But hear me out: 15 minutes from start to finish. Yes, dinner ready in 15 minutes!

Plus, lobster is perfect for our 30 days of wellness. Lobster is actually really good for you. Yes, this luxurious indulgence is quite healthy – it’s known to be one of the healthiest sources of protein around (a 6 oz serving has about 30 grams of protein, no carbs and less than 2 grams of fat).

What you need:

– 1-2 pounds of lobster or a few claws and a few tails
– salt
– butter
– garlic

What you do:

Set the oven to broil and put a ramekin half full of butter into the oven to melt. While the oven is heating, place the lobsters or pieces of lobster on a broiling pan. Get out a cracker or sharp knife. If you have tails, slit the shell in half and expose the meat. If you have claws, make slits or cracks in each segment of the shell. I am not going to explain how to kill the lobster – Google it. I panicked and had the fish market kill and prep it for me.

Place all the pieces on the broiler pan

Put cracks or slits into each piece and open the shell

After 5 minutes, take the butter out of the oven now that it’s melted and add some garlic (I used powdered but you can also use fresh, just put it to the garlic press and add it to the butter), and add a bit of salt. Brush all of the lobster meat with the butter and put it into the oven to broil – for about 10 minutes.

Could be 8 minutes for small pieces, or up to 12 or 13 minutes for bigger, thicker pieces. If you have a 4 pound lobster it will be more like 15 or 16 minutes. It’s done when the flesh is opaque white and just ever-so-slightly starting to brown.

Take it out of the oven and serve with the melted butter for dipping.

Done!

So. Good.

Yes, it can be expensive, but it’s not an everyday meal. You need to mix up the dinner routine and you need a treat once in a while. Splurge on lobster. You may find it’s actually not as expensive as you think, depending on how close to the ocean you are and what time of year it is. Frozen tails are also another option.

Funny story – the reason I’m even writing this all started when we went to a steakhouse last week for my husband’s birthday. I ordered lobster. The boys tried it – and loved it. They ate half my dinner. A few nights later my 6 year old asked for lobster for dinner. I said no. His response? He grumbled “That’s preposterous!” as he walked away.

But he didn’t give up asking, so a couple of days later we went to the fish market to buy some.

If we’d gotten there early I could have just asked them to steam the lobster for me, but we were too late. As we tried to select our dinner in the big tank, I realized I… just… couldn’t.

Instead, the guy laughed at me and came out from the back with a tray of 4 claws and 2 tails. At $20, it was a steal.

So go for it, let them eat lobster, and feel good about it.

photo: Tom Thai