Look to veggies, pantry for easy dinner
Weeknight dinners are tough, especially this time of year. Maybe you’re working full time or gardening until last light, but you’ve probably worked up an appetite and want a dinner that tastes great but doesn’t take 90 minutes to get on the table.
This dish has some luxe ingredients (shrimp and fresh noodles) that elevate it to five-star dining — on a Wednesday. The recipe takes some coordination, but if you keep working at the next steps while ingredients are cooking, the meal will hit the table in less than 45 minutes.
Other options? A slow cooker is a harried dinner preparer’s best friend, but it requires planning ahead. Freezer-to-pot cooking is very popular right now, so an Internet search will produce lots of possibilities. As more fresh vegetables are available, dinner will get even easier. Tossed with pasta, shaved into a salad with grilled chicken or tucked into a spring roll, that fresh produce from gardens and markets turns the oven into an afterthought.
My kids’ favorite dinner is cheese and cracker night. I put out a big platter of interesting cheeses, crackers, sliced meat, apple slices, carrot sticks and pickles and everyone helps themselves. I’m not even cooking dinner, just assembling it.
Even egg salad or a tuna melt constitutes a homeprepared meal that is healthy and belly-filling. Somewhere between the continuum of takeout and a rack of lamb are sandwiches and this shrimp curry.
This recipe is flexible. The original was from epicurious.com (Shrimp Curry with Chickpeas and Cauliflower). I tweaked it with the ingredients and vegetables I had on hand, and you can, too. Throughout spring, swap in asparagus and snap peas. In summer, try zucchini and broccoli.
The sauce is flavorful, and I didn’t even add the calledfor shrimp paste (which I’m sure would have added even more flavor — I just didn’t have any on the shelf).
I keep frozen shrimp on hand as a pantry staple — they are so easy to use at the last minute (thaw in a bowl of cool water for 15 to 20 minutes, changing the water 1 to 2 times) and are perfect in this curry . . . or with pasta with lemon and garlic or in an avocado salad.
And lastly, the fresh noodles add body and texture (although you could omit or serve with rice instead). Fresh, packaged Asian noodles (I used a thick rice noodle) are becoming more readily available at wellstocked grocery stores. I found mine at Trader Joe’s. They’re refrigerated and often found near the tofu.
Whether you’re in meetings until 5 or picking everyone up from basketball practice and piano lessons, you can put together pantry items and fresh vegetables for a stunning midweek meal.
Anna Thomas Bates is a mother and writer living in southern Wisconsin. Find more recipes and stories on her blog, tallgrasskitchen.com. Email her at tallgrasskitchen@gmail.com.
Adapted from epicurious.com, this curried shrimp and vegetable recipe layers a flavorful sauce with seasonal vegetables, shrimp and fresh noodles.
The original ingredient list called for 1 tablespoon of shrimp paste with bean oil and a topping of shredded red cabbage.
I would have included both if I had them, but still loved it as is.
Shrimp and Vegetable Curry
1 generous tablespoon
coconut oil 1 small onion, diced small
(about 1 cup) 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced small (about 1 ½ cups) 1 to 2 teaspoons freshly
grated ginger 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons red curry paste 1 five-inch piece of lemon grass, outer layers removed and lightly bruised Pinch of salt
1 can (13.5 ounces) full-fat,
unsweetened coconut milk 2 cups chicken or vegetable
stock ½ head cauliflower 1 can (15.5 ounces) chickpeas,
drained and rinsed 12 ounces shrimp, peeled and
deveined 12 to 16 ounces fresh noodles (I used thick rice noodles from Trader Joe’s) Optional garnishes: shredded red cabbage, lime wedges, minced cilantro
Melt coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until beginning to soften.
Add sweet potato, ginger, garlic, curry paste, lemon grass and salt. Stir to coat and cook 3 minutes until fragrant. Add coconut milk and vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook about 10 minutes to let it thicken while you cook the noodles according to package directions and prep the cauliflower.
Add cauliflower and chickpeas and cook 5 minutes until florets are fork-tender.
Add shrimp and cook 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and serve with noodles and garnishes.