Honey Garlic Shrimp

Honey Garlic Shrimp

Need an easy weeknight meal? Look no further. Shrimp can be cooked on a skillet in just minutes and when you add steamed veggies and some simple brown rice you’ve got a complete and balanced meal. Did we mention it’s delicious?

Why Shrimp?

It’s a low calorie, protein- and nutrient-rich option. Four ounces of baked or broiled shrimp provides about 25 grams of protein, 135 calories and only 2 grams of fat. Not to mention it contains selenium, vitamin B12, phosphorus, choline, zinc, omega 3 fats and more.

Try this for an easy weeknight meal. You can adjust a few ingredients to make this work with your Paleo or Vegetarian eating plan

Worried about cholesterol?

The 220 milligrams of cholesterol contained in a 4-ounce serving of shrimp may be a concern if you have high cholesterol, but it doesn’t mean you should avoid shrimp. Dietary cholesterol doesn’t affect our cholesterol levels like we once thought. Go ahead and enjoy shrimp in moderation with reasonable portions.

What about mercury?

The Environmental Working Group has a nice guide for safe seafood consumption and classifies shrimp as a low mercury choice. So again, moderation is key.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1/3 cup honey (or coconut nectar)
  • ¼ cup reduced sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos) 
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • Optional: 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
  • Optional garnish: chopped green onions

Instructions

  1. Whisk the honey, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger (optional) together in a medium-sized bowl
  2. Place shrimp in a large zip-lock bag. Pour ½ of the marinade on top, seal and shake, and allow shrimp to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.
  3. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Place shrimp in skillet, cook on one side until no longer pink, about 45 seconds, then flip over. Pour in the remaining marinade and cook until shrimp is cooked through, about 1 minute more.
  4. Top shrimp with the optional green onions for garnish.

We recommend enjoying this with a 1/3 – 1/2 cup serving of brown rice and 1 cup steamed vegetables for a Well Balanced Meal!

ALTERNATIVES:

  • For a Paleo dish use coconut aminos in place of soy sauce. 
  • For vegetarian use the honey ginger marinade with tofu instead of shrimp!
  • If you don’t like fish use the honey ginger marinade with chicken breasts cut into small bite-size pieces and sautee in the pan.

 

Honey Garlic Shrimp

Servings 4
Author Wendy Sharer

Ingredients

  • 1 pound medium raw shrimp peeled and deveined
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • ¼ cup soy sauce reduced sodium
  • 1 tablespoon garlic minced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon ginger minced (optional)
  • Optional garnish: chopped green onions

Instructions

  • Whisk the honey, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger (optional) together in a medium-sized bowl
  • Place shrimp in a large zip-lock bag. Pour ½ of the marinade on top, seal and shake, and allow shrimp to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.
  • Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Place shrimp in skillet, cook on one side until no longer pink, about 45 seconds, then flip over. Pour in the remaining marinade and cook until shrimp is cooked through, about 1 minute more.
  • Top shrimp with the optional green onions for garnish.
Kristen’s Friday Favorites

Kristen’s Friday Favorites

Wow. It’s February! How did that happen? I don’t know about you but it really snuck up on me. Seems like it was just New Years Day. Well, here we are in February and today is #WearRedDay for heart health awareness. Yay! Which brings me to my first of today’s favorites.

Favorite Heart Health Awareness Video:  Sometimes women, myself included, care for everyone else while ignoring their own needs. If we aren’t putting our mask on first – our efforts to help others can be completely sabotaged. It’s not until we can love and care for ourselves, that we can truly do the same for others.

Favorite Heart Healthy Dessert: Sometimes fruit just doesn’t cut it and we need a little chocolate in our lives. I love that Trish at Mom on Time Out made these brownies without oil or butter so they are low in saturated fat. I would take it a step further and try this with almond flour or whole wheat pastry flour and opt for dark chocolate chips to increase the fiber, protein and antioxidant level.

http://www.momontimeout.com/2014/06/chocolate-banana-applesauce-cake/

Favorite quote this week: If you follow along you know that we don’t encourage regular calorie counting at Well Balanced Nutrition. When you embrace more natural foods and adopt a healthy mindset around eating it’s just not necessary. So when I came across this, I was nodding my head in complete agreement.

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I hope you all have a fun and healthy weekend doing what you love with people you love.

kristen