If you are looking for a good seafood dinner, you will want to consider shrimp. This delicious seafood is versatile, though most people only boil or fry them. You can mix shrimp with any number of other ingredients for a wide array of meals. When you are selecting your shrimp, though, what do you need to know?

First, although shrimp come in pounds, you should think about how many shrimp you need. Some recipes, such as stuffed shrimp, work better with jumbo shrimp. With this size, you will get only about 25 of them per pound. With your average medium shrimp, you will get about 35-40 per pound, and these shrimp are great for any dish you wish to serve. Although you may have to scout them out, you also can get petite varieties. The very smallest come 160 to a pound, but the actual number varies widely. You can use these shrimp primarily for soups and salads.

Next, smell the shrimp. (You should go to a fresh market whenever possible.) Most people associated seafood with strong odors, but fresh shrimp should not have a smell. Some shrimp may have an iodine odor, but they are from deep waters, making the odor a sign of their living environment. They should have their natural color as well if they are fresh. Most shrimp sold in the United States comes in either the brown or white variety, depending on the time of year.

There are other issues you want to keep in mind when you are preparing shrimp. You will need to be able to clean and de-vein the shrimp. Some people simply use a small knife, but others believe in the shrimp shucking tools available in most seafood markets. These tools, which come in plastic or metal, basically sit behind the head of the shrimp and fit under the shell. You can give them a push, and they will pop off the head of the shrimp. De-veining is simple with this tool as well.

Shrimp are low in fat but high in cholesterol, making them neither all good nor all bad to eat. If you have cholesterol problems, you may want to consider cutting back on your shrimp intake. When you do get ready to eat shrimp, think about trying them in different ways. Most people boil them because it is easiest, and any good Southerner will fry up a batch.

Still, you should branch out and try sauteed, grilled, scampi, and many soups, salads, and casseroles that can be made with shrimp. They work well with pastas and many sauces, so give them a try there as well. The wonderful thing about cooking shrimp is that you don't have to cook them for long. They will get slightly pink in many recipes or very white if you boil them. Most of the time, this cooking takes only a few minutes before your shrimp are ready to eat. You can whip them up quickly and have a delicious meal. Don't limit yourself; shrimp are a versatile seafood.

By Julia Mercer