Stir-fry some shrimp with hot pepper sauce, garlic, and ginger for a succulent, quick dinner.

Buy bag of frozen shrimp, wild caught, and keep on hand. Look for sales and keep some on hand for quick meals. It saves time and money running to the store.

Sesame noodles with snow peas complete the meal. Fresh snow peas add a crisp texture to the noodles.

The secret to stir-fry cooking is to prepare all ingredients first and line them up on a plate or cutting board in order of use. That way you don’t have to keep looking at the recipe to know what goes in next. Another tip is to make sure your wok or skillet is very hot before adding ingredients. The oil should be smoking.

Use food processor to chop onion and peanuts.

If using ground ginger instead of fresh, mix it in with sauce.

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger or 2 teaspoons ground ginger

3/4-pound peeled raw shrimp, (wild caught or local)

1 tablespoon grated lemon rind, pith removed

2 tablespoons unsalted, roasted peanuts, chopped

Mix tomato paste, hot pepper sauce, water and sugar together and set aside. Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat until smoking. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and stir-fry 2 to 3 minutes, until the shrimp just turn pink. Add sauce and mix a few seconds.

Sprinkle lemon rind into sauce.

Remove to a plate and sprinkle with peanuts. Yields 2 servings.

4 ounces Chinese noodles

1 teaspoons sesame oil

1/2 pound snow peas, (about 3 cups)

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add noodles, cook 1 minute and drain. Toss with sesame oil. Using same wok as for shrimp, add snow peas and stir-fry 1 minute. Add noodles and toss 2 minutes. Add sesame seeds and salt and pepper. Remove to dinner plates and serve shrimp on top. Yields 2 servings.

From “Mix ‘n’ Match Meals in Minutes for People with Diabetes” by Linda Gassenheimer, published by the American Diabetes Association. Reprinted with permission from The American Diabetes Association./Tribune News Service