Coconut Shrimp with Carrots

Still working through the to-do list on my phone. Here is another great recipe that has been languishing for a while. Use your imagination - pink little shrimp, nestled up against brilliant orange splashes of carrot, all in a snowy, silky fragrant coconut sauce, served over rice. Everyone loves this!

Coconut Shrimp with Carrots
Serves 4, over rice

Ingredients:
1 pound carrots
1 pound shrimp
Salt & Pepper
8 oz. coconut milk
3 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
Oil

In a bowl, sprinkle your peeled, deveined shrimp with salt and pepper, and set aside.
Slice your carrots into 1/8" rounds. Doing it on a diagonal instead gets you Pretty Points. Peeling is totally optional. Set aside.
In another bowl, stir together coconut milk and sugr until dissolved, and then add the mayonnaise. Set aside.

Heat up a medium fry pan, and add about 2 Tbsp. of oil. Add your carrots to the pan and stir-fry until they turn bright orange and just start to soften, about 2-3 minutes. Add the shrimp and stir those around until they are cooked through. Add your sauce and cook for another minute or two, or until the sauce is hot and smooth. Remove from heat and serve over rice. Enjoy!

Glass Noodles with Cucumber and Shrimp

Serves 4
Glass Noodles with Shrimp and Cucumber
4 bundles glass noodles (mung bean thread noodles)
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, chopped a few times into large pieces
cucumber, halved, seeded, and sliced
5-10 shrimp, cooked
2-4 Tablespoons oil
basil leaves
Sauce (sweet chili sauce, soy, terriyaki, etc.)

Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a wok over high heat until it smokes- add the onions and garlic, and stir for a few minutes until they smell good and are softened. Scrape into a bowl and set aside. Add more oil to the wok if you need to and let it heat. Add noodles and stir fry quickly until translucent, about 2 minutes- they want to stick together, so stir and separate and lift as best you can. Scrape noodles into a bowl and set aside.

Let everyone make their own noodle bowls, and top with sauce.

POM Wonderful Sweet & Sour Shrimp

A little while ago, I was contacted by a blogger at POM Wonderful about accepting some of their product to try. I wasn't asked to review them, but it was suggested that I experiment with the product and give my feedback. (Doesn't that amount to a review? Well, then, I wasn't asked to blog about it. How's that?) However, I like to blog...so there you go.

When the package arrived, it was 8 bottles of POM Wonderful, each one 8 ounces. Bottle #1 was a taste test...and a surprising one. The juice tastes as though the entire seed was ground up and then strained. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the juice is a good deal more bitter and sour than...whatever it was I was expecting. (Apple juice? heh.)

Bottle #2 became...sweet and sour shrimp. This was a hit, with everyone. Even the baby loved the pineapples, drenched in sauce!

LoLo Pomegranate Sweet & Sour Shrimp

(Serves 6-8)

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3/4 pound shrimp, shells on
1 can pineapple, drained and juice reserved
8 oz. POM Wonderful pomegranate juice
3 tsp. cornstarch

In a bowl or measuring cup, combine the pineapple juice, pomegranate juice and cornstarch. Stir to combine, and set aside.

In a wok, large skillet or dutch oven, heat the olive oil, and then cook your onions until translucent - about 3-4 minutes. Add your shrimp and cook for 2 minutes, or until just cooked.

You want the shells to get a little browned, if that makes sense. The shells add a lovely nutty taste to the shrimp. My husband suggests that the cook clean the shrimp, reserve the shells, saute the shells with the shrimp in this step to get the flavor, and then remove them before continuing on to the next step. I think he just doesn't like getting his hands dirty at the dinner table. Moving on!

Add in the pineapple, and cook another minute. Give your juice/cornstarch slurry a little stir to combine, and add it in. Bring to a boil and cook for one more minute to thicken the sauce.

Serve with rice, steamed garlic broccoli and plenty of napkins. Enjoy!