Orange Coconut Curry Shrimp Stacks

Months ago, I signed up to take the JSL Foods Fortune Asian Noodle Blogger Recipe Challenge. Why you ask, for I like a challenge and I love when I get an opportunity to try new food items. Upon entering, I had to choose a hot stir fry or cold salad option. Summer here in Louisiana made that  choice easy-cold salad. Next I had to choose a product, the tough choice, so many flavor combinations sounded delicious. If you don’t believe me, check them out for yourself-www.jslfoods.com I  chose the coconut curry gluten-free rice noodles. I received 3 samples in the mail to test my recipe ideas on. I almost had it down when the Great Flood of 2016 arrived. Needless to say, a contest was furthest from my mind, even when I had to dispose of spoiled food in the refrigerator which included my last pack of noodles for my recipe submission. Then a few days went by and I thought about how much I really enjoyed creating my recipe for the contest, then I thought maybe it would be good to finish what I started, that maybe a little normalcy is what was needed. I contacted JSL foods and they happily agreed to send me new samples and passed along their well wishes to Louisiana.  The contest was on again. I received my new samples one day prior to the deadline. (yes, you guessed it, yesterday!) Good thing I work well under pressure! Here is my cold salad recipe submission:

ORANGE COCONUT CURRY SHRIMP STACKS:

The most important step in this recipe is preparing the muffin tin to form the stack. Use the same method as when we made grit cakes: http://wp.me/p57UhS-aM You could also use 6 4 oz greased ramekins, but I find the muffin tin is easier.  

That’s it! Easy and Refreshing

Put your TO COOK IS TO CREATE thinking cap on: What other spices besides paprika and garlic could you use? How about cinnamon or ginger? Have leftover rotisserie chicken? That sure would make this recipe an even easier one, use instead of shrimp. Want to make it vegetarian? How about adding peas, snow peas, carrots, broccoli or even easier, add a vegetable stir fry mix. Don’t want to add the peanuts-top with crispy noodles or fried wonton strips or try macadamia nuts or almonds. Want a little more crunch? Add chopped red peppers to the final mix. Think about what you enjoy in a curry dish and add it in, like raisins. Want to make this salad a little heartier? Turn it into a wrap or a rice paper roll.

FOOD FUN: Yes, I find recipe contests fun. I like being in my “test” kitchen experimenting. For some reason I always think of a mad scientist- like Gene Wilder as Dr. “Frahn-ken-SHTEEN (HA) in the movie Young Frankenstein and that makes me laugh. Laughter is the best medicine. In honor of the late great comedian Gene Wilder, I think I will watch it tonight. In an article about his death in The Advocate, his nephew said that after his uncle was  diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease three years ago, he decided to keep it private saying that he didn’t want to disappoint fans. “He simply couldn’t bear the idea of one less smile in the world.”  his nephew said. A gift of a smile, pass it on.