It’s sometimes a surprise to me what recipes take off, and which ones fade into the obscurity of my archives. This gluten-free healthy sesame chicken recipe was the food blog equivalent of a blockbuster success. People are still making it in droves and commenting on how it turned out (yay!). But I can’t say that I consider it to be my most creative comfort food adaptation.
Sometimes simplicity wins out and you just have to give the people what they want. Other times, I say f*%k that and cook what I feel like cooking, which often includes putting weird things like Swiss Chard and hemp seeds in a shrimp stir fry recipe.
For the final dish I developed for Vitamin Shoppe, I decided to do another riff on that ever popular sesame chicken dish. Instead of chicken, I used shrimp and instead of sesame seeds clinging to every crevice, I used the super seed hemp. And then just to gild the health lily, instead of broccoli and peppers, I added summer squash and chard.
If this recipe just took a turn for crazy town, let me help you help me rein it in. For one thing, there are also some off the beaten track pantry products involved. So if you don’t have liquid aminos or coconut oil on hand, you can easily use soy sauce (or gluten-free Tamari, like this brand) and some regular olive or vegetable oil. The hemp seeds are of course optional as well if you have regular old sesame on hand.
But I will say this: a few hemp seeds go a long way. And they have such a neutral flavor, you can pretty much toss them in or on anything. I started adding them to my morning smoothies after the 5th time I showed up to a meeting with 5 Chia seeds lodged in my teeth. If you invest in a bag, it will give you a few month’s worth of health lily gilding and general feelings of seed savvy and fabulousness.
Eat up!
Xo
Phoebe
Sesame Shrimp Stir Fry with Summer Vegetables and Hemp Seeds
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Liquid Aminos
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons raw honey
- 2 tablespoons Organic Shelled Hemp Seed
- 2 tablespoons Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil divided
- 1 pound large peeled and deveined shrimp preferably wild
- 1 small yellow onion halved and thinly sliced
- 1 red or orange bell pepper seeded and sliced
- 1 small yellow squash cut into matchsticks
- 3 ounces shitake mushrooms stems removed and thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 cups thinly sliced rainbow chard
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the liquid aminos, sesame oil raw honey, and hemp seeds.
- Heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil in a wok or large nonstick skillet. Add the shrimp and stir-fry over high heat until pink, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Add the remaining oil and stir-fry the onion, peppers, squash and shitakes until lightly charred, 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Stir in the chard and cook until wilted, 2 minutes. Add the sauce and simmer until it thickens slightly, 2 minutes. Fold in the shrimp and cook one minute more. Serve over brown rice or quinoa.
I’ve never had a hemp seed to my knowledge. I wouldn’t ordinarily run out and buy some just because I read somewhere they were good, but when Phoebe tells me to…
They are totally mild – you can throw them in anything. Even a shrimp stir fry 🙂
This looks so amazing. Instead of trying to find places that sell real shrimp dishes, I’m so glad I found this recipe. Thank you for sharing!
Hope you enjoy it!
so. so. GOOD!
just found your site, looking for anti-inflammation foods. i’ve got ongoing IBS issues, and i’ve tried gluten-free, tried FODMAPS, but found both approaches to be too restrictive, too complicated to remember what NOT to eat. i’d rather focus on adding good things than elimination!
this recipe was excellent. made it the first time for husband & a dinner guest. simple & straightforward, full of wonderful nutrients that made me feel like i was feeding my loved ones some serious superhero foods.
came together very quickly & easily once all the veggies were chopped. it helped that the shrimp were already peeled & deveined. loads of flavor, super satisfying. served it with quinoa. major winner. will mos def make this again!
courtney – this is the best review ever! first, i’m so with you on adding good instead of taking away bad. though i will say that after 5 years of being gluten-free, it’s no big deal. and even easier now than ever before with all the products available. but my trick for anti-inflam eating is to add as much color to the plate as possible. here are some tips: https://feedmephoebe.com/2015/03/march-wellness-challenge-gut-guilt/ – this recipe totally hits the mark and I’m so thrilled it turned out well in your kitchen! xoxoxo
Like your recipes but need the nutritional information. I am diabetic and also trying to lose weight. I look for protein, carb and calorie counts in recipes.