Coconut Shrimp Salad

Coconut Shrimp Salad

12 Large Shrimp, tails on.

1 Large Egg

1/2 cup coconut (I used half sweetened half unsweetened to ensure i got a great toasted look)

1/2 cup flour (or corn starch, or Whole wheat, or well pretty much anything)

1/2 cup breadcrumbs (mine are whole wheat, made from my bread ends)

1/2 tsp Sea Salt (optional of course)

1 tsp Paprika (smoked or non, your preference)

7-12 leaves of lettuce (mine was romaine and green)

1/4 red onion, sliced thin

1/2 red pepper sliced thin

4 inches of a diced up cucumber

2 oz of crumbled goats milk feta

1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 tsp cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil(mmm extra virgins)

1/4 tsp agave syrup (or a PINCH of sugar, Maple syrup or something to cut the lemon zing)

1/4 cup coconut flakes for garnish


Procedure:

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.

Wash, peel and butterfly your shrimp. :eave the tails intact if you like, they make a good finger hold coming up.

In separate dishes prepare your breading.

Dish one: Flour and paprika, and salt (alternatively this can be done in a zip top baggie or Tupperware container with a lid)

Dish two: One large egg, well broken up with a fork.

Dish Three: Bread crumbs and coconut.

Line a small pan (i used an old cake round) with tinfoil or parchment PREHEAT your oven to 500 degrees F. I did not spray the foil, oil it, butter it or anything of the sort, just plain tinfoil.

Dip your shrimp (or toss them all in a bag and shake!)in the flour first, this will soak up its moisture and help build your breading base. Also, by seasoning with your paprika here you will ensure that the flavor of your spice is not lost in the high heat baking process.

Coat the floured shrimp with the egg scramble and then lay it in the breadcrumbs and coconut, pressing the shrimp gently into the final coating to get it covered. Space them all evenly around your lined pan trying to keep them from touching so that they are easy to separate once they are cooked.

My oven is tiny... and so are its heating elements, so I have a hard time getting my oven to the proper temperature needed to cook the breading and shrimp fast and thoroughly enough without overcooking the shrimp. To compensate, when I put my shrimp in, it is on the highest rack setting, and I turn the oven up to broil. While this process worked well for me to get brown shrimp, you might be alright at a mere 500 Degrees. If they are not brown enough for your tastes after 10 minutes, turn your oven up to broil and keep and eye on it while you get the colour you are looking for. Also, if you decide to use only unsweetened coconut in your breading this may also effect your browning, so be aware.

They should only take about as long as the salad does to throw together.

In the bottom of your salad bowl, squeeze half a lemon, and add your olive oil, and agave syrup or whatever sweet taste you would like to cut the lemon juice. Whisk thoroughly and build the salad on top of this dressing. Layering first with lettuce, then your chopped veggies and adding the feta last.

Check your shrimp, if the tails are pink and the meat is turning from opaque to white you are nearly done.If you have butterflied the meat before cooking this will help it cook faster, and more evenly. Toss your salad up with the dressing and by the time you have your dinner mate called to the table those shrimp will be perfect.

I have yet to figure out how to accurately gauge this meals calorie count, but with these figures I fed my boyfriend and I.
If you would like to try and sort it out on Spark people or something like that, keep in mind I had nearly half of my breading material left over after the breading process. This shouldn't count towards the meals over all numbers.

I hope this recipe is easy enough to follow, please feel free to leave me a comment here, or on the facebook group about any of the procedures to make this salad happen. Including Butterflying shrimp,I didn't go into it here, but I can give you a little email tutorial if you are not familiar with the shrimp cleaning and cutting process.


(EDIT) In the original post I had misjudged my olive oil use by quite a bit. I went back to the kitchen, used the same dish and remade the dressing to taste, this time using my kitchen scale to check my numbers. 2 tsps is the correct amount. (unless you like a really oily salad I guess...) Hopefully that will help to bring the fat content numbers down in the details Mel is able to get from all of the ingredients. Sorry about that folks! Lesson in using your kitchen scale!