Dinner on Deadline: Nutritious and savory rhubarb-glazed shrimp

If you've never indulged in rhubarb, this year you should: High in vitamins C and K (which plays an important role in bone health) and a good source of dietary fiber, it provides a pretty nutritious bang for your buck. Rhubarb also is one of nature's top plant sources of bone-building calcium and is extremely low in calories (less than 30 calories per cup raw) - though you'll probably end up using at least some sugar (and, in some cases, a lot of sweetener) when cooking with it.

Rhubarb has long been known as "pie plant" for a reason. But rhubarb lends itself pretty deliciously to savory dishes, too, as the shrimp recipe below confirms.

Makes 6 servings

1/2 cup chopped rhubarb (preferably red rather than green)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 pound peeled, deveined medium shrimp (36 to 42 per pound)

1 green onion, thinly sliced diagonally

1.

Heat a grill to high (450 to 550 degrees). In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook rhubarb, ginger, garlic, hoisin, sugar, and 1/4 cup water. When rhubarb starts to break apart, about 3 minutes, whisk in soy sauce and transfer half the glaze to a small bowl.

2. Thread shrimp onto four metal skewers. Brush both sides of shrimp with glaze from pan. Grill shrimp, turning and basting generously as you go, until they're opaque and grill marks appear, about 8 minutes total.

3. Transfer to a serving plate, and brush with glaze from bowl. Sprinkle with onion. Serve with remaining glaze from bowl on the side.

- From Sunset magazine
Note: Don't stop with shrimp in this recipe, advise the editors of Sunset. This sweet-and-sour barbecue sauce is great on grilled pork chops and chicken, too.

Per serving: 136 calories; 18 grams protein; 13 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams sugar;

1 gram fat; 159 milligrams cholesterol; 279 milligrams sodium; no dietary fiber.