The key to cooking for a cancer patient undergoing treatment is to cook true to the food. Spicy food can further irritate the stomach and intestinal lining, causing more discomfort at a delicate time. Heavy smells and greasy dishes are a big NO.

In fact, in my case, I absolutely could not stand the smell of restaurant Chinese food or fresh seafood. Which is a shame, because seafood (not greasy, uniformly-brown dishes) is a must have for supporting anyone with any type of disease. It’s chock full of vitamins and minerals necessary for repairing damaged nerves and normal tissues. But when the super nose comes out, much seafood goes off limits for a while.

That’s why I chose shrimp today. Safe and easy to de-seafoodify, shrimp boasts all the benefits of other seafood but with less fuss.

And like many a dish we prepare at my house, no-fuss meals are a must. Though, honestly, these shrimp teppanyaki skewers are so easy, they almost don’t need a recipe.

The Recipe:
Serves 4 (or 2 or 3 or even 1)

Ingredients

2 tbs sesame oil
2 tbs olive oil
Adobo seasoning, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp
2 bunches of garlic scapes
Wooden skewers

Directions

1. Wash garlic scapes and chop off upper dark green part of the stem and roots. Discard the roots and dark part, as you aren’t going to eat (or use) them. Then cut the remaining edible part of the scape and cut into uniform lengths, about 1 inch.
2. Apart, rinse the shrimp well in a colander. Pat dry. You don’t have to rinse your shrimp, of course, but it helps reduce the shrimpy taste that could potentially throw off a sensitive palate.
3. Take a wooden skewer, and alternating, slide the garlic scapes and shrimp onto it. Depending on the length of your skewers, you may have more shrimp per skewer than I did.
4. Now, over medium-high heat, put olive oil and sesame oil in a pan. Place shrimp skewers flat inside. Sprinkle adobo seasoning, salt, and pepper on the skewer side facing up. Cook for about 3 minutes, until the shrimp have turned halfway orange-pink.
5. Flip over skewers and repeat the seasoning process. This time, cover the pan and cook for about 3-5 minutes to ensure the inside of the shrimp are fully cooked. If the surface of the shrimp is not grilled well, turn heat to high and leave shrimp a couple minutes until crispy.