What's For Dinner? Lime Herb Shrimp

I love quick to make meals, especially if they're healthy.  Stir frys are great for that, and this is sort of along the lines of a stir fry.  After all, I do make it in a wok.  My Jamie Oliver wok, actually, which is non-stick and not particularly traditional, but I have great love for it nonetheless.

This dinner takes about ten minutes of prep time and ten minutes of cook time, except for the brown rice I serve with it.  That I have to start early.  But if you use the bring-to-a-boil-turn-it-off method, (wherein, you bring your rice, water and salt to a boil, stick a lid on it, and turn it off until it becomes magically done), you don't have to spend much time in the kitchen fussing over that part either.

All that goes on here, is that you thinly slice some onion and toss it in your wok with some olive oil (about a tablespoon).  Let it get slightly translucent, then toss in some frozen shrimp.  You don't even have to defrost them!  Then squeeze in a lime.  Right over the wok.  Add some salt and pepper and thinly sliced red and green pepper, along with 2 tbs each of dill weed, parsley, and chives, and a tiny pinch of splenda.

By the time your shrimp are warmed through, everything else is ready to be tossed on top of that rice you have sitting on the other burner.  Yum!  And totally man-approved, which is important in this house, let me tell you.  The lime and herbs are unexpected in a dish that looks like a stir-fry, and create a fresh, tangy dish that is fast to fix on any weeknight.

You can scale this easily for added people, as I've done many times.  I throw in a quarter onion, quarter green pepper, half a red pepper, a tbs of each herb, half a lime and half a cup or so of shrimp for each person sharing the meal.  If you have extra limes left over, slice them thinly and twist them in a half turn to create a pretty plate garnish for your guests.  If you want to get really frilly with it, twist them around a chive stem or two for added punch.

This also goes amazingly well with citrus poppy seed cheesecake for dessert!  If you sub splenda for the sugar, opt for low-fat cream cheese and trans-fat free margarine, it doesn't add much in the way of calories, but ups the protein intake. And poppy seeds are good for you!

You can find the cheesecake recipe here on the Kraft recipes site. Honestly, you really can't tell that it's sugar free and low fat, unless you're used to super-rich desserts all the time.  This one is light, fluffy, and delicious.  And thankfully, not as guilt-inducing.