Who doesn’t love shrimp? Unless you’re either allergic to it or just don’t get down with seafood. I absolutely  love it. Aside from being tasty and delicious, these yummy morsels  are primarily made of protein. Three ounces of baked or broiled shrimp provides about 20 grams of protein, just a few grams less than a 3-ounce chicken breast. Each jumbo shrimp provides about 3 grams, and contains very little fat and carbohydrate.

Aside from protein, shrimp provide a pretty impressive array of nutrients. Four ounces steamed contains over 100% of the Daily Value for selenium, over 75% for vitamin B12, over 50% for phosphorous, and over 30% for choline, copper, and iodine.  In addition to being a mineral that plays a role in immunity and thyroid function, selenium is an important antioxidant that helps fight damaging particles called free radicals, which damage cell membranes and DNA, leading to premature aging and disease. Another antioxidant, called astaxanthin, which provides the primary color pigment in shrimp, has been shown to help reduce inflammation, a known trigger of aging and disease. See? And you thought it was all going to be fun and games around here, aye? Hey man… Knowledge is POWER! 

There are so many other health benefits to eating shrimps, but we’ll pause it here and get on with talking about the picture posted above of some KILLER Garlic Lime Shrimp! There’s no real measured recipe to this other than a few cloves of minced garlic, the juice of 1 Lime, and salt and pepper to taste. I sauteed them in a bit of olive oil and cooked them for about 2 minutes per side. You always want to be sure not to overcook shrimp cause they become very rubbery, tough and hard to chew. Once the shrimp are cooked, before you remove them from the saute pan, deglaze with a couple tablespoons of water, chicken stock, white wine or butter to make a bit of a pan sauce to collect all of the caramelized, concentrated bits of deliciousness! Then serve them in any way you like. Over a salad, pasta, rice, tortillas… you name it! Cheers, hugs and meows! 

Nikki Meow