Saturday, July 31, 2010

Mangoes, Mangoes, Mangoes! AND Pumpkin Seed Crusted Shrimp

One of my patients brought me a box of mangoes this week! Sooooo thoughtful AND delicious. Thanks NA!

I love mangoes. Not only because they are delicious and sweet but also because they evoke great childhood memories. Every year my parents would bring around 10 guys from St. Lucia to work on the tobacco farm and every year a couple of them would bring a couple of boxes of mangoes for us. We would keep them in the fridge and almost every night after dinner mom would peel and slice a few mangoes for us. Oh how I wish mom would peel and slice my mangoes now! Ha! They are slippery to peel and of course that pit in the middle doesn't make it easy but they are worth it.

I usually just peel the whole mango and slice and eat but if I'm making a salad or need the mangoes to look good I slice in half around the pit, score the mango half into squares and then edge the knife underneath to release the squares.

Since I have a box of mangoes, Chris and I are having a mango salad for dinner tonight, along with my favourite way to eat shrimp. Sometimes when we're entertaining I'll do Pumpkin Seed Crusted shrimp as one of the appetizers as they are quick and tasty. We're also starting with the Fresh Salad Rolls that are in my cookbook, Delicious Detox (www.deliciousdetoxcookbook.com) on page 54.

The mango salad is featured in this August's Zawada Health newsletter which will be available on the website on Wednesday (www.zawadahealth.com under Newsletters) and below is the recipe for the Pumpkin Seed Crusted Shrimp.

1/4 cup unsalted and raw pumpkin seeds, chopped coarsely
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
12 medium shrimp, peeled

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Butterfly the shrimp by cutting down the center back of the shrimp, being careful not to cut all of the way through. Open the shrimp and flatten the two halves so that it resembles a butterfly. Remove the vein. Season shrimp with a sprinkling of salt and pepper and brush the tops of the shrimp with Dijon. Dredge the shrimp in the coarsely chopped seeds to create a coating on one side. Transfer the shrimp to the baking sheet and bake until cooked through, about 12 minutes.

This recipe is from an old Christine Cushing tv episode on the Food network. I wrote it quickly down while it was on tv and still have this tattered piece of paper in my recipes folder.

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