Raw shrimp cooks in mere minutes, so it's a great choice for weeknight meals. Plus, shrimp is a satisfying source of lean protein, perfect for all Phases of the South Beach Diet. But unless you buy your shrimp precleaned or precooked and shelled, you'll need to learn how to DIY — a quick process once you learn the steps. Shrimp can be shelled before cooking or cooked with the shells on, and the deveining process is an optional step done mainly for aesthetic reasons. The following is a step-by-step guide on how to do both.

Shelling Shrimp
If you're going to boil or steam your shrimp, it's best to leave the shell on to retain flavor and moisture.

1. To peel a shrimp, first pull off the legs.
2. Once the legs are removed, you can easily peel back and remove the shell and the tail.
3. To make sure you've gotten the entire shell, run the shrimp under water and slide off the remaining shell.

Deveining Shrimp
The black "vein" along the back of a shrimp is actually its digestive tract. You can eat this part, but many cooks choose to remove it so that the dish is more appealing.

1. To begin, hold the shrimp in one hand with the tail end facing you and the curved side up.
2. Take a small paring knife or deveining tool and make a shallow cut down the curved back of the shrimp. This will expose the digestive tract, or "vein."
3. To remove the vein, you can either use a toothpick, a knife tip, or run the shrimp under cold water and remove it with your finger.

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