This Week's New Recipe: Ice Water

I know, I know...it has been ages and ages since I have posted a recipe. In my defense, I have had a baby, although that's clearly no excuse as my dear co-blogger Beth had a baby earlier this year and never skipped a blogging beat, but there's really a much more interesting reason for my absence.

Usually, I like to cook the recipe that I am posting within a few days of making the post. That way, it's fresh in my mind, I can photograph it for y'all and make any necessary notations. However, I haven't been able to do this because I haven't been cooking and I haven't been cooking because I can't eat anything. That's right...nothing! Nothing worth eating anyway. Why, you ask? Why? Because in addition to managing my existing reflux with accompanying esophageal ulcer, I am nursing a baby with reflux and it seems I also have gallstones which will necessitate the removal of my gall bladder in early 2010. That means I cannot have dairy, tomatoes, citrus, fat (yes, you heard me...fat!) including all fried foods, caffeine, chocolate, eggs, pork, beans, onions, garlic, carbonated beverages, wheat, oats, red meat (yup, there goes my reason for living), and, just to rub salt in the wound, red wine and most other alcohol.

So, herewith is my recipe for water with ice. It's refreshing, low calorie and good for you!

Just kidding. After some serious thought, I realized that Asian cooking is one of the few cuisines that manages to pack a lot of interesting flavors and foods together while avoiding most of the pitfalls listed above. However, I can't trust my local Chinese food place to be up front about fat content, so I'm on my own. Granted, the official gallstone diet says I should pretty much be vegetarian, but it does allow for seafood. So, I've broken out the wok and I thought I'd share a successful recipe with you guys. With any luck, in a few months, I'll wean the baby, have the gall bladder removed and find that the ulcer has healed. Until then, work with me.

Shrimp and Snow Peas with Fresh Ginger & Plum Sauce

Ingredients:
18 large or jumbo shrimp (about 3/4 lb), peeled, deveined if you feel like it
2 cups fresh snow peas, tough ends snipped off
1 cup mushrooms, any variety
1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper, julienned
2 scallions, diced
1 1/2" knob of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
2 T. Peanut oil
2 T. Mirin (Japanese rice wine)
2 T. Plum Sauce (available in Asian section of your grocery store)
2 tsp. Chinese 5 Spice Powder

2 cups cooked rice (jasmine rice is excellent with Asian foods) or Udon noodles

Instructions:
Clean and peel shrimp and toss in 2 tsp. 5 spice powder. Set aside.
In a wok or large frying pan, heat peanut oil and toss in fresh ginger and scallions, stirring constanly to avoid browning. Cook for one minute or until fragrant. Add shrimp and continue stirring. Add mirin. Allow to cook off. Working quickly, add snow peas, mushrooms, and pepper, stirring continuously until vegetables are just cooked. Peppers and snow peas should remain crisp. Remove wok from heat. Stir in plum sauce and serve immediately over hot rice or noodles. Serves 2.