Shrimp Lo Mein

Most likely everyone has a favorite take out Asian cuisine joint to order from... and it's great because it's convenient, fast and no too expensive. BUT, even though it tastes amazing, you really don't know what's in it or how it was made do you? At home, you can make your favorite take-out dishes pretty quickly and they are so much healthier in my opinion. That's what this dish is about... we give it an A+!

The original recipe came from my Cook This, Not That cookbook and can be found here:  Shrimp Lo Mein. It's shocking how many calories and fat it shows that a restaurant Lo Mein can have - Yikes! I'd rather not know, thank you. ;-)

Here is how we made this meal...

ingredients

• 12 oz linguine or lo mein noodles (can find in ethnic aisle) 

• 1 tbsp peanut oil

• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

• 1 tbsp grated ginger (fresh)

• 1 yellow onion, chopped

• 5-6 chives chopped

• 8 oz cremini mushrooms, halved

• 2 medium carrots, sliced thinly

• 1 green bell pepper, sliced (green is way cheaper and still tasty)

• 3/4 lb shrimp, peeled & deveined

• 2 tbsp oyster sauce

• 2 tbsp soy sauce

directions

1. Prepare the noodles according to the instructions on packaging. Drain and rinse the cooked noodles with cold water and set aside. 

2. Using a wok/skillet/dutch oven, heat oil over high heat. Once lightly smoking, add garlic, ginger & onion and cook for 30 seconds (they will be lightly golden in color). Add the rest of the veggies and cook for 3 minutes. Make sure to use a metal spatula and keep the veggies moving around the pan constantly. 

3. Toss the shrimp in and cook until just pink and slightly firm. Add the cooked noodles, oyster/soy sauces and cook additional 2 minutes. The sauce will be thickened and covers the noodles in a light sheen. When serving, garnish with the chopped chives.

A tip I learned a long time ago about not wasting fresh ginger... have you ever bought it for a recipe and had some leftover and then completely forgot about it? Then you go through your produce drawer many weeks later to find a dried up piece of what used to look like ginger root? I have and wasted it by throwing it out... so basically the best way is to peel the skin away with a spoon. Put it in a freezer bag (make sure you take all the air out as much as possible to prevent freezer burn), label the bag and toss in the freezer. Then, when you need it next you just pull it out of the freezer and grate (using microplane grater) right into the dish. I would recommend using an oven mitt to hold the ginger because it will be really cold! 

Enjoy!