy, now will it?
- salt to taste
- rice or noodles for serving
- hot chili garlic sauce, optional, for serving
- Over medium-high heat add olive oil to a large, high sided pan.
- Add onions and stir until coated with oil and starting to release its perfume.
- Add lemongrass, garlic and ginger and thoroughly stir into onions.
- Add peppers and zucchini and continue stirring for 2 minutes.
- Add spinach and basil and stir until almost completely wilted.
- Add shrimp and toss until coated with the pan flavors.
- Pour in coconut milk and broth, mix well and raise heat bring to a boil.
- Add sweet potato, lime juice and chiles. Stir.
- Taste and add salt if needed.
- Serve in large bowls over cooked rice or noodles.
The Irreverent Kitchen 
Reblogged this on mamabatesmotel.
Nice and tasty recipe