Sunday, September 23, 2012

You Put Da Shrimp In Da Coconut

Dear Tofurkey,

Your tomato jam, pickles, caprese all look wonderful, more so than anything I have pictures of. I have not been diligent about writing in part because I have not been diligent about cooking, but when I have, we always forget to take pictures before we start eating so take that into account when looking at what I can offer.

I'm glad to read that you have at least a Mom CSA (picking your own is always more fun anyway). I know I really miss it when we can't go to the market (even though there's one almost every day of the week here and we just go to the Saturday one). If we weren't leaving for Japan on Friday (which is kind of overwhelming), I would get cucumbers at the market to make some of my own pickles. I LOVE homemade pickles and can vouch for the awesomeness of yours, some of which are still in my fridge because I ration them.

So what I have to show you is coconut shrimp. It's something I make when I don't know what else to make because it's fast and we usually have all the ingredients at home. It's a healthier, non-battered and non-fried version of what you'd get at a lot of restaurants these days. Sometimes I use chicken, but that is contraindicated for you. I would not recommend tofu though.

To make it, I use frozen raw shrimp that I defrost, devein, and peel. Then I mix a bunch of unsweetened, flaked coconut (which is tricky; sugar is everywhere, beware!) with some garlic powder, salt, maybe some chili pepper, coconut oil, and some honey (whose present is proportional to the awesomeness and inversely proportional to the health; make your choice). Then I crush up some garlic in it and warm it in the microwave and mix it all up. Then just put the shrimp in a pan and layer them with the mixture and bake at 400 for about 15 minutes. If you like it crispy on top, you can broil them for a bit, but be careful or you won't have dinner!


Angel loves these. Next I will share nacho secrets. Stay tuned.

I moss you,
Turkey

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