Quick Shrimp & Asparagus Stir-fry

I’ve been focusing on shrimp lately as an alternative to all the chicken we’ve been eating. This recipe, from the NYT Cooking section, is the easiest stir-fry I’ve ever made. Unlike many traditional Chinese recipes, there are no special ingredients here. No fish sauce, no ginger or sesame oil. Nothing but soy sauce and a teaspoon of sugar. It’s so spare that I hesitated trying it but I’m so glad that I did. It was amazing. Simple but sublime.

The NYT recipe calls for first sautéing the shrimp and then adding the asparagus and simmering until they are both cooked. I reversed the process. I sautéed the asparagus and when they were almost crisp-tender, I added the shrimp. No brainer: asparagus takes longer to cook than shrimp and nobody likes overcooked shrimp. Hello New York Times…

The tiny amount of butter adds a richness to this dish that ranks right up with typical Chinese restaurant dishes minus the loads of added oil. To spice up our stir fry, we added sriracha sauce.

Serve this with basmati or jasmine rice. One-half cup of rice is only 100 calories or 3 WW Points.

1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 Tbsp. canola oil

1 sweet onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 small hot red chile, thinly sliced, or red pepper flakes to taste

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut at a sharp angle into 2-inch pieces

2 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce

1 tsp. granulated sugar

1/2 Tbsp. butter

Heat a wok or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add canola oil, then add onion, garlic and chile. Sprinkle with salt and cook, stirring, until the onion starts to turn translucent, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add asparagus and cook until asparagus begin to become tender. Add shrimp, soy sauce and sugar and cook, stirring, until shrimp turn pink, 2 to 3 minutes.

Turn off heat, add butter and stir until melted. Serve immediately.

Serves 4

WW Points per serving: 2

Optional addition: 1/2 cup of cooked rice: 3