Time for an obligatory Olympics themed post!
I used to skate - a LOT. Started with figure skating (ice - freeskate and synchro), dabbled in speed skating (ice), then cross trained on roller figure skating (old school quad skates), and inline speed skating (roller), and played a bit of roller hockey (inline). Not Olympics for me, but I did compete in a lot of it - local and local-ish (As far as Alberta, ND, and MN) competitions in figure skating, went to nationals for roller artistic (figure skating on quad / inline skates), did some races on inline speed skating, and ALMOST got to go to Canada Winter Games in ice speed skating - missed it by only ONE spot! (And the person who got that spot was a fellow figure skater that I'd JUST convinced to get into speed! UGH!)
I hope such jockishness doesn't take away my nerd card!
Anyway. When I was 12, I went to summer skating school for the first time. Every morning, we'd get up early, I'd make a quick breakfast, and we'd hit the road. I ended up creating a meal that would become my daily staple, which I referred to as my "Breakfast of Champions". (Well, sometimes I'd say it with a bad french accent and call it "Breakfast Des Champignons" in Franglish, and then laugh to myself about how there were no mushrooms in it!).
I would take a packet of no-name, curry flavored Ramen type noodles, break it up, pour the flavor packet over it, along with the water from a can of cheapo shrimp pieces. Top with just enough water to barely cover it (I liked it SPICY, not diluted!), and cook only till the noodles started to soften a bit. Add the shrimp, cook another few seconds to warm them up. Toss in a handful of small cubes of mild cheddar, stir once (get the cheese warm, not melted yet), and strain the soup off the noodles. Dump the noodles in a bowl, add a couple Tbsp of sour cream, and stir for a creamy noodle dish. It had fat, carbs, a bit of protein... was quick, cheap, and easy, and warmed me up from the inside. IE: the perfect start to a few hours of skating!
Yes, I realize that I was a bit odd for a 12 year old, looking back on it.
Anyway. With all of this Olympics talk, it brought back memories of that favorite breakfast. I decided to make a slightly more healthy, adult version of it last night: The ramen was swapped out in favor of brown rice (slower burning carb, and gluten free!), the sour cream for unflavored Greek style yogurt. The soup packet - which was super high in salt and other crap - was swapped out for soup stock and spices. Canned shrimp was replaced with a bag of frozen shrimp - a little luxury that I was NOT able to have as a kid! (Certainly not daily!).
Oh, it hit the spot this morning, as leftovers. I am banging this blog entry out as we're about to hit the gym for the first time in forever, so I'm hoping that the effects - even psychosomatic - are the same as my old "Breakfast of Champions"! This is NOT high cuisine, mind you... just slightly more healthy / less trashy than my old favorite!
This dish takes about 6-7 minutes to make, assuming that the rice is cooked ahead of time. If you have less time than THAT in the mornings, it also reheats very well - maybe even better than fresh!
Enjoy!
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Curried Shrimp “Faux-sotto”
Ingredients
- 2-3 cups Chicken Stock
- 3 tsp Hot Curry Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Coriander Powder
- 4 cups Cooked Brown Rice
- 1 lb Raw Shrimp thawed and peeled
- 1/2 cup Unflavored Greek Style Yogurt or sour cream
- 1 cup Cubed Mild Cheddar Cheese around 3/8″
Instructions
- In a large pan over medium heat, whisk together 2 cups of chicken stock and the spices.
- Add brown rice, stir well.
- Once the chicken stock is almost completely absorbed by the rice and everything is hot, add shrimp. Continue to cook, stirring, for another minute or so.
- Remove from heat, stir in yogurt until well distributed and creamy.
- Sprinkle cheese in, stir quickly and serve. (Ideally, the cheese will remain cubed long enough to serve – in the original dish, the goal was melty chunks of cheese, not cheese melted throughout!)
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