Easy on Your Budget AND Your Scale

Tired of Chinese takeout? Over sushi? Try home-cooked Korean food with an emphasis on simply prepared veggies and a bracing blend of spicy, sour and sweet—featuring ingredients you may already have handy!

The spice in this dish from Jennifer Maeng, executive chef at Korean Temple Cuisine in New York City, adds more than taste. A compound found in red-hot pepper may also rev up your metabolism.

Serves 4

Ingredients
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup sake
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon dark (toasted) sesame oil
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon finely chopped or grated ginger
1 cup large-diced red bell pepper
1 cup large-diced green bell pepper
1 cup large-diced onion
1 cup cubed cabbage
1 cup sliced carrot
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
24 large shrimp, shelled and deveined
Preparation
Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add soy sauce mixture; cook until lightly thickened, about 1 minute. Add vegetables and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring constantly, until vegetables are soft, about 1 minute. Add shrimp and 1/4 cup water. Cook, stirring often, until shrimp are just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes more. Divide among 4 bowls; serve immediately.

The skinny

301 calories per serving, 6.6 g fat (1 g saturated), 23.6 g carbs, 3.3 g fiber, 32 g protein