This is the last of the food I prepared this past weekend!  I wanted to make some seafood for my friends because it’s so fresh here at the beach.  As I’ve said in a previous post, my friends are into being healthy (like sometimes exercising on vacation healthy) so I wanted to be sure to accommodate that while preparing something rich and delicious.

Shrimp pasta is probably my all-time favorite food.  That being said, it’s not exactly the healthiest.  I love this recipe because it keeps the creamy flavor I love, while being low on calories.  The key is the vegetable broth used as the base of the sauce.  That way the sauce coats the pasta while maintaining a creamy texture.  This recipe also has a smaller portion of the cream-based products, contributing to the healthy factor.  The best part is that the flavor isn’t sacrificed at all!

The recipe comes from The Realistic Nutritionist, and features recipes complete with calorie counts.  This is under 500 calories (even if you eat more than the serving size!)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 1 lb. pasta
• 3 cups fresh spinach
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 3/4 cup vegetable broth
• 5 oz. light cream cheese
• 1/4 cup light cream
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/3 cup Parmesan
• 2 Tbs. butter, divided

Directions:

Boil pasta according to package directions and set aside.

In a saucepan, melt 1 Tbs. butter over medium high heat.  Saute onions two minutes until soft.  Add garlic and continue to saute three minutes.  Lower heat to medium and add vegetable broth, cream cheese, light cream, and white wine.  Cook about six minutes until sauce begins to thicken.  Stir in Parmesan and let simmer a few more minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, heat shrimp in 1 Tbs. butter.  Cook until done.  Remove from heat and add to cream sauce.  Saute spinach about three minutes in the same pan until wilted.  Add spinach to sauce.

Stir together sauce, pasta and serve!