Shrimp and Mango Curry with Mango Cashew Rice

For my dietetic internship in Houston, one of the rotations was with Supermarket Savvy.  I researched and wrote articles on food and nutrition for the monthly newsletter.  I loved it!  One of the added perks was a lunch meeting and cooking demo with Chef Allen Susser, the author of The Great Mango Book.  On the menu?  A mango lassi, crab and mango salad, shrimp and mango curry, mango macadamia rice, and a mango fool for dessert.  Its a good think I like mangos!

My favorite variety of mango, the Champagne or ataulfo mango, is in season right now.  I can find them a Whole Foods here in Baton Rouge and this past weekend at Publix in Florida.  According to the website this variety is:

“more compact compared to other varieties, it has a kidney-shaped form, with a skin that turns from green to a deep golden yellow when fully ripe. The inside is velvety smooth, with almost no fibrous texture, unlike other varieties, and a much thinner pit (about the thickness of a wafer). The taste is intensely sweet and full”

And although you really don’t need one, this is my mango peeler…another “treat” from the luncheon (along with a copy of his book).

The spicy-sweet curry has been calling my name ever since…how have a waited this long?  I’ve also been wanting to try the red rice Danielle brought me from Thailand, so I went with the mango cashew rice as well…I swapped the macadamias for cashews.

The rice recipe called for a few spices that I didn’t already have in my (previously thought) well stocked spice cabinet…cardamom and saffron.  It was my first time cooking with both.  Saffron are these tiny red threads from the stigma of a flower…they impart flavor and color (yellow) to the dish…although the red rice masked the yellow color in mine.
    
You could skip the rice recipe (and all its fancy spices) and just cook some plain ol’ white rice (or brown if you want to be healthier)…but don’t skip the curry!  It is delish!  And spicy…the original recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne, which I think is A LOT!  I used just a pinch (prob less than 1/8 of a teaspoon) and my mouth still burns a little.  I must have really strong cayenne powder. 


Mango Cashew Rice
adapted from The Great Mango Book or the National Mango Board

makes 12 servings

1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup cashews (or macadamia nuts)
5 whole black peppercorns (or just 1/4 teaspoon black pepper)
2 whole cloves (or less than 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves)
2 cardamom pods
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups Basmati rice (or white rice)
1/2 teaspoon saffron, soaked in 1 tablespoon hot water
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups water
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and diced
1/4 cup raisins (golden or brown)
3 green onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add nuts and continuously shake pan until nuts are golden brown. Remove nuts from pan with a slotted spoon, keeping oil in the pan, and set aside.

Add all spices (pepper through cinnamon) to the same pan and stir constantly until aromatic, about 2 minutes.

Stir rice into spice mixture. Add saffron and salt, stirring until rice is well coated. Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes or until liquid has been absorbed.

Remove from heat and stir in mango, raisins and toasted nuts. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes.

At this point you can add all of the onions and cilantro to the rice mixture, or alternately, garnish each serving individually.

Per Serving (about 3/4 cup) – 168 calories, 3 g fat (1 g saturated), 32 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 3 g protein (exchanges: 2 starch, 1/2 fat; WW points: 3)



Shrimp and Mango Curry
adapted from The Great Mango Book or the National Mango Board

makes 8 servings

1 tablespoons unsalted butter (or oil)
1 small onion, diced
1 cloves garlic, minced 
3 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
2 teaspoons salt
a pinch to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 15-oz can light coconut milk
2 cups water
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 ripe mangos, peeled, pitted and diced
2 medium sweet potato, diced and boiled or steamed until tender and quickly chilled*
4 tablespoons minced green onion (white and green parts)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Melt butter in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until aromatic, about 3 minutes. Stir in curry powder, ginger, salt, cayenne and black pepper. Add coconut milk and water; bring to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes.  Add half of the sweet potatoes and simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes.

Add shrimp, mango and remaining sweet potato to saucepan; bring back to a simmer and cook for 4 to 5 minutes more or until shrimp are pink. Stir in green onion and cilantro and serve.

Per serving (about 1 cup) – 174 calories, 6 g fat (4 g saturated), 18 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 13 g protein (exchanges: 1 fat, 1/2 starch, 1 1/2 protein, 1/2 fruit; WW points: 3)

* I steamed the sweet potato in the microwave in a covered glass dish with a little water at 3 minute intervals until tender (about 9 minutes total).  I drained them in a colander and then ran cool water over them.

Tip – I store my ginger in the freezer in a zip-top bag.  When I need some for a recipe, I take it out, peel back some of the skin with a vegetable peeler and then grate it with a Microplane directly into the dish.  It goes well with anything Asian such as Indian Lentil Coconut Soup, Chicken Sate with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce, Shrimp Summer Rolls, and Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps.

Lagniappe...more mango recipes!

PS…this is my 100th post!

Shrimp Salad Sandwich

Happy Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras has come and gone…what a perfect day to get my life “back on track”. Since the Super Bowl took over my life I haven’t eaten as well, worked out as much, been as organized as usual…oh well!

But today is a new day. I’ve already worked out, been to church, eaten lots of healthful things, drank a lot of water…starting to feel better!

I started my day with half of a pear for my pre-run snack. After my run I enjoyed a bowl of pineapple over-night oats and a glass of OJ. For lunch I whipped up this delicious shrimp salad (no meat today!) and had it on whole wheat toast. I also had some yogurt and cottage cheese with blueberries. And lots of water.

I’ve decided to give up coffee (caffeine) for Lent, again. I’ll have to wait and see if I’m really addicted to the caffeine (no headache yet) or if I just crave coffee. Hopefully this will help me cut back in the long run and not just for these 40 days. I drink coffee everyday and I wish I didn’t…but I love it! Or at least I think I do. It will definitely force me to drink more water.

So onto the shrimp salad recipe…it’s so easy that I really can’t even call it a recipe! I bought pre-boiled/pre-peeled shrimp at WF yesterday, about 1.5 pounds worth. Pulsed them in the food processor and then transferred them to a mixing bowl. I then added 1 heaping tablespoon each of Greek yogurt (non-fat) and mayo (the real deal) which equaled about 1/4 cup total, a scant tablespoon of Dijon mustard, about 1/4 of a cup of relish (green tomato relish…my fave), 3 stalks of finely diced celery, and some Old Bay Seasoning.

That’s it! You can adjust everything to suit your taste…just don’t add too much mayo! And if you want to skip the bread, just do lettuce wraps instead.

Per serving (about 1/8 of the recipe…w/o bread) - 131 calories, 4 g fat (1 g saturated), 5 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 18 g protein (exchanges: 3 protein, 1 fat; WW points: 3)

Shrimp Summer Rolls

About 2 months ago I was out running errands and decided to stop into a little Asian grocery store that I'd been wanting to visit. I love exploring new grocery stores! The 2 things that I ended up buying, I probably could have found at any grocery...but it was more fun getting them there, more authentic! Panko and rice paper were my 2 purchases, although I was really tempted to buy sushi rice, wrappers, and mats...homemade sushi is on my "to make" list.

Like I said, this was a while back and these items have sat untouched in my cabinets...until now. This week's CEiMB recipe was turkey burgers...but I just wasn't in the mood (I really don't like eating burgers before I have to teach or afterwards when I get home at 10pm). And boiled shrimp were on sale at Whole Foods. And Ellie has a recipe for Shrimp Spring Rolls that calls for rice paper...PERFECT!

I have never worked with rice paper before, but it really wasn't difficult at all. Just a few seconds in warm water and they are ready to go. And the filling possibilities are endless! The ones I made were filled with shrimp, avocado, carrot, rice noodles, cilantro, and lettuce. I wanted to add mango but couldn't find a ripe one.

The dipping sauce was easy to make...I added a little soy sauce to Ellie's version to make it a saltier. And look how healthy all this is! Lean protein, lots of veggies, hardly any fat (besides the healthy fat from the avocado)...does it get any better?

Other versions to inspire you:

Shrimp Spring Rolls with Hoisin Dipping Sauce

Shrimp Rice-paper Rolls with Vietnamese Dipping Sauce

Shrimp and Asparagus Rolls with Avocado Puree

Spring Rolls with Steak and Peanut Sauce

Spring Rolls Three Ways

There is a video of Ellie making her version on the FoodNetwork website. Watch and see how easy it is! Or just follow along with my photos.

Next time I make these I may try different filling combinations and a different dipping sauce...the hoisin one above sounds good...so does the peanut sauce.

Shrimp Summer Rolls

• Per serving (1 roll) - 90 calories, 0 g fat, 18 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 3 g protein (exchanges: 1/3 protein, 1/2 vegetable, 1/2 starch; WW points: 2)
• Notes - My version was a little different...I used ingredients I liked/had on hand...avocado and cilantro are 2 of my favorites; to give yourself filling ideas, think about your favorite sushi; each sheet of rice paper has only 40 calories; once you have softened the rice paper in water, move it quickly to the work surface or it will start to stick to itself...here is a good site with more tips on rolling; if you don't have fish sauce substitute soy; some type of lettuce or slaw is a good thing to add to give the roll a "stuffed" look...I left it out of a few and they looks so skinny!

Lagniappe...

Happy Birthday to Mel and Caroline!

Spring Produce

You hear it over and over again..."Eat more fruits and vegetables"...but do you?

Well, the first step towards this goal is to BUY more fruits and vegetables.  If you get them in your kitchen, chances are (hopefully) that you will eat them and not let them go to waste.

Right now in my kitchen I have apples, grapes, cherries (frozen), mango, rhubarb (is that a vegetable???...yep it is, I just Googled it); I also have romaine lettuce, green onions, carrots, eggplant, tomatoes, tomatillos, poblano peppers, and corn (I'm making this recipe this weekend).  So I'm all stocked with healthy things...this way I'm more likely to eat healthy! 

So next time you go grocery shopping, start in the produce section and purchase whatever looks/smells fresh...like spring.  Or head to the farmer's market and buy whatever they have...if it's there you know it's fresh and seasonal.

Here is a list of what's in season now (March/April/May).  Look around the site; it's the government's "eat more fruits and veggies website"...there are recipes, tips on shopping and meal planning, activities for kids, and other interesting things.

And lastly here are 2 other links with recipes to inspire you.  The first is an article from the NY Times by Mark Bittman...he is a cookbook author and has a website with some free recipes...be careful, all of them are are not necessarily low-cal.  

Anyway, the article is "Summer Express: 101 Simple meals ready in 10 minutes or less".  They aren't really recipes, just ways to put a few ingredients together to make a quick meal.  Again not all of them are low-cal. 

And the other is from realsimple.com, 43 easy spring produce recipes.

So let's pretend you have all this produce in your kitchen...now what?  Here is a guide to cooking 20 different veggies.  And remember, the less you cook them (less time, heat, and water), the more nutrients are retained (with the exception of tomatoes, which are even better for you when cooked)...this means you Mel and your olive green broccoli!

Raspberry Mango Salad - 

• Per serving - 98 calories, 8 g fat (3 g saturated), 12 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 3 g protein (exchanges: ½ fruit, 1 vegetable, 1 ½ fat, ½ protein)
• Notes - You could substitute any type of lettuce in place of the arugula, Bibb, and watercress; If you serve this as a meal you will want to eat more than 1 cup: add some lean protein and double up on the veggies...maybe add red bell pepper, green onions, and more lettuce...you might need to make/use a little more dressing too; here is another similar salad that has avocado...yum!

Asparagus Frittata - 

• Per serving - 168 calories, 11 g fat (5 g saturated), 5 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, `12 g protein (exchanges: 1 vegetable, 2 fat, 1 ½ protein)
  
• Notes - Complete the meal and serve with fruit for breakfast or with a simple salad for dinner; to lighten the dish even more, you could use more egg whites and omit a couple of yolks and use reduced fat cheese (and possibly less of it)
  

Blackberry Smoothie - 

• Per serving - 265 calories, 1 g fat (0 g saturated), 63 g carbohydrates, 9 g fiber, 6 g protein (exchanges: 2 fruit, 1 starch...unless you omit the honey, ½ milk)
• Notes - You can use any fresh or frozen berry in this shake or swap the juice for another type; I would add the honey last and taste before to see if it's necessary...it might already be sweet enough from the banana, berries, and juice; I like my smoothies thick so I add ice…and this way you get to drink more for the same amount of calories!

Carrot-Wheat Berry Salad with Cumin and Raisins - 

• Per serving - 145 calories, 4 g fat (1 g saturated), 27 g carbohydrates, 5 g fiber, 3 g protein (exchanges: 1 starch, ½ fruit, 1 vegetable, 1 fat)
• Notes - I would double the dressing and save half...then for a quick lunch you could have a mixed green salad (with the extra dressing) and a serving of wheat berries
  

Shrimp Scampi with Artichokes - 

• Per serving - 285 calories, 10 g fat (2 g saturated), 14 g carbohydrates, 5 g fiber, 32 g protein (exchanges: 5 protein, 1 vegetable, 2 fat)
• Notes - Complete the meal and serve with whole wheat angel hair pasta and steamed asparagus

Tuscan Roasted Chicken and Vegetables - 

• Per serving -  410 calories, 14 g fat (2 g saturated), 15 g carbohydrates, 5 g fiber, 56 g protein (exchanges: 7 protein, 2 vegetable, 2 ½ fat)
• Notes - This is a lot of chicken for 1 meal (8+ ounces)…save some calories (about 140) and have ½ of a chicken breast, or try and buy smaller ones

Lagniappe...

Here is an article with 3 more spring vegetable recipes...Chicken with Artichokes and Peas, Salmon and Roasted Veggies, and Spring Vegetable Pesto Pasta.