When I was a kid food allergies were not a big deal. I had a food allergy - peanuts. This in no way shape or form affected anyone else's life. No school became a peanut-free facility because of me and I'm pretty sure my mother would have died of shame had that even been suggested. It was a different time, I guess. Anyway, our understanding of how food allergies develop has improved. When I became pregnant with my daughter we learned that because I have food allergies my daughter was substantially more likely to develop food allergies than other children, and so as we introduced real food we had to isolate her from certain common allergens. Apparently exposure in the first three years was likely to cause her to develop those allergies, or something along those lines. That's how it was explained to us, anyway. The biggest offenders were shellfish and nuts. These were exceptionally difficult things to avoid. Shellfish and nuts were two of my favorite things - great sources of protein both - and I couldn't cook with them anymore.
Well, two days ago the doctor lifted the ban. She's aged out of that danger zone.
The first thing I did was go out and buy a jar of almond butter. We ate the almond butter spread onto whole grain waffles. She liked it well enough.
Next I made the menu for the next week. Usually shrimp is one of the cheaper fish available. That wasn't the case this week but I didn't care at this point. I was too happy to be able to use it again. I made a very simple stir-fry. I pulled the tails off before cooking because I didn't think she'd have the patience to not eat the tails, but otherwise it really wasn't a fussy dish at all. I don't mind telling you that she adored it. Apparently shrimp are the new "in" thing. This is good, if it gets her to eat more of her dinner!
Shrimp and Vegetable Stir-Fry (serves 4; approx. $5.91/serving)
1 pound peeled, deveined shrimp
1 tablespoon seven spice powder
1 teaspoon sesame oil
7 garlic cloves, crushed
2 onions, chopped
1 teaspoon ginger salt
2 cups vegetable broth (I used low-sodium)
3 broccoli crowns, chopped
1 cup snow peas
2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 1/3 cup low-sodium tamari
Equipment:
- Large wok
- Sprinkle the spice powder over the shrimp and set aside.
- Heat the oil in the wok.
- Add the onion, garlic and ginger salt. Stir-fry until the onions are softened.
- Add the garlic. Stir-fry about two minutes.
- Add the broth and bring to a boil.
- Boil until the broccoli is bright green. Add the snow peas.
- Stir fry about a minute .
- Add the shrimp. Cook, stirring frequently, until the shrimp are cooked almost through.
- Add the cornstarch-tamari mixture. Stir well and cook until the shrimp are thoroughly cooked.
- Turn out into your serving vessel and serve.
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