Shrimp Fried Rice

A riff on this NYT Cooking recipe…

• Olive oil

• 1 yellow onion, diced

• 1 leek, finely chopped

• 1 red or orange bell pepper, diced

• Kosher salt

• 1 cup white rice, fully cooked (preferably cooked in salted water and/or chicken stock)

• 4 strips bacon

• 1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

• 5 oz baby spinach (chopped or left whole – your call)

• Splash of white wine vinegar

• Dash of your favorite hot sauce

• Scallions, finely chopped

Heat a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil, allow to heat briefly and then add the onion, leek and bell pepper, and salt to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, for several minutes until vegetables soften, then toss in the rice and mix thoroughly until combined. Drizzle on a little more olive oil and cook, undisturbed, for several minutes. Check to make sure the rice is picking up some color, but not browning too fast. You want it to crisp up to a nice golden state, not blacken. Toss, and then continue cycles of cooking undisturbed until it is lusciously browned and crunchy throughout.

In the meantime, rinse and drain the shrimp, then pat dry and season with salt. Heat another frying pan over medium heat and, once hot, add the bacon strips. Cook, flipping regularly, until they are browned and crispy to your liking. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

Turn the bacon grease pan heat up to high, wait half a minute, then add the shrimp into the pan with the bacon grease. Cook undisturbed for about 2 minutes, then flip and cook the other sides for about 2 minutes. Remove to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.

Turn the heat back down to medium, throw in the spinach, and sautée until it is nicely wilted, then turn off heat.

Splash some vinegar and hot sauce into the rice mixture, taste, and adjust seasoning as needed. To serve, spoon some rice into a bowl and top with spinach, shrimp and scallions.