Seared Shrimp Rice Bowl

A rice bowl is a great way to use up any leftovers you may have or any pantry goods like canned food or frozen vegetables. I think sometimes people automatically assume something made with canned food or frozen food isn’t going to taste very good. But I don’t think that’s true! You can really dress up any meal with a few spices and condiments using what you already have. This rice bowl didn’t take me long to put together and it honestly tastes so delicious and hearty. Let’s get right into it, shall we?

Ingredients:

• 6-8 cups cooked rice, of your choosing
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder, for rice
• 1/2 pound frozen shrimp, cooked
• 2 tablespoons cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, for topping
• 2-3 cups shredded lettuce, for topping
• Salsa, of your choice for topping
• Sour cream, for topping

Directions:

I know the ingredients list seems kind of long and perhaps daunting but I think they’re a lot of things we just have stored in our pantries or in the back of our fridge. But more importantly, if you don’t have something on the list or your not a fan of something just go ahead and omit it. Honestly, the most important thing is rice and beans and if that’s all you have…you can definitely just eat that. This recipe would just be very short.

Anyways, on to building this bowl! Firs things first in a large pot add all your cooked rice. You can use it fresh if you want or if you have any leftovers they will do. You can also use whatever rice you like or have. My mom happened to have just made some basmati rice mixed with lentils, a simple variation of a pilaf (pulao, as we say in Urdu). Into this rice add the bean, the corn (cooked according to package directions), the one tomato we very luckily had left, and the diced onion.

Sprinkle in the teaspoon of cumin powder and give it all a thorough mix. Folding all the ingredients into the rice. And guess what? I think you’ve guessed it! It’s time to cook the shrimp! Ha, you didn’t see that one coming. I bet you forgot all about the shrimp. Well, I did not. I will not. It was some very delicious shrimp. In a bowl add the shrimp along with the spices, salt, olive oil, and lemon juice. It’s a really simple recipe but that’s because I just wanted to let the shrimp shine. The flavors were there but not at all overwhelming. They just complimented the shrimp. Now in a skillet or saute pan add a drizzle of olive oil and heat it up on medium-high. The shrimp I got was already cooked frozen shrimp so it really just needed to be seared. If you let them thaw completely before adding into the pan this will be much easier to achieve.

I was a tad impatient so I put the shrimp in the pan when they were still a little frozen, that’s why so much water was released. Just cook them on a high heat until they are golden and flip and do the same one the other side. This shouldn’t take more than 2-3 minutes per side. Once cooked just take them off the heat. In the meantime you can just shred up some lettuce if you don’t already have it shredded. Take about a quarter of a head and give it a rough chop with a large knife.

Now, guess what?? Did you give a guess? I hope you guessed that it’s time to put your rice bowl together!! Because that was the correct answer. We have all the components prepared that needed to be prepared! In a bowl I put some of the mixed rice and then topped it with lettuce cheese, salsa, sour cream, and shrimp! I love to eat mine with a side of tortilla chips.

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