Last week, a friend told me she was cooking Thai for dinner, and I thought that sounded really good. I thawed some shrimp, and began to think about what I wanted to make. I remembered seeing a recipe on Jerry’s website for Thai Lime Chicken. I thought I would adapt that to include the vegetables I had on hand, and use shrimp instead of his chicken.

Here is what I came up with. It is a healthful dish of shrimp, peppers, onions, mushrooms, and brocolli rabe. The sauce is wonderful. You could serve it with rice, or cut down on the carbs as I did and just serve it by itself. I can’t wait to make this again.

Thai Lime Shrimp
1 lb shrimp, shelled
1 yellow or red bell peppers, chopped
1 medium onion, sliced
handful of fresh basil
2 Tbsp. canola or other vegetable oil for stir-frying
1 fresh red chili, or 1 tsp. chili sauce (add more or less according to how hot you want it)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. fish sauce (available in Asian/Chinese food stores)
2 Tbsp. lime juice
1/2 cup fresh basil
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. brown sugar
Make the sauce by placing the last 10 ingredients (handfull of basil through brown sugar) in a food processor or mini-chopper. Process well to form a thick sauce. Set aside.
Place 2 Tbsp. oil in a wok or large frying pan and set over medium-high heat. Add the onions and mushrooms. Cook until beginning to soften. Add the brocolli rabe and peppers. After a minute or two, add the shrimp. Cook until the shrimp are cooked through.
Turn heat down to low. Now add the sauce, stirring well to incorporate.
Tip: Try not to fry or over-heat this sauce, or you’ll lose all the great flavor.
Do a taste-test for salt and spice, adding more fish sauce if not salty enough, or more fresh chili (or chili sauce) if not spicy enough. If you prefer a “saucier” stir-fry, you can add a few Tbsp. of coconut milk.