SHRIMP & RICE SALAD

SHRIMP & RICE SALAD

This shrimp & rice salad is light, fresh, and full of goodness.

RICE
·         1.5 cups jasmine rice
·         2 1/4 cups water
·         1/3 cup rice vinegar
·         1/4 cup sugar
·         1 tsp salt

SHRIMP
·         1 lb. 91/130 count shrimp
·         1 Tbsp vegetable oil
·         a pinch each: salt, garlic powder, cayenne

SALAD
·         1 1/2 cups or one can black beans
·         1 medium red bell pepper
·         2 medium carrots
·         1 medium green onions
·         1/4 bunch fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS

1.      Begin to cook the rice. Place the rice and 2.25 cups of water in a medium pot. Place a lid on top and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. As soon as it reaches a rolling boil, turn the heat down to low and let simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let it sit undisturbed for at least 10 more minutes (can sit longer if needed).

2.      While the rice is cooking, prepare the rest of the vegetables. Cut the bell pepper into small pieces. Slice the green onions. Peel and shred the carrot using a cheese grater. Pull the cilantro leaves off of the stems. Rinse the black beans and and drain of excess water.

3.      Rinse the shrimp and drain away the excess water. Heat 1 Tbsp of vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the drained shrimp along with a pinch of salt, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Saute the shrimp over medium heat just until they have all turned pink and are no longer transparent (this should take less than 5 minutes). Turn the heat off and let the shrimp sit until you’re ready to add them to the salad.

4.      Prepare the seasoning for the rice. In a small bowl combine the rice vinegar, sugar, and one teaspoon of salt. Stir to dissolve as much as possible (it won’t likely all dissolve, that’s okay).

5.      Fluff the rice with a fork and then transfer to a large bowl. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the rice vinegar mixture over top and then gently stir or fold it into the rice. Continue until all of the rice vinegar mixture has been folded in.

6.      Stir the black beans into the rice mixture, and then the vegetables and shrimp. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.

Either eat plain or drizzle soy sauce, sriracha, oyster sauce, or hoisin over top.

STEP BY STEP PHOTOS

Start the rice first because it takes the longest to cook. Place 1.5 cups of rice in a medium pot along with 2.25 cups of water. Place a lid on top and then bring it up to a rolling boil over high heat. Just as soon as it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, simply turn the heat off and don’t touch if for at least 10 minutes.

While the rice is cooking, chop up all of the vegetables. I used red bell pepper, carrot, green onion, salad onion or normal onion, black beans, and cilantro. Use whatever you have available to you at a good price. Some other add-ins that would be a good flavor match are: peanuts, sliced almonds, cashews, edamame, avocado, cucumber, mango, or mandarine oranges.

Rinse and drain the black beans, slice the green onions, chopped the bell pepper into small pieces, shredded the carrots on a cheese grater, and pulled the cilantro leaves from the stems. Don't even bother chopping the cilantro, just roughly pulled the leaves off.

This is the shrimp, keep it frozen for a time like this. Whenever you buy shrimp, you’ll notice some numbers by it. This one says “91/130” this refers to the number of shrimp per pound. Larger shrimp will have smaller numbers, like 30/40. This salad was really chock full of shrimp, so if you need to cut costs even more, you could maybe even use just a half pound.

Rinse your shrimp. It’s just a good idea. This shrimp smelled so nice and fresh, almost kind of sweet. Not fishy at all. Ahhhhhh.

Shrimp cooks really really fast. If you keep cooking past the point where it just turns pink and opaque, it will just shrink up and get more and more tough as the water cooks out. Therefore, only cook it until it has all turned pink. Just toss it in a skillet with a little vegetable oil, a pinch of salt, garlic powder, and cayenne, and saute until pink.

See? Now it’s done and that took less than 5 minutes. Try not to nibble on them… they’re quite nibble-worthy.

So now the rice is done cooking (it has sat undisturbed for at least 10 minutes after the heat was turned off) and it’s time to give it the sushi rice treatment. That means we’re going to toss it in a mixture of rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. This gives the rice a wonderful flavor, glossy appearance, and nice texture. So, mix together the rice vinegar, sugar, and one teaspoon of salt. It’s okay if it doesn’t all dissolve.

Transfer the cooked rice to a large bowl. Sprinkle on about 1/3 of the rice vinegar mixture and then fold or gently stir it in. Repeat until you have added all of the rice vinegar mixture. The rice should still be hot while you do this.

Next I stir in the black beans to help bring down the temperature of the rice a bit. I didn’t want the rice piping hot when I added the vegetables because I didn’t want them to “cook”.

Lastly, stir in the rest of the vegetables and the shrimp. I did not pour on the left over juice in the skillet from the shrimp because I did not want an overly shrimpy flavor. Stir everything until combined and you’re good to go!

you can add sriracha and soy sauce on this, but it’s good plain too!

see: Fried Rice, Thai Peanut Rice

FRIED RICE PREPARATION

Fried Rice

INGREDIENTS:

·       1kg chicken·       4 cups chicken stock·       3 tbsp vegetable oil·       3 cups of rice·       1 bulb onion·       2 tbsp curry·       ½ tsp thyme·       Salt to taste·       Chili pepper to taste·       2 seasoning cubes·       300g shrimps (optional)·       6 cups of vegetables, finely chopped or diced-(carrot, runner beans, green peas, red pepper, green pepper, spring onions, onions, sweet corn).·       300g kidney, cooked and diced (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1.    Season the chicken properly and cook till the chicken it almost soft.

2.    Drain out the broth and fry or grill the chicken.

3.    Wash the rice with very hot water.

4.    With the stock, cook the rice with the chili pepper, seasoning cubes, onions, salt.

5.    Cook till it is almost soft.

6.    Share the rice and the vegetables into 3 portions.

7.    Stir fry each portion in a non-stick pan, with a tbsp of vegetable oil, shrimps (optional) and onions.

8.    Taste for salt, seasoning cube and pepper

9.    Serve with the chicken and it is perfect with vegetable salad.

see: Thai Peanut Rice, Shrimp & Rice Salad

THAI PEANUT RICE PILAF

THAI PEANUT RICE

This flavorful Thai Peanut Rice Pilaf is easy, filling, and vegan!

INGREDIENTS

•         1 cup long grain jasmine rice
•         1/2 cup Thai peanut sauce
•         1/2 cup frozen sweet peas
•         1 medium red bell pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1.      In a medium saucepan bring 1 cup of rice (good rice) and two cups of water to a boil over high heat with a lid in place. As soon as it reaches a rolling boil, reduce the heat to warm and let simmer for 30-40 minutes (with the lid in place) or until all of the water has absorbed.

2.      While the rice cooks, finely dice the red bell pepper. When the rice has finished cooking, mix in the peanut sauce, peas and red bell pepper. I would suggest putting all of the ingredients into the pot with the rice and then stirring only once because the more times you stir, the more sticky and glutinous the rice will become.

3.      Serve warm. If desired, you can garnish with fresh cilantro, green onions or a drizzle of sesame oil (as pictured).

NOTE: Be sure when you are buying your jasmine rice that you get long grain rice because short or medium grain varieties will be too sticky. If you try to stir the peanut sauce and vegetables into short grain rice you might end up with a starchy ball of rice dough!

PEANUT LIME CAULIFLOWER SALAD

Riced cauliflower makes a filling low-carb base for this fresh and vibrant Thai-inspired Peanut Lime Cauliflower Salad.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Tbsp coconut oil (or a neutral oil)

• 3 cups riced cauliflower

• Pinch of salt

• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger

• 1 fresh lime (2 Tbsp juice)

• 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce

• 1/2 Tbsp chili garlic sauce

• 1 red bell pepper

• 1/4 red onion

• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts

• 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat a large skillet over medium, then add the oil and swirl to coat the surface. Add the riced cauliflower and a pinch of salt. Sauté the cauliflower over medium for about 5 minutes, or until it reaches your desired level of tenderness. Transfer the cauliflower to a bowl and allow it to cool as you prepare the rest of the ingredients (you can place it in refrigerator for faster cooling).

2. Squeeze 2 Tbsp juice from the lime into a small bowl. Add the grated ginger, soy sauce, and chili garlic sauce. Stir to combine.

3. Finely dice the red bell pepper and red onion. Pull the cilantro leaves from the stems and roughly chop them. Roughly chop the peanuts.

4. Add the bell pepper, onion, cilantro, and peanuts to the bowl with the cooled cauliflower. Pour the dressing over top, then toss to combine the ingredients. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.

RECIPE NOTES

*You can use raw, dry roasted, salted, or unsalted peanuts.

follow STEP BY STEP PHOTOS for easy cooking

This recipe begins with “riced” cauliflower, which is just cauliflower that has been broken up into little pieces. This 1 lb. bag is just over three cups. I think some stores also sell this frozen, which would work just as well. You can use this cauliflower raw or cooked for this salad, whichever you prefer.

I prefer the flavor of cooked cauliflower to raw, so I used sautéed cauliflower in my salad. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 1 Tbsp of a neutral cooking oil (I used coconut because even though it has a strong flavor, the flavor goes well with the ingredients in this dish). Add the cauliflower and a pinch of salt, and sauté for about 5 minutes or until it has reached your desired level of tenderness. Transfer the cauliflower to a bowl to let it cool as you prepare the other ingredients. I suggest placing it in the refrigerator to cool faster.

The dressing for this salad is incredibly simple. Squeeze 2 Tbsp of fresh lime juice from a lime and combine it with about 1 tsp freshly grated ginger, 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce, and 1/2 Tbsp chili garlic sauce (you can use sriracha if you have that instead). 

Finely dice 1 red bell pepper and 1/4 red onion. Pull about one cup of leaves from the stems of cilantro and give them a rough chop (about 1/2 bunch). Roughly chop 1/2 cup peanuts. Add the bell pepper, onion, cilantro, and peanuts to the cooled cauliflower.

Pour the prepared lime dressing over the salad…

And then stir to combine! That’s it! This salad is so incredibly fresh and vibrant. I absolutely LOVE it.

see: Fried Rice, Thai Peanut Rice, Shrimp & Rice Salad

HOW TO PREPARE COCONUT RICE

PREPARING COCONUT RICEINGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups coconut milk

• 4 cups of rice

• 1 cup crayfish

• 2 cups of hot water

• Pepper to taste

• 1 bulb onions

• 500g meat/fish

• 2 seasoning cubes

• 300g dried fish

•  Salt to taste

• ½ cup tomato paste

• 3 cups prawns/shrimps

• Vegetables: carrots, red pepper (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. For the coconut milk, grate the coconut and soak in hot water for 15mins, squeeze through with your hands (caution: may be quite hot) and pass through a sieve – season the meat and cook till it is soft.

1. Fry or grill the meat – parboil the rice for about 8-10mins.

1. Wash out some of the starch with very clean water (optional).

1. Put the rice in a pot and add the coconut milk and little water.

1. Add the broth from meat – add chili pepper, tomato paste, onions, maggi cubes, salt and crayfish.

1.  Add the dried fish after about 10mins

1. Allow to cook till it starts to dry, usually about 20mins

1. Reduce the heat and confirm that it is soft, if it isn’t, add water, a cup at a time till it is soft

1. Serve into a dish with the grilled or fried meat, very nutritious with vegetable salad.

YOU CAN EASILY COOK COCONUT RICE BY FOLLOWING THIS - STEP BY STEP PHOTOS

Start by placing the dry rice in a medium sized pot. 

Cover the rice with cool water and swish it around until the water turns cloudy. Pour off as much water as possible and repeat two more times. This will help the rice be fluffy rather than sticky when cooked. Make sure to pour off as much water as possible the last time.

All you need besides the rice is coconut milk, garlic, and salt. That’s it. Like I said, I really prefer the light coconut milk because you get tons of flavor without so much oiliness.

When cooking rice, you usually want a rice to liquid ratio of about 1:1.5 or 1:2. The can of coconut milk measured out to 1.75 cups, or you can add another cup of water. This will give you a good rice liquid ratio of 1:1.8 – right in the middle. It doesn’t have to be exact.

Add the coconut milk, minced garlic, salt, and one cup of fresh water to the pot with the rinsed rice. Give it a quick stir to make sure the salt and garlic are well distributed.

Place a lid on top and bring it up to a rolling boil over high heat. Just as soon as it reaches a full boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and allow it to simmer, with the lid on, for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes turn the heat off and let it sit, undisturbed for 15 more minutes. Open it up and this is what you’ve got.

Fluff it up with a fork and serve! …and try not to shovel it straight into your mouth, because you’re gonna want to.

I can eat this stuff straight… it’s amazing. Green onions go really nicely on top, as does Sriracha. I also experimented with mixing it up with the Peanut Lime Cauliflower Salad and it was OUTSTANDING.



see: Fried Rice, Thai Peanut Rice, Shrimp & Rice Salad