Shrimp Cocktail

I love shellfish! It is my preferred way in getting my zinc. When I eat shrimp I notice my skin looks more vibrant and my mood is lifted. A cold shrimp or crab cocktail is my favorite weight loss meal too! With the weather getting hotter I am wanting light cold things like homemade fruity Agua Fresca, icy cold glasses of milk, cheese plates and this shrimp cocktail.

I have a couple of tricks to making my shrimp cocktail that rivals high end restaurants. The first being the quality of the shrimp. I only eat wild shrimp. Ocean creatures have so many things they eat that make it such a healthy food and farm raised does not even compare. Farm raised shrimp is problematic from the filthy ponds the shrimp are raised in to the cheap feed they are given. If that isn’t enough most manufacturers of frozen shrimp add preservatives like sodium tripolyphosphate (STP) which affects the flavor and texture of the shrimp. I can detect it. Fortunately I have found a couple of brands that sell a clean and tasty wild caught shrimp.

To make my shrimp cocktail peel the shrimp and boil those peels in just enough water to submerge the shrimp. Boil the peels for twenty to thirty minutes on a medium high heat. After the peels are done boiling turn down the heat to medium low and add the shrimp. Cook them for about three minutes depending on the size of the shrimp, tiny shrimp just a minute and colossal shrimp a minute or so longer. As soon as the time is up, take the shrimp out of the boiling water and transfer them with a slotted spoon to a clean bowl and cover them with a few ice cubes to stop the cooking process. Adding the ice and storing the shrimp with it also cools the shrimp down fast and adds a little snap to the shrimp. I don’t like cooking and storing my shellfish very far ahead of time because it is one of those foods that the histamine levels rise in quickly, and is why spoils so easily. Cover the shrimp and let it cool further in the refrigerator while making the cocktail sauce.

To make the cocktail sauce add a half cup of organic ketchup to a bowl and the fine zest of a small lemon. Add in 1/4 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce and a half tablespoon of finely grated horseradish, and that’s it. I really have never found a bottled cocktail sauce that tastes as good as homemade. The lemon zest in mine is what makes this shrimp cocktail better than the rest. You can add some Tabasco to yours, and I do like that too, but this basic recipe is really good!

“A zinc deficiency is often associated with a
deficiency of vitamin B6 and an excess of
copper; since estrogen is associated with zinc
loss, other nutrients including vitamin E and folic
acid should be considered when the nails have
white marks.” -Ray Peat “Nutrition For Women”