Grilled Prosciutto Shrimp with Asian Dipping Sauce

This is my first post that's part of a brand new network of dietitans who believe flavor comes first. We call ourselves the Recipe Redux and every month we'll be creating recipes on a single theme and linking to each others' blog posts. Check out all the links at the bottom of this recipe for more great-tasting, good-for-you summer grilling ideas.

I love kebabs. They make any meal look like you went to more trouble than you did. There’s something about putting food on a skewer that elevates it to a special occasion (even a marshmallow on twig!).

These kebabs are extra nice because the large shrimp are each wrapped in a little strip of salty prosciutto and then they’re alternated on the skewers with sweet peaches. The marinade and dipping sauce is a sweet/salty/spicy Asian-inspired mixture made from ordinary pantry ingredients. I call for peaches or nectarines in the recipe, but you could also use cubes of cantaloupe, honeydew, mango, or pineapple.

When you shop, look for wild or farmed shrimp from the United States. They may be a little more pricey than the imported ones, but most shrimp imported from other countries are farmed with lenient environmental regulations.

While you’re grilling the kebabs, throw some quick-cooking veggies on the grill to serve with them. Sliced yellow squash, zucchini, bell peppers or small whole mushrooms are all good low-carb options. This is an easy, delicious meal that lets you do what people were meant to do this time of year: sit back and enjoy summer.

Grilled Prosciutto Shrimp with Asian Dipping Sauce

Makes 4 servings

1 pound large peeled and deveined shrimp (about 24 shrimp)

2 ounces prosciutto, cut into 24 thin strips

4 small peaches or nectarines, pitted and cut into wedges  

3 tablespoons orange juice or unsweetened apple juice

1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon molasses

1 teaspoon canola oil

1 clove garlic, crushed through a garlic press

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Wrap each shrimp with a strip of prosciutto. Thread the shrimp and peaches alternately onto 8 (6-8 inch) metal skewers and place in a large shallow dish.

Stir together the orange juice, soy sauce, molasses, oil, garlic, and cayenne in a small bowl. Drizzle the skewers with 2 tablespoons of the orange juice mixture and let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Set aside the remaining orange juice mixture to serve as a dipping sauce with the shrimp.

Preheat a grill to medium heat. Place the skewers on the grill and grill until the shrimp are opaque, 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Transfer the skewers to a serving platter and serve the remaining sauce on the side.

Each serving: 18 g carbohydrate, 216 calories, 5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 183 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 27 g protein, 777 mg sodium

Carb Choices: 1; Exchanges: 1 fruit, 3 lean protein

Here is a list of the grilling creations of my fellow registered dietitian Recipe Reduxers:
Alexandra Caspero
Grilled Summer Fruit Salad
Alysa Bajenaru – Inspired RD
Grilled Romaine Salad
Cindy Brison
Nutrition Know How
Chef Pandita
Grilled Vegetables
Danielle Omar – Food Confidence
Grilled Sweet Peppers
Diane Welland – EatWellEatClean
Grilled Beet & Onion Salad with Goat Cheese
The Nutrition Budgeteer
Dr Barb’s Grilled Corn and Tomato Salad
EA Stewart – The Spicy RD
Grilled Polenta Veggie Stacks with Balsamic Cherry Tomatoes
Emma Stirling – The Scoop on Nutrition
Char Siu BBQ Pork
Gretchen – Kumquat
Grilled Tandoori Chicken Skewers
Jessica Fishman Levinson – Nutritioulicious
Grilled Salmon Burgers with Cherry Chutney
Kat Lynch – Eating The Week
Portobello mushrooms stuffed with spiced couscous
Katie Caputo- East Meats West
Succulent Sirloin Kabobs
Kristen – Swanky Dietitian
Portabella Mushroom Burgers with Grilled Corn
Lisa – Healthful Sense
Grilled Veggie Bean Burgers
Liz Weiss and Janice Newell Bissex – Meal Makeover Moms’ Kitchen
Mushroom Burgers with the Works, Mushroom Cannellini Spread
Marie Spano
Italian Grilled Turkey Burgers
Nicole Ferring Holovach – Whole Health RD
Grilled Eggs
Rebecca Scritchfield – MeFirst
Grilled Plantains: A Sweet Summer Side Dish
Regan – The Professional Palate
Grilled Eggplant & Two-Tomato Whole-Wheat Piadina
Serena – Teaspoon of Spice
Grilled Watermelon Salad

Local & Naked

In almost all parts of the country right now you can probably find some local strawberries at your farmers’ market, at a nearby you-pick farm, or if you grow your own, they’re right in your back yard (lucky you!). You can also, without doubt, find strawberries in your local supermarket that are grown in California or Florida. If you ever thought that eating local foods was just for snobs or all just bunch of hoo-hah, this is the perfect time of year to prove to yourself how fantastic local food tastes.

Pick up a package of those shipped-in strawberries in a plastic container at your supermarket. Then, get some locally grown strawberries and put them side by side. The locally grown ones will almost surely be much smaller than the supermarket strawberries. They’ll be fresher, because they were just picked, and did not have to spend days on a refrigerated truck. In fact, the local berries you bought have never been inside a refrigerator. Commercially grown strawberries are bred to be large and to look fresh even when they have been picked for a week. Not so with locally grown strawberries; small farmers and backyard gardeners are not choosing the same variety of berries as the big growers like Driscoll. Their berries aren’t going that far; they will be picked and sold right away close to where they are grown.

Now, take a bite from each of the berries and you’ll instantly understand why local is better. And it’s not just for strawberries—it’s every food. When you have diabetes or heart disease, when your health really does depend on every bite you put in your mouth, every bite should be delicious. And, when you take the extra trouble to seek out local produce that’s full of flavor, you’re going to be excited about eating all those fruits and vegetables that you should be piling on your plate every day. The best way to eat those strawberries: naked (the berries, that is), in a bowl, with a fork.

Summer Lentil Salad

My CSA started up last week and the local Jackson Heights Greenmarket is in full swing. It’s the time of year when there is way more produce in my refrigerator than I will ever find the stomach space to use. Neighbors don’t think you’re too weird if you show up at their door with the gift of a head of Bibb lettuce. They get used to it as the season progresses.

One of the ways I like to use fresh produce is to cook some lentils or dried beans and use those to make a salad with all the produce I have. The lentils or beans are a good source of protein and an excellent source of fiber—and they’re delicious with almost any vegetable you add to them.

The salad I made today uses what I had on hand. This recipe is just a blueprint really, to use whatever is fresh and fabulous at your farmers’ market this time of year. You can add almost anything: diced carrots, radishes, turnips, bell peppers, jicama, kohlrabi, cucumbers, green onions, halved cherry tomatoes, and any herb that you have on hand.

One rule of thumb I will mention is that when you’re making salads with high carb ingredients like these lentils, dried beans, whole grains (like wheat berries or barley), or whole wheat pasta use the same amount of fresh vegetables in the salad as you do of the lentils, beans, grains or pasta. In this recipe, 1 cup of dry lentils will make about 2 cups of cooked lentils, so make sure you add about 2 cups of vegetables to the mix. This not only prevents carb overload, but it insures that you have a flavorful, colorful, and crunchy salad. And if, like me, you are up to your eyeballs in lettuce, serve the lentil salad on top of fresh greens. Ah, the joys of summer!

I will point out my flavor-infusing cooking method for lentils in this recipe. They cook so quickly (in about 15 or 20 minutes) that they need to go into an already flavorful cooking liquid so they can absorb as much flavor as possible. I simply simmer a small halved onion, a stalk of celery, a crushed garlic clove, and a bay leaf in salted water for about 15 minutes before I add the lentils. That way, the lentils are cooking in a vegetable broth that’s really going to give them an additional layer of flavor. Another trick: once they are just done, tender, yet firm to the bite, and still holding their shape, I pour the lentils, liquid, and the onion/garlic/bay leaf mixture into a 13 x 9 baking dish and let the lentils cool in the cooking liquid to absorb even more flavor. Set the dish in front of a fan to cool if you’re in a hurry.

Lentil and Vegetable Salad with Goat Cheese

Makes 6 servings

To cook the lentils

3 cups water

1 small onion, cut in half

1 stalk celery, cut in 3-inch pieces

1 clove garlic, smashed

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 cup French green lentils, picked over and rinsed

To make the salad

3 tablespoons sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil (or, if you have it, walnut oil is lovely)

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt (you don’t need much, since the lentils were cooked in salted water)

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 small turnip, peeled and diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 cucumber, peeled and diced

1 green onion, minced

3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

3 ounces crumbled goat cheese (crumble it while it’s cold, so a little bit can go a long way)  

To cook the lentils, combine the water, onion, celery, garlic, bay leaf, and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer, covered, about 15 minutes. Add the lentils, return to a simmer, and cook just until the lentils are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Pour the lentil mixture into a large shallow dish and let cool to room temperature. Drain the lentil mixture and discard the onion, celery, garlic, and bay leaf.

To make the salad, whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add the lentils, turnip, carrot, cucumber, green onion, and dill and stir to combine. Serve the salad at once, or store refrigerated for up to 3 days. The salad tastes better at room temperature, so if you do make it ahead, let it sit out of the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before serving. Taste the salad before serving; it may need another splash of vinegar to brighten the flavor. Sprinkle the salad with the goat cheese just before you serve it.

Each serving: 21 g carbohydrate, 177 calories, 7 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 11 mg cholesterol, 5 g fiber, 10 g protein, 255 mg sodium

Carb Choices: 1 1/2; Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 veg, 1plant-based protein, 1/2 fat