Shrimp "Fried Rice"

A healthy riff on a college era favorite

Last week I hosted a celebration for the debut of Joshua McFadden’s newest cookbook, Grains for Every Season. We riffed about our favorite kitchen tools, chatted about our go to cookbooks, and I made a dish from his book while he gave me pointers from the sidelines. His first book, Six Seasons, was an instant classic and one of my most used references when I need inspiration.

If you aren’t familiar with Joshua, he is the owner of Submarine Hospitality in Portland, OR - behind some of my favorite restaurants in that city like Ava Gene’s, Tusk, and Cicoria.

While I was making the dish, he said something that struck me: “We are trying to figure out ways to make our favorite vegetable dishes taste like nachos.”

His point was not really about making broccoli taste like nachos (clearly a big ask) but was about achieving that same alchemy of texture, fat/richness, and acidity with vegetables, making them all the more craveable; cooking in this way makes it easier to eat healthy, and can help you see beyond the rut of simply steaming or roasting veggies.

With that in mind, I want to present to you my easy, healthy riff on a college-era standby, Shrimp Fried Rice.