So this recipe says it serves four, but I’ll be darned if I had anything left to refrigerate after dinner. And, ahem, it wasn’t me who ate more than one serving, but I’m not naming any names.

In what seems like eons ago, I bought a bag of frozen shrimp to make a specific recipe … the recipe long forgotten, the bag o’ shrimp has been taunting me every time I opened up the freezer since then, but what to make? Somehow I ended up with new-to-me recipe from Cooking Light magazine, circa December 2003.

To say the recipe came together in a flash would be a gross understatement. Seriously, in the time it takes to cook the shrimp, dinner is done, and you know how fast shrimp cooks.  Blink and you’ve missed it. I served it over Zatarains Yellow Rice, which takes a whopping 90 seconds to nuke. Normally I make rice the old-fashioned way, but happened to have a bag on hand (right sale + right coupon = free rice). While it tasted fine, let me just say that someone in Zatarain’s quality control department must be color-blind, because their yellow rice is the farthest thing from yellow I ever seen (does it LOOK yellow in the picture?). But I digress.

This is one of those great recipes to have in your repertoire for those nights when you dash in the door to a family clamoring to know what’s for dinner, and you haven’t had a chance to take off your coat, much less formulate a menu. Mix and match the ingredients, it’s forgiving that way, and you’ll probably find that you have most of what you need already on hand. The lime juice gives it a great kick — ole!

Border-Style Shrimp
Recipe courtesy of Cooking Light, December 2003

Cooking spray
1-1/2 cups chopped white onion
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1-1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
Lime wedges (optional)

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add cumin, chili powder, shrimp, and garlic; sauté 4 minutes. Remove from heat, and add butter, salt, and hot sauce. Stir until the butter melts. Stir in juice and green onions. Garnish with the lime wedges, if desired.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 1 cup shrimp)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 266(30% from fat); FAT 9g (sat 4.1g,mono 2.1g,poly 1.4g); PROTEIN 35.6g; CHOLESTEROL 274mg; CALCIUM 113mg; SODIUM 618mg; FIBER 1.8g; IRON 4.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 9.7g