Friday, November 28, 2008

Seafood Recipes Can Be Fun, Easy And, Yes, Healthy

By Shannon Linnen

Cooking with seafood can be a great deal of fun, isn't very difficult, and gives many meals that are high in nutritional value and low in calories. There are many types of seafood you can use as the base of your meal, such as crab, shrimp, and scallops. Use some of the ideas in this article, and you'll add many tasty dinners to your repertoire.

It does not take long to find an appealing recipe for your seafood dish. All you have to do is visit one of the many search engines and just do a search for "Seafood Recipe" to quickly find out there are many available resources out there. From here it is just a matter of sorting through all the different recipes available and find one that you truly like.

Now traditional clambake recipes and lobster recipes are good, but who has the time for the clambake or the money for lobster? As a working wife and mother, time is of the essence and if I cannot get dinner on the table in a reasonable amount of time, it's not worth doing, but I have to be able to please my family in the process.

One thing I am terrible at is measuring. I like to use a few favorite ingredients in any seafood recipes and adapt it to a healthier tastier way of cooking. And, the best part of cooking seafood is you can use whatever means you have available, whether it be grilling, sauting or broiling.

Let's take shrimp for example... a pound of 26 - 35 count shrimp on sale should cost you about $8.00 and what a treat your whole family will love! Peel and de-vein your shrimp using a small paring knife fed through the back of the shrimp from the top to the tail (knife facing away from shrimp body and cutting through the shell) making it easy to open up the shell so your shrimp will pop right out! (Hey, save even more time, by purchasing the already frozen, peeled and de-veined version.)

Use about a teaspoon of butter and a teaspoon of extra-virgin olive oil in the bottom of a saut pan, add a clove or garlic (let's be honest - we are not peeling and mincing our own garlic here, we are using a teaspoon of already chopped garlic in the jar), a half of finely chopped sweet onion, some salt and pepper, some parsley and your favorite seafood seasoning. You can just as easily wrap all of your ingredients in foil and pop on the grill or under the broiler for about 20 minutes for no-fuss cooking.

Serve your shrimp over a bed of wild rice (that you cooked in chicken broth) along with a side of asparagus and baby portabella mushrooms (cooked together with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and salt on the stovetop or wrapped in foil on the grill) and you end up with a succulent feast that is not only tasty but healthy, too in 30 - 45 minutes... now if I could only get my husband to do the dishes I'd have it made.

Starting to cook with seafood items will become contagious pretty quick. It does not take long for the palette to crave a health and delicious seafood treat! Just the fact that it is such a healthy way to live and is so good for you are two great reasons to adopt this into your diet. As long as the seafood is fresh, there are really no health risks involved! To make sure this is the case, all you have to do is purchase your seafood from a reputable business, preferably located on the eastern seaboard of the continental US. There are so many recipes for you seafood fancies located online, just search for them and they will be in abundance. If all else fails turn to a local bookstore for some great recipe books.

When you are planning a family get together, definitely consider using a seafood recipe to make the occasion memorable. Most people when presented with a fresh seafood meal think that this is a special treat or a rare occasion. - 16003

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