Sweet Chili Shrimp

The New Year usually means resolutions to get healthy, exercise more and change our diets. I used to make all kinds of resolutions but have decided not to lie to myself. Even so, my first recipe of 2019 is healthy, low in calories and low in fat. Sweet Chili Shrimp also happens to be delicious.

You can make this even healthier by serving it in lettuce wraps, rather than over pasta. You could also add in 4 ounces of matchstick carrots and/or shiitake mushrooms with the veggies.

Serves: 6 servings

Time:  Active time 20 minutes; Cook: 15 minutes, Dinner in about 30 minutes

Hardware:  A cutting board and knives, measuring spoons and cups, a plate, paper towels, a heavy skillet (frying), a large pot, tongs, a wooden spoon

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ pounds large shrimp (21-25 count) You can buy them cleaned without tails
• Vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the skillet
• 1 medium red bell pepper (6-8 ounces)
• 4 green onions
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (¼ teaspoon ground ginger)
• 5-6 large basil leaves (1teaspoon dried basil)
• ¼ cup Sweet Chili Sauce (I used Mae Ploy. I found it in my local grocery store)
• ½ cup water
• 8 ounces of a wide lo mein noodle (I used Ka-Me)
• Sriracha to taste (optional)
• Salt and pepper
• ½ a lime

Sweet Chili Shrimp

 1.     Remove the white ribs and seeds of the red pepper. Cut it into long, then strips. Chop the green onions. Keep both the green parts and the white parts but separate them. Roughly chop the garlic. Grate the ginger and tear the basil into tiny pieces. Set everything aside.

2.      Rinse and pat the shrimp dry. Generously salt and pepper the shrimp. Set aside. Put the large pot of water onto boil.

3.      Add just enough oil to coat the bottom of the skillet. Heat it on medium high. When the pan is very hot, add the shrimp. As soon as the shrimp begin to color, flip them. Then remove them from the pan to the plate. You only want to partially cook the shrimp. You will finish them later.

4.      Add the bell peppers, the whites of the onion, the garlic and the ginger (if using fresh) to the hot pan. Use the tongs to continually toss the veggies until the red peppers begin to soften a little. I like my veggies crispy, so I only tossed them for about 3 minutes. You can cook them longer if you like.

5.      Add the sweet chili sauce and the water to the pan, stir and bring to a boil. Reduce the sauce to simmer.

6.      The pot of water should be boiling by now. Add the noodles. The noodles only take 4 minutes to boil.

7.      Return the shrimp with the basil to the sauce. If you are using ground ginger, add it now. Flip the shrimp to make sure that they cook through.

8.      As soon as the noodles are finished, use the tongs to remove them from the boiling water and add them to the sauce. Toss everything to make sure that the noodles are coated in sauce. Add sriracha to taste. Adjust the salt.

9.      To serve, toss in the onion greens and squeeze the lime over the entire dish.