Shrimp Fried "Rice"

I don't know about you, but it has been a week! I think it's finally catching up to me, because I'm so exhausted this morning I can hardly keep my eyeballs open. Bed late, up early, more stress than I care to deal with - not a good combination. Ever feel like the stars are aligning against you?

Let me just rant for a second. I can't even keep track of how many websites and blogs I've been to looking for inspiration for my recipes. I've learned one fundamental truth: people are haters. Not all people, of course, but on every blog, on every post, there's one person who has to be critical for the sake of being critical. In my humble but correct opinion, the comments section of any blog or website should be reserved for comments about what worked or didn't work, or to ask the author questions. Comments that are negative and critical without even having tried the recipe just rub me wrong. For example, I found a recipe for Paleo Sweet Potato Brownies that I made last night. In the comments section, someone ran down the list of ingredients and basically stated that cavement would not have been able to procure these ingredients, and therefore the author was a horrible person for having labeled it paleo.

Here's the thing: recipes are personal. Food is personal. Everyone's journey to a healthier self is personal. See a recipe you don't like? Don't make it. See ingredients you don't eat? Either swap it with something else or move on to another recipe. There is nothing gained by being an uptight prude and putting someone else down to "prove" how superior you are. Well, except making yourself look like an uptight prude. To him I would say, "Do you live in a house with running water and electricity? Do you shop in a grocery store? Do you wear clothes manufactured on a machine? Are you using a computer to spread your negativity? Yes? Funny, I don't think cavement had access to this stuff. Shut the hell up." Do the world a favor and don't be that guy!

End rant.

I enjoyed making this recipe because I was able to get my son to help. I was rushing to get dinner cooked because I'd spent way too much time dinking around on dessert (which was phenomenal, BTW). He helped me chop vegetables and sautee. Every time I make a dish with shrimp I remember why I don't often make a dish with shrimp. It takes FOREVER to peel those little suckers. I use an entire two pound bag, which means a LOT of shrimp. I learned, though, if you use bigger shrimp, you get more meat and less peeling. Win.

As always, I used the original recipe as a guide and ended up making quite a few adjustments. I don't know if the original recipe was intended as a main dish or side dish. I think as a side dish it would have been okay "as is," but because I was serving it as a main dish I wanted a ton more flavor that what the author called for. I added and added and mixed and stirred, and I think I finally came up with something that tasted good. When I make this again, I might play around with a sauce I could toss in to it. Here's the real bummer - I picked up some fresh ginger root specifically for this recipe, but completely forgot to use it. I ended up using dried ginger, but I'm bummed out because I was really looking forward to the fresh ginger taste. Oh well. Like I said, it's been a week and I'm working to accept it.

Anyway... this recipe is fairly time consuming and a little labor intensive, primarily because of all the vegetable chopping and shrimp peeling going on. If you have someone to peel shrimp while you chop vegetables (or vice versa), I recommend recruiting some extra hands. If not, just plan on about an hour to get dinner on the table.

Ingredients:
2lb package frozen shrimp
1 sweet onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
Drizzle olive oil
1/4 cup frozen peas (you can use more if you'd like)
1 head cauliflower
Drizzle olive oil (yes, again)
Sea salt, black pepper and onion powder
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 T. fish sauce (more or less to taste)
1/4 fresh lemon
2 eggs
3 green onions, thinly sliced

Directions:
Put shrimp in a large mixing bowl and fill with lukewarm water - enough to cover the shrimp. Stir them around so they don't clump together as they thaw. Once thawed, peel. Let them sit in a strainer while you continue with the recipe to drain off any residual water.

Drizzle a little olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly caramelized. Stir in frozen peas and thawed shrimp. Cook, stirring frequently, until shrimp are pink. Be careful not to over cook or the shrimp will be tough. Remove from heat and set aside.

Chop cauliflower into chunks. Pulse in a food processor until cauliflower resembles rice. Drizzle a little olive oil in another large pot and add cauliflower. Season lightly with salt, pepper and onion powder. Cook, stirring constantly, until cauliflower softens. Remove from heat and set aside.

Choose the pan that is biggest and will give you the most surface space, and pour the contents of both pots into one. Bring back up to temperature over medium heat. Stir in ginger, paprika, red pepper and fish sauce. Squeeze lemon. Stir well to combine. When mixture is hot, make a few little "wells" in the mixture. Crack eggs over the pot, trying to get as much into the wells as possible. Let cook another minute or two or until egg is cooked through. Stir to distribute the egg, and garnish with green onions.

This should have made about 6-8 servings. But, feeding 3 hungry guys, it made about 4. There was a little left for me to take to work for lunch, but less than a serving even for me.

I guess they liked it.