Welcome to mindbodygreen dishes, our new original series that’s part educational, part inspirational, and totally delicious. Featuring a fresh nutrition expert each month, these bite-size videos dish out the science behind healthy ingredients and demonstrate a tasty recipe to put that knowledge into practice. Now, let’s get cooking!
Personally, I love seafood; in fact, it’s my favorite food—for so many reasons. Most importantly, I love that it’s a great source of EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids.
Why is this such a perk? Well omega-3s have anti-inflammatory properties and pack all kinds of benefits for whole-body health. For instance, they support cardiovascular, brain, eye, bone, and immune health. For these reasons, in my practice, I recommend eating seafood twice per week—throughout every stage of life.
Those servings can come from any type of seafood that you prefer. One option that I love is tinned fish because it’s affordable, sustainable, and shelf-stable. Some great tinned fish options include sardines, mackerel, anchovies, herring, and even shrimp. In fact, tinned shrimp is the star of my heart-healthy take on classic shrimp and grits (check out the video above for my full demonstration).
Yes, shellfish isn’t as rich in omega-3s as other cold-water or fatty fish, but it does still have meaningful amounts. I love combining this accessible seafood with fiber-packed stone-ground grits in my recipe. In addition to a mix of nutritious herbs and spices, I also love to add a scoop of mindbodygreen’s organic veggies+ to this recipe. Among other beneficial ingredients, organic veggies+ features sea veggies, which naturally contain many essential micronutrients like iodine, magnesium, calcium, iron, potassium, folate, vitamin K, and vitamin C.
Ready to whip up my scallion shrimp and grits? Check out the video above or my full recipe below!
Scallion Shrimp & Grits Recipe
1½ cups fat-free milk
1½ cups water
2 bay leaves
1 cup stone-ground corn grits
1 tablespoon mindbodygreen organic veggies+
¼ cup seafood broth
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
1 pound medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
½ teaspoon dried dill
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
¼ teaspoon celery seeds
In a medium stockpot, combine the milk, water, and bay leaves and bring to a boil over high heat. Gradually add the grits, stirring continuously. Add organic veggies+.
Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often, or until the grits are soft and tender. Remove from the heat and discard the bay leaves.
In a small cast-iron skillet, bring the broth to a simmer over medium heat. Add the garlic and scallions, and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the shrimp, dill, paprika, and celery seeds and cook for about 7 minutes, or until the shrimp is light pink but not overcooked.
Plate each dish with ¼ cup of grits, topped with shrimp.
