If you had several days of full menus with dessert this past weekend like I did, you may welcome a healthy asparagus and shrimp stir fry! This quick and simple recipe is a fresh recipe to start your week!
We often think that healthy goes hand and hand with tasteless and boring, which can happen when paring down recipes to a few ingredients. I promise you that this recipe does not fall in that category! This is a full flavored dish thanks to the addition of ginger, scallions, garlic, and sriracha sauce.
I saw this recipe on Norma’s Garden to Wok blog and after a few weeks of the image of fresh asparagus and shrimp creeping in my mind, as well as a heavy food-filled weekend, I had to try it. We were Ooooing and Ahhhing after a few bites of this flavorful, yummy stir-fry. It tasted better than my local “go to” Chinese restaurant!
Norma shows her original recipe, and notes the ingredients she modified (no sugar, less oil). I plan on only using the modified recipe, and this is how my version developed.
Healthy Asparagus and Shrimp Stir-fry
Simple shrimp and asparagus recipe without sugar and only a small amount of oil. Enjoy for dinner or lunch and service with rice or cauliflower for a filling dish.
Ingredients
- 1 pound of shrimp, cleaned; peeled, deveined, pat dried with paper towels
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
- ______________
- 1 - 1 1/2 lbs. asparagus, peeled and slant cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 3 scallions, smash white part with the flat of your knife, and cut 2 inch pieces of the whole scallion
- 1 thumb sized piece of fresh ginger peeled, smashed and lightly chopped
- 4 garlic cloves peeled and minced
- 4 dashes (more if you like it spicier) of Asian chili sauce - I used Sriracha
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
- 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with 2 Tablespoons of water
Instructions
Combine the shrimp, salt and pepper.
In a medium preheated pan or wok, add 2 teaspoons of oil. Add scallion, ginger and garlic. Stir-fry until garlic is lightly browned. Add chicken broth, one tablespoon at a time to prevent burning.
Turn up heat to high and add shrimp. Stir-fry until cooked, and add tablespoons of broth as needed to prevent from burning. Remove shrimp. You can also remove the spices, but I kept mine in the pan.
Add asparagus, and stir-fry (about 3-5 minutes) with the salt and chili sauce . Continue to add tablespoons of broth as needed to the pan.
Return shrimp to pan, and add remaining broth and bring to a slight boil. Add the cornstarch mixture to thicken the sauce.
Want to know how to peel asparagus? See the instructions here .
Take a bite. It’s so delicious!
It feels good to get back on track with a healthy dish after a munch out weekend!
What is your back on track favorite meal?
If you want more inspiration using shrimp, you might enjoy this Simple Garlic Shrimp Recipe – Allrecipes.
Norma Chang
Glad you like my recipe Sandra, thanks for the mention.
Sandra
I’m glad you re-created such a delicious recipe, Norma!
Sandra
Just as tasty with tofu too, I bet!
Sandra
So simple, Tia! I hope you like it and I know you’ll be adding a few more dashes of the chili sauce!
Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking
What a great, healthy and flavorful stir fry! This looks so delicious and definitely simple enough to make on a weeknight. Great recipe!
Sandra
That’s what I look for during a busy work week, simple!
Heather @ SugarDish(Me)
Oh so delicious!!! I think we will have this for dinner 🙂
Sandra
After my holiday indulgences, it’s back to simple and healthy!
Maureen @ Orgasmic Chef
What a beautiful dish of food! Looks delicious.
Sandra
It came out great! Thank you for the comment, Maureen (also my sister’s name :))!