G-free review: Breaded shrimp. Yum.

Baby J and I ventured out to our local grocery store last night to pick up some dinner. My intent had been to buy a box of Starfish's delectable Gluten-Free Frozen Battered Cod, then scoop up some cilantro, cabbage, corn tortillas, pepper jack cheese and limes, making a fish taco feast.

But what did I find next to the cod? A treat I haven't had in about five years, since going gluten free.

Shrimp, my friends. Crispy, breaded, fattening, serve-me-with-crinkle-cut-fries-and-cocktail-sauce shrimp. It's possible I drooled on the freezer door.

There's no four-tiered rating today for gluten-free battered shrimp, though. And why? I've never seen a like product, at least not on the West Coast.

G-Free Gold Star: Besides being a bit smaller than the jumbo breaded shrimp I ate growing up, these little delights fit the bill just fine. Starfish sells crispy, battered, gluten-free versions of both cod, haddock and halibut, and even makes an Italian-breaded sole fillet. All are equally tasty to me, and all crisp up beautifully in a hot oven. 

Regular price at my grocery store, the battered fish sells for about $6 a box--not cheap, but all seafood in the Inland Northwest is already pricey, anyway. My store priced the breaded shrimp at about $7.50 a box, but had them on sale for $5.99. I splurged and picked up two: one box of the regular panko style, and one "salt and cracked black pepper" flavor. Both kinds reduced our dinner-table conversation to a steady stream of "oh man, that's good" and "ah, yum ... pass that cocktail sauce." 

Baby J took a bite of the breading and seemed to like it, but stuck mostly to the fries. 

One-third of Starfish's product line now consists of gluten-free items, and I sure hope they're selling them like hotcakes--or crab cakes, which I hope they'll start making.