My friend and 719Woman.com fashion consultant Ashley has been looking for delicious gluten-free recipes since her husband has gone on a gluten-free diet. (Not that she’s going to cook them, but rather, pass them on to her hubby! And I say that in a loving way.) Anyway, I invited them to dinner the other night, even though our house was a disaster and I should have been embarrassed but wasn’t. Ashley and I had a full day with a Goodwill fashion makeover and then bathroom organizing so I needed a recipe that was not only gluten-free, but easy to prep and cook. After searching the internet I found a Curried Rice With Shrimp recipe from Real Simple that fit all my requirements. I decided we’d have veggies, hummus, the curried shrimp, and a mango gratin for dessert.
I had about 30 minutes to shop so I went to the nearest grocery store, which is Safeway. There wasn’t a large selection of gluten-free crackers so I chose two out of the four offered, hoping they would taste good. I decided to serve brie, hummus, cucumbers and red bell peppers as our appetizers, which we munched on in the kitchen while the shrimp cooked.
The Crunchmaster Multi-Grain Crackers (sea salt flavor) were so good! There’s a sesame flavor to these crackers, not only are they gluten-free, but they are also full of fiber, cholesterol free and saturated fat free….healthy but delicious. And the Blue Diamond Nut-Thins were equally delicious! I bought the cheddar cheese flavor (they come in 5 different flavors) and we ate the whole box! So we obviously enjoyed them!
Safeway, Albertsons and King Soopers usually have shrimp on sale for $5.00 a pound once a month, and when they do, I buy several pounds. I was able to create the curried rice with shrimp for $10 because I did get my shrimp on sale. And once I start growing my own basil again this summer, the price of this will go down, using my own. When we tasted this dish, we agreed less curry could be used, and a garnish of lemon or lime zest would be a good addition. Ashley thought the addition of more veggies would be good, like zucchini or even broccoli. This is one of those dishes you can play with and customize to your own taste.
CURRIED RICE WITH SHRIMP –
Hands-On Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4 for approx $10 (with shrimp being on sale)
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 1 cup long-grain white rice
- Kosher salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 lb peeled and deveined large shrimp
- 1/2 cup fresh basil
Directions:
Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft (about 6-8 minutes). Add garlic and curry powder, stirring until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add rice, 2 1/2 cups cold water, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Season shrimp with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Nestle the shrimp in the partially cooked rice. Cove and cook until shrimp are opaque throughout, about 4 to 5 minutes. Fold in the basil and serve.
I wanted to make a dessert we hadn’t tried before, using fruit. Mangos were on sale for $1 each when I made this (another recipe I found from Real Simple). This was easy to put together. My husband actually prepped this recipe while I made the curry and then we stuck the mango gratin in the fridge till it was time to broil it. When we sampled it, there was no noise except for the spoons scraping the bottom of the ramekins! It was delicious! This would also taste really good over ice cream.
MANGO GRATIN –
Hands-On Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4 for approx $3.25
Ingredients:
- 2 large ripe mangos
- grated zest and juice of 2 limes
- 1 cup vanilla yogurt
- 4 tbsp brown sugar
- 4 tsp butter
Directions:
Slice mango lengthwise around each side of the pit. Remove the skin and cut the fruit into bite-size pieces. Divide between 4 small ramekins and stir in the lime zest. Top with yogurt and brown sugar; dot with butter. Spritz with lime juice and broil 2 to 3 minutes, or just until the topping melts and browns.
My husband said I could cook this meal every week and he wouldn’t get tired of it!