Family favorite! This exciting dish has it all: Bursting with flavor, nutritious, quick, and easy! You’ll want to add this to your weeknight go-to list. I’ve skipped the onions and peppers more than once, either because I ran out of them or of energy, and nobody complained. I like it better with them, but sometimes ya just gotta get supper on the table. I’ve also had that deer-in-the-headlights look when I realize I have a family to feed in half an hour and no idea what to make. I think that might be the real reason I sometimes skip the peppers and onions — I use their would-be sauté time thawing the shrimp!

If I’m thinking ahead, I like to thaw my shrimp in the fridge. It’s what food safety experts recommend. I pull the package out of the freezer when I’m making dinner the night before. Then I put the package in a bowl to catch any leaks or frost, and pop it in the fridge. By supper the next night, they’ve thawed, or at least close enough that five minutes on the counter can finish it.

You all probably know not to leave the shrimp at room temperature for the whole thaw time. That’s a food safety no-no, for any food. Anything that would ordinarily require refrigeration, anyway. Things like flour or farro, frozen to keep them fresh longer, may, of course, be thawed at room temperature.

What if you’re in a hurry or forgot? The safest way to speed up thawing is a cold water bath. Water is a much better conductor of heat than air, so things thaw faster. That keeps the surface from getting too warm while you’re waiting for the center to thaw. I don’t know that I’d do anything substantial this way, though, only shrimp or other food that’s nearly thawed in the fridge but just needs a tiny bit more. With larger pieces, you’d end up at almost room temperature on the surface and still frozen in the center, unless you kept changing out the water. No, thanks, I’ll rearrange the week’s menu if I’m that stuck!

Now, if you’re lucky, you live somewhere you can walk to the fish market and buy your shrimp fresh from the people who just harvested it and brought it in on their boats. Wouldn’t it be super to live everywhere at once? You’d need a Tardis, or at least know how to cast a spell so you can apparate. But think of the food! A twelve-course meal, whenever you want, each course in a different place, wherever you want. Foodie heaven!

Ingredients:

1 lb. (454 g) shrimp, peeled & deveined

1 tablespoon Speedy Garam Masala Seasoning

2 tablespoons olive oil

1½ medium bell peppers

1 small to medium onion

¼ to ½ cup (60 to 120 ml) water

4 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Preparation:

1.) Sprinkle the garam masala over the shrimp; toss to coat. Set aside.

2.) Chop the onion and peppers. My peppers were already chopped — I froze them that way last fall. Yup, those beauties were harvested ten months ago! Have I told you how much I love my Foodsaver? They were just as pretty and nearly as tasty as the day I picked them, though not quite as crunchy.

3.) Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the peppers and onions, and sauté until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl and keep warm.

4.) Add the remaining tablespoon of oil and the shrimp to the pan. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are lightly browned and no longer translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes.

5.) Pour in the water, scraping to free up the yummy browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil and cook until the sauce thickens a bit.

6.) While the sauce cooks, quickly chop the cilantro. Stir it into the shrimp right before serving. Serve over rice or with naan.