A simple shrimp dish

Dirty Shrimp With Rice
Food & Wine Magazine’s Quick From Scratch One-Dish Meals Cookbook Copyright 1997,2002,2004

2 tablespoons cooking oil
½ pound ground pork
1 onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon cayenne
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1 ¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1 ½ cups long-grain rice
3 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock (I ended up using almost 4 cups because my rice was still crunchy with only 3 cups)
1 pound medium shrimp, shelled and halved
2 scallions including green tops, chopped

1. In a large saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderate heat. Add the pork and cook until the meat is no longer pink, about 2 minutes.
2. Reduce the heat to moderately low and add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan. Add the onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cayenne, paprika, oregano, bay leaf, salt, black pepper, and rice. Cook for 1 minute, stirring. Add the broth. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, covered for 15 minutes.
3. Raise the heat to moderate and stir in the shrimp. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let stand, covered, until the rice and shrimp are just done, about 5 minutes longer. Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the scallions.

This was simple yet delicious and I bet it would be just as good with chicken. I chopped the vegetables the night before so I was able to whip this up after work about as quickly as a box of Zatarain’s.

I like this cookbook so much, I’m going to look for other cookbooks from Food & Wine Magazine.