12/18/2006

Low Fat Cooking

Shrimp can be guilt-less

By J.M. HIRSCH

The Associated Press

New Year's Eve always meant shrimp in my family.

There was nothing else to the meal. No starters, no vegetables, no bread. Just pounds of shrimp and sticks of butter. We did usually wait a respectable amount of time (20 minutes?) before divvying up an ice cream cake four ways.

And we wondered at our mutual weight problems ...

Hoping to introduce my toddler to this tradition without sending him down the same weight path I traveled, I started searching for basic shrimp recipes biased to the leaner side. I wanted flavor, but didn't want to sacrifice simplicity and ease.

My answer was a recipe for spicy citrus shrimp from Dr. Arthur Agatston's recent cookbook, "The South Beach Diet Parties and Holidays Cookbook” (Rodale, 2006, $25).

Spicy Citrus Shrimp
(Start to finish: 50 minutes, 20 minutes active)

• 1 lemon
• 1 navel orange
• 3 T. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 t. red pepper flakes
• 30 medium shrimp, peeled and veins removed
• Salt

Zest the lemon and half of the orange and place the zest in a medium bowl. Peel both pieces of fruit, then finely chop half of each. Placed the chopped fruit in the bowl with the zest and reserving the remaining halves.

To the bowl, add the oil, garlic, black pepper and pepper flakes. Mix well. Add the shrimp and toss to coat. Cover and marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes, or refrigerated overnight.

Heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Remove the shrimp from the marinade, allowing bits of citrus to stick. Discard the marinade. Season the shrimp lightly with salt and grill until opaque and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side.

Use the reserved halves of lemon and orange to squeeze a bit of juice over the shrimp just before serving.

Makes 10 three-piece servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 60 cal., 4.5 g total fat, 25 mg sodium, 4 g pro., 2 g carbo., 0 g dietary fiber.

(Recipe from Arthur Agatston's "The South Beach Diet Parties and Holidays Cookbook,” Rodale, 2006, $25)