Triple ‘S’ Skillet (Sweet-potato, Spinach & Shrimp)

One of the hardest things is to come home after an exhaustingly, excruciatingly long day of both work and workout(s) and face the prospect of cooking a wholesome meal. The idea itself is enough to make you want just curl up into a ball on the couch and take a ginormous nap! And those nagging seductive thoughts of greasy chinese take-out begin to plague you…

So familiar, right ?

But you’ve got to push past that and stomp out those thoughts. I’m not saying that ordering in once in a while isn’t okay. I mean that’s why ‘home delivery’ was invented, wasn’t it ?!

What I’m trying to say is, that it is important to cook for yourself because that really is the only way you know what you’re consuming is clean and wholesome and that you can avoid bingeing and overeating. When you walk in through your front door and feel like you want to drop dead, head straight over to the kitchen and brew yourself a cup of herbal tea to sip. Coffee and warm milk do the same but go easy in the case of coffee to restrict your caffeine intake (plus having coffee when you’re dog-tired isn’t the best idea). It’s amazing what a hot beverage will do for you when you can almost feel your eyelids closing. Then proceed to throw together this simple yet nutritious dinner 🙂

** This makes 2-3 servings worth depending on how hungry you are

You will need :

• 2 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste (easily available is most supermarkets)
• 1 tbsp of minced chilli paste or chilli flakes (go according to your palate)
• 1.5 tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 tbsp sesame oil
• half a lemon
• 150-200g of baby spinach leaves (kale leaves may be used instead)
• frozen shrimp approx 1 cup
• 4 medium sized sweet potatoes cubed
• 2-3 spring onions (the green stems)
• ground black pepper
• salt to taste

To make :

Throw the frozen shrimp into some boiled water from a kettle. Leave in for about 5 minutes and drain.

Heat the olive oil in a pan on medium heat and cook the spring onion stems. Add in the ginger-garlic paste and chilli paste till the flavours start scenting.

Turn the flame to a higher heat and throw in the sweet potato cubes. Cook till soft! As you keep turning them over, drizzle in the sesame oil and ensure the cubes are well coated by the oil-ginger-garlic-chilli flavours. Periodically add tablespoons of water to allow for the sweet potato cubes to steam cook. This step takes anywhere from 15-25 minutes.

Once the sweet potato is cooked through, add in the shrimp and cook for 2-3 minutes roughly.

Now turn the heat to a low flame and add the spinach leaves. These wilt very quickly in the heat and so be quick to season with salt, pepper and the juice of half a lemon.

Fork, bowl, dig in 😀  !