Happy 2019, readers! Yes, I know, I’m about 2 months late on the new year’s wishes. That’s because my husband and I recently moved into our very own home, along with our 2 horses! It’s always been a dream of mine to own a house with a barn, and we made that a reality.

With a full-time job, and taking care of 2 horses, my husband and cat, I now find myself getting lost when trying to plan meals. Over the last couple of months we ultimately resorted to “quick” items like canned soups and frozen pizzas. I’m not proud of it, but we needed to eat, and we were both exhausted. Now that we’ve unpacked most of our kitchen equipment, I can finally get back to homemade meals- and blogging!

This coconut shrimp recipe is super easy, has minimal ingredients, and takes only about 30 minutes to make. It’s the type of meal I’d be happy to bake any day of the week. I’m going to develop more recipes like this one, so I can have enough time to do all my daily activities, yet still eat delicious meals. We also have an extra freezer now (hear the Hallelujah chorus in the background?), so I’ll be cooking stuff over the next couple of weeks that we can store for a while.

Shrimp are fascinating ingredients. The science nerd in me loves being able to tell when they’re finished cooking, just by looking at them. They have a wonderful, pink hue that appears just as they’re ready to be eaten. Shrimp, like lobster, have a color pigment inside them called astaxanthin (I dare you to say that 5 times fast). It’s present due to their diets containing algae. This pigment is normally surrounded by proteins, so you wouldn’t see it in uncooked crustaceans. When shrimp are cooked, the protein that wraps around astaxanthin quickly denatures or unravels due to heat. This exposure to heat causes that fantastic shade of pink to appear.

I’m happy to be back in the kitchen, cooking what I love, for the people I love, and making science happen. Enjoy the coconut shrimp, from my oven, to yours!

Coconut Shrimp

• Servings: About 6
• Time: 30mins
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Ingredients

• 1 lb frozen, peeled and deveined shrimp (I used 31/40, thawed for use)
• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 cups unsweetened coconut shred
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, fresh
• 1 lime wedge, for juice

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a baking pan lightly with canola, vegetable, or peanut oil.
2. Mix the corn starch, red pepper, and garlic powder in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Beat the eggs in another small bowl. Set aside.
4. Mix the coconut and chopped cilantro in a third bowl. Set aside.
5. Dip the shrimp in the corn starch mixture. Then dip them in the egg mixture. Finally, cover them in the coconut mixture. Repeat for all shrimp.
6. Place the shrimp on the baking sheet. Place them in the oven for 15 minutes, flipping them halfway through cooking.
7. Take them out of the oven and let them cool for about 2 minutes. Squeeze the lime wedge generously over each shrimp.
8. Serve immediately.

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/6 of the recipe
Calories 250  Total fat  13 g  Saturated Fat  10 g Cholesterol  205 mg  Sodium  188 mg  Total Carbohydrates  20 g Dietary Fiber  1.4 g  Sugars  14 g  Protein 21 g  Potassium 323 mg