Thai Shrimp Bisque

Another family favorite needing no adaptation. Leave out the fish sauce if you don't like things too fishy.

Ingredients:

3 cups hot cooked rice

1 pound frozen shrimp (cooked, peeled, deveined)

2 plum tomatoes

1/4 cup sliced green onions

1/2 inch piece peeled fresh ginger, finely chopped

2 Tbsp oil

2 cloves garlic, pressed

3 Tbsp corn starch

1 Tbsp sugar

3 Tbsp Thai fish sauce

1 Tbsp tomato paste

½ to 1 tsp Thai red curry paste (1 tsp makes it pretty spicy)

1 can (14oz) gluten free chicken broth

1 can (14oz) lite coconut milk

2 Tbsp snipped cilantro (optional)

Directions:

1. Prepare rice and keep warm.
2. Cut tomatoes in half and remove seeds. Dice fine and set aside. Slice green onions and set aside. Finely chop ginger and add to green onions. Press garlic and add to onions. 
3. Mix together cornstarch, fish sauce, tomato paste and curry. Add a little chicken broth to make a slurry. Set aside.
4. Heat oil in a pan. Add green onions, ginger and garlic. Sauté over medium heat for 2 minutes. 
5. Stir in cornstarch mixture, chicken broth and coconut milk. Reduce heat and bring to a boil. Sauce should start to thicken. 
6. When thickened add tomatoes and shrimp and simmer until shrimp is warmed (if using cooked frozen) or cooked pink (if using raw).
7. Remove from heat serve over rice in bowls. Garnish with snipped cilantro.

Pad Thai

I found the recipe for this delicious dish in a book called The Gluten Free Bible.

I've been meaning to try it out for a while, but the first time I went to pick up all the ingredients the store was out of bean sprouts. A week later I bought the bean sprouts, but forgot the peanuts. The sprouts went bad before I could make it back to the store, at which time there were no bean sprouts again. I didn't feel like going to another store, so made this sans bean sprouts. Still amazing, but I'm sure it would be even better next time around. 

Ingredients:

1/2 c peanut oil

1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

4 eggs, lightly beaten

2 c softened rice noodles

1 t paprika

1/2 c fish sauce

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c rice vinegar

1/2 c ground unsalted peanuts

8 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 1/4 c fresh bean sprouts, rinsed and drained, divided

4 garlic cloves

1 t red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large frying pan or wok over high heat until the oil begins to smoke
2. Add shrimp and saute for 1 minute
3. Pour eggs over the shrimp and allow to sit for 1 minute, then scramble
4. Add the rice noodles and paprika; stir briefly
5. Add fish sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, and peanuts; saute for 30 seconds
6. Add 1 c bean sprouts, green onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes; toss to heat
7. Remove from heat, place in serving dish, and garnish with remaining 1/4 c bean sprouts

Allison's Additional Notes:

1. Have all ingredients prepared and placed near the stove before beginning to cook, because it goes fast (I felt like a chef on a cooking show)
2. For noodles, I used half a 1 lb box of A Taste of Thai noodles, and soaked them per package instructions
3. To grind the peanuts, I sealed them in a small ziploc bag and went over them with a rolling pin
4. Next time around I'm going to try less sugar (1/4 c), since I don't think it needs the full 1/2 c, and of course, add the bean sprouts