Wow. Do you ever have one of those days when you feel like you completely hit the nail on the head with a meal, and it is also healthy? That was tonight - DELICIOUS! Thank you Melissa D'Arabian for an AMAZING shrimp recipe tonight! I paired it with a brand new endeavour using Tofu Shirataki Fettucine noodles...and when you can eat Fettucine Alfredo with no guilt, it makes it just better and better! A simple side salad, and here was my delicious and healthy plate for the evening!
I am still learning how to take these pictures so that they look more inviting, but let's just say that Melissa's shrimp over this HEALTHY fettucine alfredo with a side salad was just DELISH.
Let me post her shrimp recipe first. The ONLY thing I would have changed would have been to use 2 tbsp instead of one of the pesto mixture when stirring in the shrimp b/c it would give it more of a crispy sear with the delicious elements it included. But it was super delicious as is! Here are the ingredients, minus the pecans because I accidentally left them off my grocery list so sweet hubby was at the store buying them.
I did want to share a "trick" when you are peeling and deveining the shrimp to save on extra plates etc. I kept the peeled shrimp in the middle of the white paper it came on. I then did the peeling and put those parts to the right of the shrimp, and put the peeled shrimp to the left. Once complete, I could take the peeled shrimp off and do any deveining needed. And just simply roll up the white paper with the shells and put in the plastic bag it came in so that it won't stink up your garbage can! Just a tip :)
Ingredients
Pesto:
- 1 lime
- 1 1/2 cups fresh cilantro leaves (I used about a cup to make sure it wasn't too overpowering)
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 2 tablespoons toasted chopped pecans
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Shrimp:
- 3/4 pound raw medium-size shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
Directions
Pesto: Grate 1 teaspoon zest from the lime and juice the entire lime for about 2 tablespoons of juice. (P.S. go ahead and zest the whole lime so that you will have 1-2 tsp of zest for future! Just set it aside in a separate container.) Combine the zest and juice with the cilantro, green onions, chopped pecans, chopped garlic, sugar, vegetable oil, and extra-virgin olive oil in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse the mixture until well-combined, but still slightly chunky. Season the pesto with salt, and pepper, to taste.
Shrimp: In a bowl, toss the shrimp with 1 tablespoon of the pesto. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the shrimp until just opaque and pink, about 3 minutes. Put a generous spoonful of pesto into a serving bowl. Add the shrimp and toss to coat. Serve the remaining pesto on the side or freeze for another use.
I have decided that Melissa must be my long lost sister. Her choice of ingredients is SO similar to mine and I feel lucky to use her as a base and make teeny tiny adjustments.
Fettucine Alfredo Using Tofu Shirataki Fettucine Noodles
My sister and niece had told me about these during their recent visit. Okay - who doesn't LOVE pasta? But who hates the carbs and calories that come with them? For an 8 oz package of these beauties, there are 40 calories total with .5 grams of fat and 3 carbs, although there are 2 grams of fiber, so basically that's 1 net carb. NO sugar and 1 gram of protein with a few trace vitamins. I was doubtful until I made the recipe on the bag which is from Hungry Girl - I have to go check out her site b/c this was seriously rock star!
HG's Tofu Shirataki Fettucine Alfredo
1 package of the noodles
2 tbsp fat free cream cheese (okay - ours was low fat)
2 tsp reduced fat Parmesan grated topping
1 tsp fat free sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
Drain and rinse the Tofu noodles thoroughly. Parboil for 2-3 minutes, then dry very well. Add cream cheese, parmesan and sour cream. Mix well. Microwave for 1 additional minute and then mix again. Add salt and pepper.
This recipe is approximately 95 calories with 2 grams of fat for the whole thing! Hubby and I split it so b/c my Parmesan was not reduced fat and cream cheese was low fat (not fat free) I would guesstimate that total was maybe 180 calories - so that is 90 calories a piece!!!
I definitely had my doubts - but no longer! It is much more expensive than regular pasta, but if you like your carbs like we do, it is SO worth it so enjoy it without the guilt!
Paired it all with a side salad
and the meal was filling, healthy and if I had to guesstimate calorie wise, less than 500 calories!
For those who are following my fitness journey, I had an AWESOME walk on the treadmill at 4 mph with incline between 4 and 6. At times, my calves and shin splints were a little mega sore, so I went back and forth. Burned 540 calories and felt GREAT!
Tomorrow we get to SLEEP in as late as we want!!! We plan on taking a nice long walk in our hilly neighborhood and get some much needed Vitamin D.
Thanks again Sue and Sarah for the turn on to the noodles! Will definitely be playing around with those quite a bit in the near future!!! Not gonna even tell Julia of the substitution!!!
