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365: No Repeats
| Difficulty: |  |
| Taste: |  |
Pros: Pretty easy to make and has great flavors.
Cons: Takes us a little longer than the 30-minute goal.
Bottom Line: Almost as good as Thai take-out and much cheaper.
We Hippos love Thai food, and this recipe delivers on many of the familiar flavors of the cuisine without requiring a trip to an international grocery store. As a Rachael Ray meal, it is only supposed to take 30 minutes. Though the preparation was relatively simple, we did find that, due to all the chopping involved, it will take those with less than stellar knife skills about 10 to 15 minutes longer than that.
The various flavors of this recipe come together very nicely. The shredded coconut makes the dish subtly sweet, and all the fresh produce and herbs make for a light, delicious meal. The cilantro and lime finished off the flavor in a refreshing - but not overpowering - way. The texture of the dish was also pleasing. The chewiness of the toasted coconut and the crunchiness of the veggies made an appealing contrast with the rice. However, we did feel that this contrast could have been a bit more pronounced. When we make this next time, we will cook the vegetables a little less and reserve half of the cabbage until the very end of cooking time. This will allow it to wilt a bit while still retaining a nice crunch. We paired this dish with a simple salad served with a homemade creamy peanut-lime dressing. Overall, we loved this recipe, and it will definitely be appearing in the Hippo kitchen again!
| 2 1/2 cups chicken stock 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut 1 cup long-grain rice (we substituted brown rice) 4 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 small yellow onion, sliced 8 napa cabbage leaves, thinly shredded (we used about 1.5x this amount) 1 cup store-bought shredded carrots | 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (we omitted this) 3 large garlic cloves, chopped 3-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled & grated (we substituted dry ground ginger)1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced 3 tablespoons tamari 5 scallions, thinly sliced 20 fresh basil leaves, chopped or torn 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped Juice of 1 lime |
Combine 1 cup of the shredded coconut with 1 1/2 cups chicken stock in a sauce pot. Bring to a simmer, add rice, and return to a simmer. Lower the heat and cook covered for 18 minutes (less if you are using instant rice - check the box's directions).
Heat a pan over medium heat and add the remaining coconut. Toast the coconut until golden, stirring frequently to prevent burning. This will take a couple of minutes. Remove the toasted coconut from the pan and save for later.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Cook the shrimp in the skillet for about 2 minutes on each side. Remove and save for later. Add the remaining vegetable oil to the skillet. Add all the veggies, the red pepper flakes, garlic, and ginger. Cook for about 3 minutes.
Add in the remaining chicken stock and the tamari. Return the shrimp to the pan and stir. Cook a couple of minutes more. When the shrimp are thoroughly cooked, add the basil, scallions, half the cilantro, and the lime juice.
Mix the cooked rice with the toasted coconut. Mound up some rice on a plate, then top with the shrimp, veggies, and some sauce. To finish it off, sprinkle some of the remaining cilantro on top of the dish.
If desired, serve with a salad of lettuce and carrots. Whisk up some peanut butter, rice wine vinegar, lime juice, a bit of water, and some ginger for the dressing. Enjoy!
