Shrimp is the secret weapon: Five fast, easy meals, including one that uses the versatile protein

I did a Reddit AMA on Friday, inviting people to ask me anything about the Weeknight 100 and New York Times Cooking, and someone asked me about my meal planning and grocery shopping processes. This, naturally, led me to think about shrimp. (Stay with me here.)

A key element of my planning is choosing meals that don’t generate waste if I don’t get a chance to make them, whatever the reason may be (tiredness, laziness, schedule craziness). I loathe tossing ingredients.

That’s why frozen shrimp is one of my staples. It’s versatile, it can be high quality, it defrosts quickly and it cooks even faster — four traits that make it an especially good anchor for meal planning. If you decide not to make that spiced ginger shrimp with tomatoes tonight after all, you certainly haven’t wasted any shri