Amazing Coconut Shrimp

Folks - it's the WEEKEND (finally) and this party is about to get started!!!!!!

I'm ridiculously pumped to share this recipe with you - it's pretty much the perfect food to close out the summer.

 



A couple of weeks ago, I was trying to plan out our Sunday lunch and I was coming up with NOTHING. This was smack dab in the middle of my cooking rut (remember the Jello incident?), and there was not one thing that came to mind that sounded even remotely appetizing. I pretty much spent that entire Saturday night immersed in our favorite cookbooks, magazines, blogs and even Pinterest to get some sort of idea but NOPE - nothing.

I can't exactly let go of these sorts of things. When it comes to food, I MUST have a PLAN. ICANTLETGO.

Which explains why I was up until 1 a.m. reading cookbooks from cover to cover.

All I kept thinking about was how bad I wanted to go back to the beach. Because can we agree that the beach pretty much has some of the best food ever?

And the best views, obvi.



As thoughts of the beach kept creeping into my mind, my tastebuds started longing for something...seafood-y. Which led to shrimp. Which made me think of the time I ordered coconut shrimp at Margaritaville once in college.

Light bulb.

After much MUCH research (I had high standards, you see. Merher), I stumbled on the Crème de la Crumb blog ---- and her AMAZING recipe for coconut shrimp tacos.

Even better? It was an EASY 30-minute recipe from start to finish, practical ingredients, and...wait for it....BAKED.

Nope - not fried and unhealthy --- BAKED.

It's an explosion of all kinds of goodness that parties all night long on your tastebuds. Seriously -- the flavors are OUT. OF. THIS. WORLD.

And don't even get me STARTED on THE SAUCE. The sauce is just...indescribable.

It's JUST. SO. GOOD.

Probably my favorite thing that's come out of our kitchen since the beginning. And I'm not even exaggerating.

We ate it alongside some fresh homemade guacamole, lime and cilantro-seasoned black beans, and fresh corn. It was PERFECT.

In fact, we enjoyed the shrimp so much we kept forgetting we actually had tortillas to make tacos. I think we both just kind of dove in to the shrimp alone after only one taco.

But hey - whatever works AMIRIGHT?????

Just writing about this dish has me excited all over again. The results were even better than I anticipated, and I'm completely convinced it's what pulled me out of my crazy boring rut.

Your summer probably won't be complete until you make this. It takes a little bit of prep work (and only a few dishes ;) ) but it's totally worth it. Trust me on this, okay?

You'll love it. And then we can be completely obsessed with it together.

Happy obsessing!



Crispy Coconut Shrimp with Sweet Sauce

Serves 2-4

(adapted from Crème de la Crumb)

 

What you'll need:

 

Shrimp:

1 lb shrimp (fresh or frozen), peeled and de-veined with tails removed

4 eggs

4 tbsp water

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 cups coconut flakes (I used a whole bag, which ended up being slightly more than 2 cups)

 

Sauce:

1 cup coconut milk

juice of 1 lime

2 tbsp white vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 tsp chili powder

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro (or more, if you prefer #iheartcilantro)

a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce

 

What you'll do:

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

 

Combine eggs and water in a small bowl and whisk until smooth and combined. In a separate bowl, mix flour, garlic powder, chili powder, and cayenne. Pour coconut flakes into another bowl.

 

Line your bowls in this order: flour, eggs/water, coconut.

 

Toss shrimp in flour mixture, dredge in egg mixture, then coat with coconut flakes - in that order.

 

Line shrimp on baking sheet, then bake at 400 for about 15 minutes or until shrimp are thoroughly cooked and coconut flakes start to turn a "golden brown" color.

 

While shrimp are baking, combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until combined. Place in refrigerator to chill until time to serve.

 

These shrimp taste excellent by themselves or on a taco with fresh salsa (I recommend either pineapple or mango salsa), guac, and fresh cilantro. Use the sauce as a dipping sauce, or drizzle on a taco. Either way, you can't go wrong with these babies. They're AMAZING.

 

Kudos to Tiffany from Crème de la Crumb for developing this recipe - go check out her GORGEOUS pictures, too!