As you may have noticed, I rarely reference cookbooks for my seafood recipes. I find cookbooks irresistible, and can be spotted in bed at night flipping through them as my husband reads a David McCollough novel. When it comes to what I actually cook for dinner, though, I almost always get my recipes online. But I just received a new seafood cookbook called “The Diabetes Seafood Cookbook” and decided to give one of the delicious recipes a whirl. It was really simple, so I took the liberty of throwing in a couple extra ingredients – canned artichoke hearts and black olives. We gobbled it up.

Pasta with Diced Tomato and Zucchini

(From “The Diabetes Seafood Cookbook”, p. 121)

There are some restaurant dishes that are so easy, we can make them at home-this Pasta with Diced Tomato and Zucchini is one of them.

Serves 4/ Serving Size: 1/4 recipe

• 8 oz uncooked spaghetti, penne or rotini
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 12 oz medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 medium zucchini, quartered and sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 6-8 large ripe plum tomatoes
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 cup fresh basil, chopped

1. Cook pasta to al dente stage, approximately 8-10 minutes. While pasta is cooking, start the sauce.

2. Thinly film a saut pan with olive oil. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add shrimp and zucchini. Saut until shrimp are pink and opaque in the center, about 3-4 minutes.

3. Add tomatoes and toss with shrimp & zucchini. Season with sea salt and pepper. Add stock and basil. Heat thoroughly. Add cooked pasta to sauce. Mix well.

Cook’s Tip: I always purchase a few tomatoes when shopping so that they ripen at home and are on hand when I need them.

Exchange/Choices: 2 1/2 Starch, 2 Vegetable, 2 Lean Meat

Calories 345, Calories from Fat 40

Total Fat 4.5 G, Saturated Fat 0.7 G, Trans Fat 0 G

Cholesterol 90 MG, Sodium 555 MG, Total Carbohydrate 54 G

Dietary Fiber 6 G, Sugars 8 G, Protein 22 G

Copyright 2009 American Diabetes Association. From The Diabetes Seafood Cookbook. Barbara Seelig-Brown. Reprinted with permission from The American Diabetes Association. (Optional) To order this book, please call 1-800-232-6733 or order online at http://store.diabetes.org/“.

Here are the meals we have planned for the rest of the week.