#FastFoodFriday Faux Food

A few years ago, I called my friend Marf and told her that over the weekend I had found a quick way to satisfy my craving for Indian food. I said that I'd made faux naan bread, faux dahl and faux something else. She was so proud. She understood. And so it goes, even with my native Greek food, when I get a craving for that specific flavor, I want it sooner rather than later, and I can get very creative with taking a shortcut to the other side of that overwhelming desire. And that's what happened with this week's craving for Chinese food. I made a faux Chinese dinner...and cleaned out the fridge at the same time!

I had jumbo shrimp in the freezer and a few green vegetables that I needed to use up. I almost always have cilantro, ginger and an assortment of Chinese sauces and condiments. Additionally, I had a beautiful and fresh stash of microgreens from Golden Forest Farm, spicy radish microgreens and the subtly nutty and protein-rich sunflower.

All of the greens and the sauce should be ready before beginning to stir-fry the shrimp.

Most Chinese recipes go quickly. The time is in all of the prep work--chopping, slicing, making a sauce, cooking the rice (if used) and pre-measuring the quantities of the ingredients used. So, while this recipe is appropriate for #FastFoodFriday, it's also a faux #FastFoodFriday post...because the prep work will take a teeny bit more time. 

So this is what I did. I cleaned out my refrigerator and washed, peeled, seeded, chopped and sliced anything that might go in the lettuce cup with the stir-fried shrimp and the sauce. I gathered the lettuce cups. I made the sauce. I got everything ready for the wok and set the table. I stir-fried the shrimp and sat down to dinner. For a printable recipe, click here.

Notes: If you've got one sauce and not the other, experiment. See what you have on hand and use that. For example, if you've got sweet chili sauce and soy, just put those on the table and don't worry about mixing up a special sauce. This is supposed to take care of that craving in a hurry. If you've got to run to the store, just order takeout.

If you have a bit of spinach or other greens, add those to the stir-fry with the green onions.