Balsamic Lime Shrimp

I hope you all had a fabulous holiday. I loved every minute of it. Great food, people, concerts, fireworks, and activities. We are so exhausted - we did way too many fun things!

A while ago my mom and sister were doing weight watchers and were trying to find as many zero-point foods as they could. They used to put balsamic vinegar and lime juice on their salads because there was no fat and barely any calories. At first I thought it was an odd combination - until I tried it. It was perfect together. I thought maybe I could carry that over into a marinade. I made this healthy marinade for shrimp skewers. no fat, and just a little calories really from the honey. Try this while your grill is still hot from the weekend!

Balsamic Lime Shrimp

1/4 inch fresh ginger - sliced thinly
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp lime juice
2 lg or 3 small garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 T honey
Shrimp - enough for two skewers per person

Place all ingredients, except shrimp, into a large ziplock bag. Squish the bag around until the honey has dissolved and all ingredients are combined. Add shrimp. Marinate for 20-30 minutes (no longer!). Place on skewers (soak your wooden skewers in warm water for about 30 minutes before you grill - they won't burn - see mine for proof!) and grill for about 2 minutes on each side or until flesh is pink and is no longer translucent. I don't have a grill, so I do this under my broiler for the same amount of time. Garnish with cilantro.
I served mine with a green salad and whole wheat couscous.

Cilantro Lime Couscous
boil 2 1/4 cups chicken stock and 1 Tbsp olive oil. Add couscous, stir, remove from heat, and cover for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork. Stir in a splash of lime juice and a handful of chopped cilantro!

Tips:

Use this marinade on any protein - chicken, beef, salmon, pork. Would work great.
Don't marinate your seafood for more than 30 minutes, the acids start to cook the fish (and not the way you want it to).
If you need to/want to stretch your marinade a little further, use a little (1/2 c) flavorless oil, like canola. Unless you live on the coast and know your shrimp is really fresh - buy it frozen! That way you know you are getting the freshest shrimp possible in your area. Plus, you get can it peeled and deveined already.
Fresh ginger can not be substituted - it's just too good. Plus it's cheap. Buy a piece, peel it, then freeze what you don't use.

Coconut Shrimp

One of my favorite meals when I go to Hawaii is Macky's Coconut Shrimp. My mouth drools just thinking about it. I was having a little Spring fever and wanted something that reminded me of warmer weather.
This is not quite like Macky's (nothing could ever be!) but it was simple and tied me over until my next trip out to the North Shore.

Coconut Shrimp

1 lb shrimp, peeled and devined
1 1/2 c tempura batter
1 c coconut
ice cold water, or club soda
Peanut or Canola oil


1. Heat oil to 350 degrees. Should have enough oil so that shrimp will be completely submerged.
2. Once you have peeled and devined shrimp, set on paper towel to dry
3. Get your ingredients ready
4. Mix dry tempura batter and coconut
5. Mix in enough water to make a thick batter consistency (like a cake-mix cake batter)

Dip shrimp in batter so evenly coated, place directly in oil. Do not put too many shrimp in your oil or the oil temperature will get too low (I keep my thermometer in to help me keep an eye on it). Fry until golden brown. Remove from oil and  drain on paper towel for a minute. 6. Serve warm with favorite dipping sauce.

This is our favorite dipping sauce - it's what Maky uses. I buy it in Hawaii, so if you can't find it - choose something similar, or that you like.