One of my new favorite foods has been shrimp. Back in the day, the only way I would eat shrimp was deep-fried, with something unhealthy to dip it in. Now that I have learned the pleasures of eating nutritiously, I have found all kinds of new ways to enjoy this delicacy. I stumbled across a version of this recipe as I was browsing food blogs yesterday, and it instantly “spoke” to me. Few minor tweaks, some input from Nutrition Support, and here is the final product. We’ll be eating this at our house tonight, and my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil

2 thin slices of onion

2 cloves minced garlic

15 oz raw shrimp, thawed, peeled & de-veined

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 1/2 cups canned diced tomatoes

pinch of crushed red pepper

1 tsp chopped fresh basil

1 1/2 cups grated zucchini (about 3-4 zucchini)

2 oz low-fat cheese

Directions:

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the onions and saute for about 3-4 minutes, until softened. Add the shrimp and garlic. Cook the shrimp for about 1 minute on each side, until just opaque. Remove the shrimp from the pan. Add the tomatoes, crushed red pepper, salt, pepper and basil. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the zucchini and saute over medium heat until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Then add the shrimp and heat through, about 1-2 minutes more. Serve with low-fat shredded cheese of your choice.

Nutritional breakdown: Makes 2 servings. Each serving consists of:

1 leaner protein

1 healthy fat

3 condiments

3 vegetable servings