Arroz con Camarones, Por Favor

At the request of the ever-changing tastes of Senor Dan Curtis, I decided to attempt a latin dish over the weekend - Arroz con Camarones aka Rice with Shrimp. We decided yellow rice was mucho tastier than plain ole white rice, so I began to search for recipes with yellow rice and shrimp. There is so much variety out there! There are Cuban recipes, Puerto Rican recipes, Spanish recipes - and, frankly, they all looked so delicious. I finally settled on one that didn't look too complicated, but one that had just enough difficulty involved in the process to feel proud eating it.

The dish?

Arroz Con Camarones

The ingredients?

• 1 lb. of shrimp, fresh or frozen - peeled and deveined

• 1½ cups of uncooked rice
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 cup of onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup of tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cup of red pepper, chopped
• 1/3 cup of carrots, chopped
• 2 cups of water
• 1/3 cup of oil (vegetable or canola)
• 1/2 cup of frozen green peas
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 2¾ tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of pepper

The instructions?

Begin by chopping the onions, tomatoes, red pepper and carrots. Heat the oil in a large pot, then add turmeric. Add onions and garlic, saute till tender. Add carrots, tomatoes, and carrots. Saute for 10 minutes. Add shrimp, salt and pepper. Saute for another ten minutes or until shrimp is pink. Finally, add the rice, peas, and water. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Muy delicioso!

Helpful Tip
I used brown rice instead of white rice - which required a different ratio of water to rice. For your dish, make sure you use the correct ratio of water to rice! It will save you a lot of time to check that before you begin. I didn't and ended up adding water and waiting, and adding water and waiting. Never again!