Cooking with seafood can be a great deal of fun, isn't very difficult, and gives many meals that are high in nutritional value and low in calories. There are many types of seafood you can use as the base of your meal, such as crab, shrimp, and scallops. Use some of the ideas in this article, and you'll add many tasty dinners to your repertoire.

There are so many choices when it comes to picking out a seafood recipe that is appealing. The best thing to remember is that you can go to any search engine and simply enter the phrase "Seafood Recipe" and you will find a massive amount of sites that have some really great recipes.

Of course usual clambake recipes and lobster recipes are good, but who has the time for the clambake or the money for lobster? As a working wife and mother, time is of the essence and if I cannot get dinner on the table in a reasonable amount of time, it's not worth doing, but in the process I must be able to please my family.

Measuring is one thing I am terrible at. I like to use a few favorite ingredients in any seafood recipes and adapt it to a healthier tastier way of cooking. And, the best part of cooking seafood is you can use whatever means you have available, whether it be grilling, broiling or sauting.

Using shrimp as an example, we find that a pound of shrimp contains about 26 to 35 individual shrimp and costs roughly $8. That's pretty cheap for the base of a meal that your entire family will enjoy. Use a small paring knife to peel the shrimp and remove the veins, by passing the knife from the top of the shrimp toward its tail. That makes it much easier to open the shell, and then the shrimp should pop out right away. (Or, if you're willing to pay a bit more, you can purchase frozen shrimp already peeled.)

Put a teaspoon of butter and a teaspoon of extra-virgin olive oil in the bottom of a saut pan, add a clove or garlic (let's be honest - we are not peeling and mincing our own garlic here, we are using a teaspoon of already chopped garlic in the jar), a half of finely chopped sweet onion, some salt and pepper, some parsley and your favorite seafood seasoning. You can just as easily wrap all of your ingredients in foil and pop under the broiler for about 20 minutes for no-fuss cooking, or pop on the grill.

The shrimp should be served on a bed of wild rice cooked with chicken broth. Asparagus and tender baby portabella mushrooms, cooked together on the stove or over the grill with salt to taste and a dash of extra virgin olive oil, make an excellent side dish. These items combine to make a delicious dinner that is low in calories and quickly prepared (in no more than 45 minutes). Cleaning up shouldn't be a problem either.

After awhile, cooking with fresh seafood items will become a standard way of cooking for you. The best part of utilizing seafood in your normal diet is it just so healthy! It is important to note that making sure your seafood is fresh is absolutely necessary. To ensure this, choose a company located on the eastern seaboard to handle the shipping of your seafood items. If at some point you run out of things to cook, no problem, just go online and view all the great seafood recipes out there. Of course you always have the option of visiting a bookstore in your town or city and they almost always have a large collection of cookbooks available.

The next time family members get together, or if just a few good friends are coming over, it is always a great idea to include a seafood dish. Getting a great seafood appetizer recipe is a piece of cake. The best part is that when the seafood treat is presented, most people will think this is super rare treat or a very special occasion.