Shrimp and Sugar Snap Peas with Peanut Sauce

Aaron and I had separate errands to run this morning, so I took Jack and he took Matteas, and afterwards we met up at Costco.  When the shopping was all done and we brought our haul home, we were both starving and Aaron had someplace to be in 45 minutes.  This lunch was the perfect solution, and I will definitely be making it again even if I have all the time in the world.  I didn't actually time myself, but if I had to guess I'd say the elapsed time from defrosting the shrimp to plating was a maximum of 20 minutes.  If you avoid peanuts and wheat, substitute tamari sauce for the soy and cashew butter for the peanut butter. 

I made my rice in a rice cooker while I prepared the shrimp, but brought the water to a boil in a kettle first.  I find this cuts the cooking time in half and my rice was perfectly cooked by the time I'd finished the shrimp.  I made one cup of dry rice for two people, and the serving above was the portion leftover.  If you don't have sugar snap peas on hand, substitute with any quick-cooking vegetable or combination of vegetables, such as snow peas, thinly sliced bell pepper, or bok choy.  This sauce would be phenomenal with asparagus come spring time, but if you went ahead and bought asparagus out of season I would totally not judge you.  If you want a visually stunning garnish, sprinkle each serving with black sesame seeds.

Shrimp and Sugar Snap Peas with Peanut Sauce
Serves two for dinner or three for lunch

30 shrimp, raw, tail-on(about a pound, depending on the size of your shrimp)
1 cup fresh sugar snap peas
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 scallions, chopped

For the Sauce
1/3 cup creamy natural peanut butter(no Skippy or sugar added brands)
1 TB soy sauce
1 inch grated fresh ginger root
1/2 tsp. Chinese hot mustard
2 TB water
A few dashes sesame oil


If your shrimp are frozen like mine were, defrost them in a colandar under cold running water.

Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small mixing bowl and set aside.

Heat a little oil(olive, vegetable, coconut) in a saute pan over medium-high heat.  When it's hot, add the sugar snap peas and saute for about a minute.  Remove the peas into a bowl.

Return the pan to the heat, making sure there is still enough oil in the pan to just coat the bottom.  When the oil is hot, add the shrimp in a single layer.  After about 30 seconds, add the garlic and toss the shrimp around to flip them.  Immediately add the peanut sauce(the shrimp won't be completely pink), add the peanut sauce and the sauteed sugar snap peas and toss to coat.  Let everything cook together for 30-60 seconds, just until the sauce is heated through and the shrimp are finished cooking  Remove from the heat and sprinkle with the chopped scallions.  Serve over brown rice.  This is delicious with sriracha.