Spicy Shrimp and Avocado Stir-Fry

LUCY BURDETTE: I love Chinese and Japanese food but somehow I'm never able to replicate what they do in a restaurant. This dish approximates something I had years ago in a Japanese restaurant--the spicy shrimp pairs so well with the sweetness of the avocado. And of course, you can vary the hotness and the vegetables to your taste. (I found the beans, peas, and pepper in our garden.)

When I asked my husband if the dinner was blog-worthy, he said "definitely." 

But then looked down in dismay at our empty plates. 

"I hope you already took a picture!"

Stir-fried Spicy Shrimp with Avocado

Ingredients 

3/4 cup long grain brown rice
1 and 1/2 cups water

6-8 shrimp, depending on size, peeled and deveined (If I was in Key West, I would use Key West pinks. But these I found in the frozen food section at the Stop and Shop and they were pretty darned good.)




1 tsp spicy chili sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
dash of soy sauce

Marinate the shrimp in the above mixture while you chop the veggies and cook the rice. (The rice takes about 1/2 an hour.)

Vegetables:

a handful of green beans or snow peas 
1 small zucchini
1 small red onion
1 green pepper
1/2 ripe avocado

Sauce: mix 1/2 cup chicken broth with 1 more tsp chili sauce and 1 tsp cornstarch

Flash fry the vegetables in a hot pan with canola or peanut oil until partly tender. Set them aside while you fry the shrimp for a minute over high heat until beginning to turn pink. 



  

Return the vegetables to the pan with the shrimp and cook another minute. Then add the sauce, stir until thickened. Finally add the avocado chunks and heat through. Serve over brown rice.



Lucy is the author of the Key West food critic mysteries, available wherever books are sold! You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.