Coconut Shrimp with Asian Greens and Hoisin Vinaigrette

This was my FAVORITE recipe so far!

I love, love, loved it!

That being said, it took me 1 hour to make it. The shrimp required quite a fuss. 

I thought I did a good job of planning ahead when I took the shrimp out of the freezer this morning, but I didn't realize that you are supposed to marinate the shrimp for an hour. So when I got home from work at 5:45 I put the shrimp in the marinade while I prepared the rest of the ingredients. We ended up eating dinner at 7:15, so not too late. Clean up was a piece of cake. I put all of the bowls in the dishwasher, threw the aluminum foil and ziplock (from marinating the shrimp) in the garbage and clean up was done. Coconut shrimp is one of my favorite ways to eat shrimp. It's hard to find good coconut shrimp though, because most recipes try to fry them and they are dripping in grease. This recipe bakes them to perfection. 

While my shrimp were marinating I set up a little assembly line:

You dip the marinated shrimp in bowl number, all the way to the left, then bowl number 2 in the middle, then in the good stuff (panko crumbs, which continue to amaze me, and coconut), then place it on the pan. After the shrimp are all dipped, place the pan in the oven...and...

Those are some beautiful shrimp! Delicious too!

While the shrimp were marinating and cooking I prepared the Asian Green salad. 

It's spinach and Napa cabbage. I've never used Napa cabbage before, I don't even know if I've ever eaten it before, but here it is:

this isn't actually Napa cabbage. It's bok choy. Oops! It was next to the napa cabbage, I just realized this. 

You're supposed to shred it, but I wasn't sure how far down the stalk to go, so I just cut off the stalk and shredded the leafy green part. I was having flashbacks to the brussels sprouts, there was a lot of the cabbage waste that went outside to feed the deer. 

After I cut up all of the ingredients, I tossed them in a bowl and topped them with some toasted ramen noodles and almonds:

Isn't that a gorgeous salad?

The recipe says to top with your favorite salad dressing, so I took this as an opportunity to make the Hoisin Vinaigrette. It worked out perfectly. I had a leftover red onion in the fridge from last week and just the right amount of hoisin sauce left in the jar, so I mixed all of the ingredients together in the hoisin sauce jar:

 I gave them all a good shake then poured it over the salad:

The hoisin vinaigrette is actually in a later recipe in the cookbook. If you make this salad you have to use the hoisin vinaigrette. It taste like it was meant for this salad. 

Not done yet. Now you top the salad with the coconut shrimp

OMG it was sooo good. I mean this is gourmet chef type of cooking. I can't believe I made this! I'm so impressed with myself, and Holly Clegg too of course : )

Soux Chef says:

 Of course it's two thumbs up, it was amazing!

The total for the ingredients was about $17 making this recipe $5.60 and worth every penny.