Main Dish – Page 12

**Shrimp Curry w/ Snap Peas & Water Chestnuts**

It’s January, which means it’s time for resolutions! For me, it is trying to be healthier and lose a few pounds. A few years back Leigh and I we planning a trip to Hawaii and I wanted to slim down from the holidays. The Daniel Plan was a pretty popular book at the time and this recipe for Shrimp Curry w/ Snap Peas & Water Chestnuts was one of the regular dishes we enjoyed through the winter months. I know, you haven’t seen any posts from me that one would consider healthy, but this one is and it’s very tasty with a nice kick from the curry. Still, it’s not over the top and is pretty low in calories. Also, preparing this dish is easy and straight forward. So, let’s get started and I hope you enjoy.

Ingredients
Ready to Start Cooking!

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. coconut oil
2 Tbsp. curry powder
2 Pounds shrimp (medium sized), peeled and deveined
1 Pound sugar snap peas, trimmed
1/2 Cup water chestnuts
1 Cup unsweetened coconut milk
Juice of 2 limes
Sea salt, dash/pinch
2 tsp. cornstarch

Preparation

In a large skillet or wok heat coconut oil over medium heat.
Add curry powder and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add shrimp and sugar snap peas and cook about 2 minutes.
Add water chestnuts, coconut milk, lime juice and salt.
Whisk in cornstarch until fully dissolved and sauce thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.

Curry in Coconut Oil
Shrimp & Snap Peas
Shrimp & Snap Peas Tossed
All ingredients – Simmering

This dish can be served over cooked brown rice or quinoa, but we usually just eat it by itself. Got to watch those extra calories….without rice or quinoa it is about 350 calories per serving.

Ready for the Bowl

Shrimp Curry with Snap Peas & Water Chestnuts

I hope that you enjoy this healthy and tasty dish!

Merry Christmas! Once again we had our Annual Christmas Cook Off – This tradition started out as a fun way to get everyone’s involvement in meal preparation when we rented a cottage near Traverse City, MI, between Christmas and New Years a few years back. Throw in some prize money and everyone loved the idea.

‘This years cook off had each couple prepare three dishes, typically an appetizer, entrée and a dessert, but not required. We kicked it up a notch this year and added a theme/specialty drink from each of the teams. After all the dishes are prepared (sort of, some still in preparation) each type of dish would be presented by all the teams to the other participants and voted on for taste/aroma and appearance/presentation. Leigh’s mom (Grandma) did not participate in the preparation, but was a highly sought after vote in the competition.

The voting was done after all dishes and drinks were tasted. We have a slightly over complicated score sheet, that is then entered into a spreadsheet and tabulated to determine the winner for each category and the overall winner. This year, it was yet another close competition with the difference in scoring being less than five points between 1st place and 4th.

Enough talk… here are some pictures of the dishes and all of us enjoying Christmas Eve 2018 together.

The Teams

The Appetizer Round!

N&L – Empanada with Chorizo & Potato – 1st Place Appetizer!
T&E – Pupusitas
J&A – Roasted Red Pepper & Pesto Hummus & Tirokafteri (Greek Feta Cheese Dip)
T&L – Tarte Flambee

The Entrée Round

J&A – Home Ravioli & Marinara Sauce – 1st Place Entrée
T&L – Boeuf (Beef) Bourguignon
N&L – Bistec Con Pimient (Peppered Beef), Tortellini w/Manchego Cream Sauce
T&E – Chiles Rellenos

Dessert Time!

T&L – Crème Brûlée – 1st Place Dessert!
J&A – Croatian Flan – w/ Raspberry Sauce
N&L – Quesada Pasiega w/ Pistachio Brittle & Pomegranate Bourbon Drizzle!
T&E – Cuban Sandwich, Deconstructed & Assembled atop Focaccia (Oops, not a dessert, but very delicious!)