Shellfish are meaty, lucious, sweet and succulent. For the highest quality, choose wild-caught shellfish, which are righ in protein, vitamins and omega 3s.

And since shellfish are easy to prepare, you can have a mouth-watering meal any day of the week.

Lobster

• Remember, lobster shells turn bright red well before they are ready to eat.
• Look for firm, white meat to ensure it is fully cooked.
• For best flavor, do not defrost frozen lobsters before cooking.

Crab

• Prepare sauces before cooking crab - it doesn’t stay warm long.
• Crack crab legs at the end to get the meat out easily.

Shrimp

• Shrimp loses half its weight after cooking. Two pounds raw become one pound cooked.
• Cook only until the flesh becomes opaque. Overcooking shrimp makes it dry and rubbery.
• To devein shrimp, make a shallow cut along the outer curve, pick out the dark vein with a pointed utensil, then rinse.
• Shrimp cooked in the shell has more flavor than shrimp that’s peeled before cooking.

If you're curious about the best practices to enjoy seafood safely and what items have higher levels of mercury, head on over to our food safety page. We have guidelines and recommendations for species to eat and ways to avoid consuming too much mercury by eating seafood.