In a world where you are more often told what not to eat, then what you should eat- fish and seafood happen to be two of the most heart-healthy, lean protein sources you can eat!
While options like salmon and tuna will be your most omega-3 rich {heart-healthy fat rich in antioxidants and good for not just your heart, but also your brain & eyes!}, that’s not to say you can have shrimp, crawfish, oysters, white fish, red fish, etc. etc. etc.
And it’s a myth cholesterol from food like shellfish {shrimp, crawdads, lobster} are the culprits for raising your blood lipids or blood cholesterol. The two biggest dietary factors that contribute to elevated cholesterol {specifically high LDL} are excess saturated and trans fats.
Now there is a caveat to all of this.
If you are from Louisiana then you know how beloved our seafood and seafood boils are! Since we are about to be in the season for crawfish and other various seafood boils as well as Lent, I wanted to share a recipe that can give you the flavor of this beloved and annual tradition without all the sodium from the seasoning! Not to mention you can do this recipe year round, rain or shine!
Louisiana Seafood “Boil” Bake
1 pound shrimp and/or crawfish tails
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon Sal & Judy’s Creole Seasoning, divided
freshly ground black pepper
2 Nitrite|Nitrate free chicken sausages
6 half-ears of corn
1/4 red onion
1 bell pepper, chopped*
lemon & rosemary for garnish
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
On a small baking sheet, layer with foil and then spread out the shrimp into an even single layer. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 3/4 teaspoon Creole seasoning, and black pepper. Toss well to combine.
On a separate small baking sheet, layer with foil, and then add the chicken sausages, corn, onion, and peppers. In a small bowl or ramekin, combine the remaining tablespoon of olive oil with the 1/4 teaspoon of Creole Seasoning. Brush the Creole oil mixture onto the corn, peppers, and onion (not needing to coat the chicken sausage).
Bake the corn, sausage mixture for 20 minutes and then add the shrimp to the oven. Allow both to cook together in the oven for 10 minutes.
* I used a handful mini sweet peppers as they are always on hand for me as a snack, but I also love the tri-colors and the appeal that adds to this dish.
I explained one of the downfalls of traditional seafood boils being the abundant amounts of sodium found in the various brands of seasoning. There are liquid boils available that do not have any sodium, but if you want the traditional spice mixtures, try Sal & Judy’s Creole seasoning with 1/3rd less sodium than other brands like Tony’s or Old Bay. Paul Prudhomme’s blends, even his regular Magic Seasoning blends besides his No Salt No Sugar line, has similarly low sodium stats with only 100 milligrams per 1/4 teaspoon.
I obviously love these local NOLA brands so much that I even cleaned out my parent’s pantry and cabinet and replaced their seasonings with their daughter’s dietitian-approved options.
You’ll also notice that I added a lot more veggies to my recipe than the traditional corn and potatoes, both of which aren’t super nutritious in terms of vitamins and minerals,but also higher in calories and starchy carbs.
So I added some broccoli, bell peppers, okra, and red onion!
You, of course, can add whatever you like. I tried to keep to popular southern-style veggies,hence the okra, but you can really tailor this to your liking!
Enjoy!
xo,
Becca
twistednutritionblog.com 