Chili Shrimp and Coconut Risotto

This tasty dish was adapted from a Real Simple recipe (found here). I made a few changes to the original recipe though, adding and changing some ingredients, as well as making only two servings instead of four (though I didn't cut all ingredients in half). This one is YUMMY.

Here's how I made it:

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 lb large shrimp, peeled & deveined (next time I'll probably use 3/4 lb)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped mushrooms

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce (use a little less if you're not a big fan of spicy food)

1 14-oz can coconut milk (I used low fat)

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup dry arborio rice

1/2 cup bean sprouts

1 scallion, thinly sliced

1/2 tablespoon lime juice

Fresh basil leaves

Chili Powder

 Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic, shrimp, onion, mushrooms, and salt. Cook until the shrimp is cooked through and the onions are soft. Remove the shrimp mixture from the pan and set aside. I cooked these separately, mainly because I decided to add the mushrooms and onions after I had already cooked the shrimp, but I think it would be fine to cook them together.

 Add the chili garlic sauce and coconut milk to the pan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, and reduced by half (about 5 minutes). Pour into a liquid measuring cup (with a pour spout - should yield about 1 1/2 cups).

Add arborio rice and 1/2 cup chicken broth to the pan. Stir rice and broth until liquid is absorbed, and then continue to add liquid in 1/2 cup increments, alternating between the coconut milk mixture and the broth.

** Tip: You may not end up needing the last 1/2 cup of the coconut mixture. I used all of it and it tasted good, but was very rich. Give it a quick taste before adding the last half cup just to be sure. Also, even the low fat coconut milk is still somewhat high in fat, so if you're trying to keep the recipe lower fat, you may want to leave the last half cup out. If the rice isn't all the way done, you can always add more chicken broth.

When the rice is almost done, add in the bean sprouts, scallion, lime juice, and shrimp/onion/mush-room mixture. Cook until heated through (a few minutes).

Lastly, sprinkle a little bit of chili powder on top and garnish with basil leaves. I actually put a few in with the mixture as well.