Riot of Color

Today while looking at my dinner I understood the meaning of the phrase "riot of color".  Ok.  Maybe I already had a pretty good hold on the phrase before dinner but I was really hungry and a bit faint so it felt more dramatic when I saw it done.

All day I was craving fresh vegetables and shrimp.  It's one of my favorite things to make when I get the organic box delivered on Monday.  This week one of the items was Chinese broccoli.  That's the beautiful green in the dish.  There were red bell peppers and yellow and green summer squash.

I only had a small handful of shrimp so I added some imitation crab.  The kind I get at the Korean market is especially good.  I had to add more protein because I knew once my son saw this he'd want some.  It was really that pretty.  Not too pretty to eat, though.  I was starving.  Seriously.

I haven't posted a recipe in a while.  You probably haven't noticed.  I thought I'd be nice and post this one.  Really more to amuse myself but if you want to cook this, knock yourself out.  Don't really knock yourself out.  It would hurt.  And I don't want the responsibility for that.

Recipe:
Minced garlic cloves - how many depends on you.  You may have a lot of vampire friends, I don't know.  If that's the case you might want to skip this part.

Grated Ginger - however much you like or whatever you find in the bottom of the vegetable drawer that isn't moldy yet.

Mix of vegetables - I used red bell pepper, yellow and green summer squash, and Chinese broccoli.  You might like something different.  Whatever.  Go crazy.  This is also a great opportunity to clean out that vegetable drawer.

Shrimp and/or Imitation Crab - How much you use depends on how many teenage boys will be dining with you.

Thai Fish Sauce, Thai Sweet Chili Sauce and a Lime.  Just a regular little, green lime.  The amount you use of these three depends on you.  I know how much I use because I know what I like it to taste like.  I don't know what you want it to taste like so I can't tell you how much to use.  You'll have to figure it out yourself.  I'm sorry.  I know it makes you have to think.  I'm not sorry, really.  It's good for you.  Builds character.

Stir the garlic and ginger briefly in the hot wok and then stir in the squash before the garlic and ginger burn. Squash takes the longest to cook. Next add the bell pepper.  Once that's a bit cooked add the Chinese broccoli.  Or whatever vegetables you chose.  Just add the longer cooking ones first with the fastest cooking one added last.

Then add the  shrimp/imitation crab.  Only cook it long enough for the shrimp to turn pink and the crab to heat up.  Add the different sauces.  Add a little of each and taste it.  You'll be able to tell which ones to add more of.  The fish sauce is salty, the chili sauce is sweet and the lime is tangy.  Go easy on the fish sauce at first.  It's pretty fishy.  Seriously.  I'm not kidding, go easy.

So enjoy it if you make it.  If you don't you're missing out.  But you won't know.  So don't worry about it.