Teriyaki Shrimp & Quinoa Bowls

I must admit, I've been on a kick lately -- a teriyaki one. I found an incredible "Island Soyaki" bottled sauce at Trader Joe's this past week that continually rocks my world -- all for $2.99. In case you're curious, it's got all the goodness of pineapple juice, soy sauce, sesame seeds, and teriyaki sauce all in one -- it tastes INCREDIBLE. But enough of my splurge, for this dish, any teriyaki-style sauce will do -- just make sure you opt for the low-sodium variety. Trust me, it tastes just as good and you're doing your body a favor. The lightly cooked sugar snap peas only cost $1.99 and are chock full of vitamins. If you don't have quinoa, brown rice is a good alternative since it also has nutrients like fiber to keep you full -- and with microwaveable varieties available now (like Uncle Ben's 90-second rice) you have no excuse. Enjoy!

Servings: 4

What You'll Need:

• 1 lb of raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
• You can get these from your grocery store's seafood section. Sometimes they come frozen in a bag (that's fine) but if you'd like to make these right away, get them fresh from the seafood attendant. Some stores even have their attendants peel and devein them for you if you ask (Whole Foods did this; all I had to do was shop around and come back in 10 minutes to pick it up.)
• In case you were wondering, deveining shrimp means the removal of its veins. Sounds kind of stupid until you realize that the digestive tract of the shrimp (yes, sometimes it's full) is usually left in there unless you request them deveined. Don't believe me? Next time you buy raw shrimp, take one and look on the bottom of its belly. See that big brown line to the tail? Next time, give a sh*t and speak up :)
• Pinch of salt & pepper
• Dash of Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup low-sodium teriyaki sauce
• Cooking spray
• 1 bag fresh sugar snap peas
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa

The Step-by-Step

1. Heat a small pot of water.
2. When it starts to boil, add quinoa, stir, and turn down heat to medium. Cover and let cook for about 30 minutes.
3. In the meantime, wash your hands and get to work on the shrimp:
4. Place shrimp in a bowl, sprinkle with salt & pepper, and dash a little bit of olive oil on top. Toss the shrimp with your hands.
5. Wash your hands again.
6. Take each sugar snap pea and cut in half diagonally (just because this looks prettier/more impressive.)
7. Spray a medium-sized skillet or frying pan with cooking spray. Put on stove, and add shrimp when pan has had the chance to heat up (about a minute.)
8. Wait about 3 minutes before stirring the shrimp -- this'll give it a nice sear.
9. Stir in the sugar snap peas, and lower the heat.
10. After about 3 more minutes, add in the teriyaki sauce.
11. To serve, take 1/4 of the cooked quinoa and place on a plate. Top it with some of the shrimp/pea mixture.
12. Enjoy!

You'll thank me later for this one.

xoxo n

----------------------------------------------------

did you know?

Quinoa costs $1.99 per bag at Whole Foods, and is one of the top natural sources of protein? Yea, okay. Knowledge is Power! Make the switch today!