Border-Style Shrimp with Yellow Rice & Black Beans

Another solid dinner.

This is in the Mexican style and delivers in the flavor department. It's an easy dish that will impress the wife with your culinary skillz.

I used "instant" rice from Trader Joe's that cuts the cooking time for this dish substantially. 

Border-Style Shrimp with Yellow Rice & Black Beans

(from here, here & here)

Shrimp:

Cooking spray

1/2 large white onion (or 1 whole small/med onion)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 pound medium shrimp (I used the pre-cooked variety, thawed)

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1/4 cup sliced scallions

Yellow Rice:

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Pinch cinnamon

1 teaspoon unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

10 oz cooked jasmine rice (of the Trader Joe's, frozen 3 minute variety)

1 tablespoon sliced scallions

Black Beans:

15 oz can black beans, do not drain

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon coriander

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 bay leaf

1 tsp red wine vinegar

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I've demonstrated this recipe before (here) for use in the very awesome barbacoa pork. It's very simple.

Just toss in all of the ingredients and simmer for about 15-20 minutes over med/high heat until the liquid has reduced.

Done.

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The shrimp is also really fast. 

Cut up your onions and mince the garlic. 

Toss the onions into a big sauté pan over medium heat, lubed with some cooking spray. Add a pinch of salt to help them sweat.

Cook for about 5 minutes or until the onion is nice and soft, just starting to brown around the edges. 

Next, add the 1 teaspoon each of cumin and chile powder, the garlic and the thawed shrimp. If you don't thaw the shrimp they take too long to heat up, release way too much liquid and end up really tough. Take the time to thaw the shrimp. Otherwise use regular, uncooked shrimp.

Toss everything together until heated through. 5 more minutes.

Remove from the heat and add the butter. 

Stir well to melt the butter.

Add the lime juice and give it another stir.

Finally, toss in the scallions and toss one last time.

Done!

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The rice is super easy. I use the 3 minute rice from Trader Joe's. If you can't find it, please refer to the original recipe here so that you can cook the rice normally. 

If you can find the magical Trader Joe's rice, then pop it in the microwave for 3 minutes while you get a small pan over med/low heat and add a teaspoon of butter.

Once the butter melts, add 1/4 teaspoon each of turmeric and cumin and a pinch of cinnamon. 

Fry the spices for about 30 seconds until they start to foam on you and become fragrant. 

When your rice is done, toss it in. Drop the heat to low and stir well to coat.

Toss in a few scallions at the end. 

Done!

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Serve everything together.

Overall this meal ended up even better than I thought it was going to be. The shrimp was savory and tart from the lime juice which worked very well with the earthy and salty black beans, while the rice had a really nice sweetness from the pinch of cinnamon that tied everything together.

We ended up just kind of mixing everything together and eating it all at once. Try a dash of hot sauce to kick up the heat a tad and maybe a Mexican beer to wash it down with. Yum.

Enjoy!