I decided to take some of my favorite flavors and marry them into the goodness of a bowl…pina coladas, coconut shrimp, avocado, and ginger. The result was a beautiful bowl delight which I’m calling a Pina Colada Shrimp Bowl. I hand breaded and baked my own coconut shrimp for a healthy version of the deep-fried, crunchy island classic. I then built a bowl with my favorite salad ingredients, and I tied in a ginger-based dressing for an Asian kick. Coconut shrimp paired with citrus is a no-brainer, so I threw together a quick pineapple basil salsa. The final product was a tropical infusion of Island-Asian flavors. I also added some peanuts last minute to bring in some crunch, but next time I would opt for Macadamia Nuts instead. Though I didn’t follow a recipe, I’ll list the ingredients below, along with approximate amounts and steps.

FOR THE SHRIMP:

1 pound (20-25 count) large shrimp, butterflied

1/2 cup flour

2 eggs

2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

~10 crushed whole grain crackers (1 cup ground)…(this is the healthy version, use Panko bread crumbs if you aren’t into the healthy sh*T!)

Olive oil for spraying the baking sheet

Salt & pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.   2. Line a baking sheet with non-stick foil, or spray a sheet with olive oil   3. Put the crackers in a sealed ziploc bag and crush them (with a rolling pin or meat-pounder or some other heavy object) until they resemble finely ground bread crumbs.    4. Set up your breading station: place the flour in a bowl; whisk the eggs and put them in a separate bowl; and mix the coconut and bread crumbs and put them in a bowl.   5. Sprinkle the deveined and butterflied shrimp with salt and pepper.   6. Working in batches, first dip the cleaned shrimp in the flour, and shake off excess; second dip the floured shrimp into the egg mix; lastly dip the shrimp into the coconut-crumb mixture, making sure to press the coconut onto the shrimp so it sticks in place. 7. Transfer breaded shrimp to the baking sheet; Bake for about 15 minutes,until coconut begins to lightly brown.

PINEAPPLE SALSA:

1 cup chopped fresh pineapple

Handful of basil, thinly sliced

1/2 small cucumber, sliced
Juice of 1/2 lime

Mix all ingredients in a bowl together. Add more lime juice if desired.  

DRESSING- to make a tangy vinaigrette, I combined:

~1/4 cup of my favorite ginger dressing

2 tablespoons of water

1 tablespoon of honey

1-2 tsp of rice wine vinegar

Juice of 1/2 lime

This is an approximation, so if it tastes too much like vinegar or lime juice, then add more water and honey. If it tastes too much like ginger dressing, then add more of the other ingredients until you reach a good balance.

OTHER BOWL INGREDIENTS:

A handful of lettuce leaves, thinly sliced

Few thin slices of red onion

~4-5 jalapeno slices

~Handful of peanuts OR macadamia nuts

1/2 Avocado, sliced

Sesame seeds for garnish

Arrange all of the ingredients in a bowl, except for the nuts and sesame seeds. Drizzle the salad mix with the dressing until evenly coated. Next add the pineapple salsa, the coconut shrimp, the nuts and the sesame seeds and enjoy.

NOTE: this will make a large batch of coconut shrimp. I ate them as leftovers with a BBQ-jerk dipping sauce. They would also go well as a snack alongside a mango chutney.

Final Pina Colada Shrimp Bowl: Lettuce, cucumbers, red onion, jalapenos, & avocado slices drizzled with a lime-ginger-honey vinaigrette / pineapple-basil salsa / baked coconut shrimp / roasted peanuts & black sesame seed garnish