Turmeric and Black pepper shrimp with asparagus

Hits The Shrimp was super flavorful and the asparagus was awesome. This was easy and satisfying, as well as relatively healthy. I used shrimp instead of chicken and it was super good.

Misses Well, I’m not quite a pro but I am better than the amateur hour mistake I made during this recipe in which I overcooked the shrimp. It was tricky to tell about shrimp doneness because of the turmeric’s golden color but next time I’ll just have to strictly adhere to the time, color be damned. When I want to treat myself I often reach for the frozen shrimp I try to keep in my fridge and this recipe was rewarding and because of the few ingredients, affordable to make despite the pricey protein and pricey veggie. I edited my directions to reflect lessons learned about how to best make this dish work when you’re using shrimp instead of chicken.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons honey

3/4 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste

Kosher salt

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 tablespoon coconut or canola oil

12 ounces asparagus, trimmed and thinly sliced on an angle

1 teaspoon unseasoned rice vinegar or soy sauce

1 lime, cut into wedges (optional)

don’t skimp on seasoning your scrimps

In your medium mixing bowl, toss the shrimp, flour, turmeric, and tsp of salt until they’re coated.

In your sm mixing bowl, combine the honey, 0.25 cup of water, ground pepper, salt and lime juice and set aside.

Show your asparagus some love

Clean off the tough ends, and cut into sm pieces which will cook quickly. This is even more important because you’re cooking with shrimp instead of the chicken originally called for in this recipe.

Cooking Shrimp

Pay attention!

Add oil to your skillet (which I affectionately call my frying pan) and in batches cook your shrimp until it is cooked on both sides.

*I am adjusting this recipe according to lessons learned with this part)

When the shrimp is cooked, remove it from the pan and put aside briefly

Add the shrimp to the hot pan with a sm amount more oil and some salt and pepper to taste, and cook until it is done.

When the asparagus is cooked, add the shrimp back into the pan and then add the sauce. Cook until the sauce has formed into a syrup and the flavors are integrated. Add the vinegar (optional) and serve hot!

The recipe calls for serving over rice and I ended up adding soba noodles in for some more substance and to stretch this over a few meals.