Sauteed Shrimp and Broccoli – with cashews and bell peppers
Apparently, life has decided to play a silly little trick on me. You see, about 6 weeks ago, I fell madly in love. As in head over heels in love. And ever since I laid eyes on her, I just can’t seem to get her out of my mind. In fact, she’s all I can think about!
No, I’m not talking about a woman… I’m very much into men thank you very much, (even though it sometimes feels as though I’ll be spending the rest of my life without one by my side, but that’s a whole ‘nother story…) This new love I’m talking about is actually a house!
Until I accidentally stumbled upon her “online profile” aka, listing, I never even dreamed that something like that would ever happen to me. I mean, I’ve always been super happy with my current house, despite its inevitable little irritants… I’ve worked very very hard at turning it into MY home and she always kept me completely satisfied. Well, for the most part, anyway.
But I’m telling you, when I saw “that other house”, I felt like it had been custom made to my specifications, as if I’d been behind the wheel while it was getting built, telling the contractors exactly what to do and where to put what. Okay, there are a few little details that I would eventually change were I to actually move in, but nothing major. This house, she’s PERFECT for me and my family.
So now I’ve kind of entered this “let’s-get-our-house-on-the-market” mode. Before that, I used to THINK that my house was in pretty good shape, that it was pretty clean and that I hadn’t accumulated all that much stuff over the years. Pfffft! Yeah right. I just had a serious reality check and sort of realized that I have A LOT of stuff to do around the house. And I do mean A LOT! And all those little irritants? They seem to constantly hit me in the face now and bug me more than they ever had. But then there’s also the constant “oh, but I’m gonna miss this so much, and I’m gonna miss that too, and how could I ever live without this other thing?” moments…
It really is a tough decision to make, but for the time being, I’m really thinking that I want to go through with this, so all I wanna do is scrub, clean, fix, organize, paint, clean some more. I want to make this house perfect so that when (or if) I actually do put it up for sale, it sells fast.
That’s IF the house of my dreams is still available by the time I’m ready to place an offer on it, and IF the sellers end up accepting that offer.
The good thing is, whatever happens, my current house will be at the top of its shape by the end of the summer.
The perhaps somewhat less good thing is that there won’t be much time left for cooking, so I get the feeling that there will be a lot of very quick and easy meals like these Sauteed Shrimp and Broccoli that will come out of my kitchen for a while. That and lots of grilled meat and easy sides and salads.
And then if I actually DO end up moving, things will get even worse: I’ll probably need to take some time off for the actual move, and then I’ll need some time to adjust to my new (and might I add, TOTALLY AMAZING) kitchen.
But hey, we’re not there yet, so no need to panic. And honestly, if all my quick dishes turn out as delicious as this one? It’s not gonna be a bad thing at all…
As is the case with most sautés and stir-fries, this is the kind of dish where the action goes really fast once you actually start cooking. As such, it’s really important that you do all your prep work before you even get your wok or skillet near the heat source.
And if you’re planning on serving this with rice, I strongly suggest that you cook it while you’re working on prepping your ingredients.
Cut and measure all your ingredients, and then make the sauce by combining all the required ingredients in a glass measuring cup. Mix vigorously with a fork or flat whisk until well combined.
When everything is good and ready to go, heat a tablespoon of oil in a wok or large skillet set over high heat.
Once the pan is hot, add the shrimp and saute them until they turn pink but are still slightly translucent, about 2-3 minutes, and then remove them to a plate.
Don’t worry about them not being cooked all the way through for now, we’ll be throwing them back in to finish cooking them in a few minutes.
Now place your wok (or skillet) back over the heat source and add the broccoli and bell peppers; saute until slightly softened but not cooked all the way, about 3 to 4 minutes.
We still have a few minutes left of cooking to do, so don’t overdo it at this point, else your veggies will end up turning to mush.
Add the green onions, garlic, ginger and cashews and saute for about 30 seconds…
Time to pour in the sauce…
…and then cook for about more 2 minutes, until the broccoli is softened and the sauce is reduced by about half.
Return the shrimp to the wok and stir well. Kill the heat and let the dish rest for a minute or two, until the shrimp is cooked all the way and completely opaque.
Serve with steamed rice, if desired.
Sauteed Shrimp and Broccoli – with cashews and bell peppers
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp avocado oil, or cooking oil of your choice
- 2 lb large raw tiger shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used 26/30)
- 4 cups fresh broccoli florets
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
- 1/2 cup dry roasted cashews
- 3 green onions, sliced diagonally
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
For the sauce
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos
- 2 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp unpasteurized honey
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp sambal oelek
Instructions
- Combine the ingredients for the sauce in a glass measuring cup and mix vigorously with a fork or flat whisk until well mixed; reserve.
- Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet set over high heat; add the shrimp and saute until pink but still slightly translucent, about 2-3 minutes; remove to plate
- Place the wok back over the heat source and add the broccoli and bell peppers; saute until slightly softened but not cooked all the way, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the green onions, garlic, ginger and cashews and saute for about 30 seconds, then pour in the sauce and cook for about 2 minutes, until the broccoli is softened and about half the sauce has evaporated.
- Return the shrimp to the wok and stir well. Kill the heat and let the dish rest for a minute or two, until the shrimp is cooked all the way and completely opaque.
- Serve with steamed rice, if desired.
Nutrition
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7 Comments on “Sauteed Shrimp and Broccoli – with cashews and bell peppers”
Hello, looks yummy! Are the calories/carbs with or without rice? Thank you for this recipe. Can’t wait to try it!
I have not included any rice in the nutrition facts.
Hi Sonia!
It’s been a while since I posted.
This sounds delicious!
I can’t have peppers, so I think I’ll substitute cranberries and see how it goes.
To anyone that uses dry, plump them up first with some warm water.
Cranberries? Really? I’m not sure I’d be that adventurous. If it were me, I’d probably go with sun dried tomatoes instead. But I’m guessing if you can’t do peppers, you can’t do tomatoes either, right?
Sonia:
I always go where “others fear to tread”
I have to be careful of tomatoes. Even dried ones because I can’t take too much of their acid. I usually have to do them myself, with roma tomatoes and make sure the pulp is entirely out of them.
I will give it a try with the cranberries and let you know. Grapes may work too!
:~D
Hi Sonia.
What can I substitute the coconut aminos for? I live in Italy and they don’t sell it here.
Thanks.
Coconut aminos is a substitute for soy sauce, for those of us who don’t consume soy. You can revert back to using soy sauce, if that works for you!