Spicy Grilled Cilantro Lime Coconut Shrimp with Orange and Coconut Milk Rice

Yesterday I was having some seriously bizarre food cravings... and no, I am not expecting. All I know is, that after my exercise class, there were a million different food items blabbing in my head, and they were all speaking at once... I felt like it was a blender of "pick me's" going on in there.

Shrimp seemed to have the most pull, but I was not in the mood for plain shrimp cocktail, or the usual restaurant fare of orange shrimp, or scampi. With this weather we're having, grilling it would be the way to go. So I starting looking for some different kind of dipping sauces, and once I found one on Low Fat Lifestyle that sounded good- Cilantro Lime Sauce- starting prepping all of my ingredients.

I swear, I feel like my mind gets hijacked... I can never stick to an original plan! In this case, however, the hijacking was a good thing. I decided to tweak the recipe some and change the dipping sauce to a marinade, and then coat the shrimp in coconut. Now, I'm not a big fan of coconut shrimp... see, that's where those weird cravings were coming in again... but this just seemed to call for coconut, and I'm really glad I went with it.


Needing a side dish to go with, I did a quick pantry check and found can of unsweetened coconut milk sitting next to a bag of rice. Now I've had that can of coconut milk for awhile- I don't even remember buying it. But I grabbed it, the rice, and started out just adding the rice and coconut milk in a pot. But I realized that ratio wise I didn't have enough liquid. So I ended up adding some fresh squeezed juice from oranges I had in my fruit bowl, a little water so that it wouldn't become too thick, and it turned out perfect.

Everything was really very quick easy to put together. I served it with an additional side of Plantain chips (which I'll post next time). Even my husband, who is not a big fan of coconut shrimp at all, actually loved this dish- So I know I'll be making this one again!

Spicy Grilled Cilantro Lime Coconut Shrimp
marinade adapted from Low Fat Lifestyle

1/2 c stone ground mustard with horseradish
1/2 c fresh squeezed lime juice
zest of 1 lime
2 Tbs finely chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 lbs uncooked fresh or frozen shrimp
8 oz sweetened flaked coconut
skewers

In large Ziploc bag combine the first 5 ingredients. Add shrimp. Let marinate in refrigerator about 2 hours. Remove from refrigerator and place shrimp on skewers. Then, on a flat plate or baking sheet, place coconut. Dip the skewered shrimp in coconut, patting on both sides to make sure a fair amount adheres.

Before lighting grill, make sure to spray grill racks with a non-stick spray. Once heated, place skewers on grill, flipping once, for about a minute to minute and a half at most- just long enough to turn pink- nothing worse than tough shrimp! The coconut will still be slightly soft, and a little toasted.

Orange & Coconut Milk Rice

1 1/2 c white long grain rice
1- 14 oz can of Coconut Milk
3/4 c fresh squeezed orange juice
1/2 c water
zest of 1 orange

Place all ingredients into a large pot. stir, and let come to a boil. Reduce heat to a very low simmer, and cover, cooking an additional 20 -25 minutes. Remove from heat, and serve.